Ella Shelton (born January 19, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the New York Sirens of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), and member of the Canadian national team. She was drafted fourth overall in the 2023 PWHL draft by New York.

Ella Shelton
Born (1998-01-19) January 19, 1998 (age 26)
Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
PWHL team
Former teams
New York Sirens
National team  Canada
Playing career 2013–present
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Beijing Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2021 Canada
Gold medal – first place 2022 Denmark
Gold medal – first place 2024 United States
Silver medal – second place 2023 Canada

Playing career

edit

Junior

edit

Shelton played junior hockey in the Provincial Women's Hockey League for the London Jr. Devilettes. She was a member of the first Devilettes team that had their own arena.[1] In 2016, Shelton skated for Team Ontario's under-18 provincial squad.[2]

College

edit

In her freshman season playing college ice hockey for Clarkson University, the 2016–17 season, Shelton recorded six goals and twenty-five points, including assists in both the semifinals and finals of the national tournament, which the Golden Knights won.[2]

As a senior in the 2019–20 season, Shelton was named captain of the Golden Knights, and was named a Second Team All-American and a finalist for the ECAC's Best Defenseman award. Her thirty-three points on the strength of nine goals and twenty-four assists ranked fifth nationally among defencemen.[2]

Professional

edit

Upon graduating from college, Shelton joined the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), where she played two seasons.[3] She was affiliated with the Toronto hub during the 2020–21 season[4] and played with Team Scotiabank during the 2022–23 season.[5]

On September 18, 2023, Shelton was selected in the first round, fourth overall by PWHL New York in the 2023 Draft of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).[6] On October 31, 2023, she signed a three-year contract with the team.[7] On December 21, 2023, Shelton and teammate Alex Carpenter were named the first alternate captains in team history.[8]

On January 1, 2024, against PWHL Toronto, Shelton scored the first goal in PWHL history.[9] She would finish the season with seven goals, with her 21 points good for fifth overall and first among defenders. She and New York placed last in the regular season.[10]

International play

edit

Shelton was named to the Canadian contingent that participated at the Nations Cup in Fussen, Germany in January 2018, which saw her call fellow Clarkson Golden Knight Loren Gabel a teammate. Losing both games in the preliminary round to send them to the fifth-place match, the Canadians defeated Germany by a 5–1 mark. Shelton would assist on a second period goal by Brooke Stacey,[11] her only point of the tournament.[12]

Shelton recorded her first international goal at the senior level at the 2021 World Championship, in a 5–1 win over the Russian Olympic Committee.[13] The Canadians would go on to earn the gold medal with a 3–2 overtime finals victory against the United States.[14]

She was one of 28 players invited to Hockey Canada's Centralization Camp, which represents the selection process for the Canadian women's team that shall compete in Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics.[15] On January 11, 2022, Shelton was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.[16][17][18]

Shelton was a member of Team Canada at the 2024 World Championship, where the Canadians won their 100th World Championship game, a 4–1 victory over Finland in which Shelton recorded a goal and two assists. The Canadians would go on to win the gold medal.[19][20]

Personal life

edit

Shelton majored in biology at Clarkson University. In high school, she played soccer and basketball in addition to hockey.[2]

Career statistics

edit

Regular season and playoffs

edit
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2013–14 London Jr. Devilettes Prov. WHL 37 4 2 6 26 3 0 0 0 2
2014–15 London Jr. Devilettes Prov. WHL 37 7 14 21 40 3 0 0 0 14
2015–16 London Jr. Devilettes Prov. WHL 34 11 16 27 18 7 1 3 4 6
2016–17 Clarkson University ECAC 41 6 19 25 10
2017–18 Clarkson University ECAC 39 5 20 25 10
2018–19 Clarkson University ECAC 40 6 19 25 24
2019–20 Clarkson University ECAC 33 9 24 33 18
2020–21 Team Sonnet PWHPA 4 2 3 5 2
2022–23 Team Scotiabank PWHPA 18 5 4 9 8
2023–24 New York PWHL 24 7 14 21 12
PWHL totals 24 7 14 21 12

International

edit
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2021 Canada WC   7 1 2 3 4
2022 Canada OG   7 0 3 3 2
2022 Canada WC   7 2 7 9 0
2023 Canada WC   7 0 1 1 0
2024 Canada WC   7 1 2 3 2
Senior totals 35 4 15 19 8

Awards and honours

edit
Honors Year Ref
ECAC
All-Academic Team 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 [2]
Third Team All-Star 2017
All-Rookie Team 2017
All-Tournament Team 2017, 2018, 2019
Second Team All-Star 2018, 2019
First Team All-Star 2020
NCAA
USCHO All-Rookie Team 2017 [21]
Second Team ACHA All-American 2020 [2]
Second Team All-USCHO 2020 [22]
PWHL
First Team All-Star 2024 [23]

References

edit
  1. ^ Sims, Jane (January 2, 2024). "SIMS: Ella Shelton an inspiration to young female hockey players". lfpress.org. London Free Press. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Ella Shelton". clarksonathletics.com. Clarkson Golden Knights. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  3. ^ Burgess, Melissa (September 21, 2023). "PWHL Draft Recap: New York". The Victory Press. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  4. ^ Whelan, Kirsten (May 24, 2021). "PWHPA 2021 Secret Dream Gap Tour: Canada Edition". The Victory Press. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  5. ^ "PWHPA announces 2022-23 season rosters". Sportsnet. September 21, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  6. ^ Pyette, Ryan (September 19, 2023). "Ingersoll's Ella Shelton picked fourth overall in inaugural PWHL draft". The London Free Press. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  7. ^ @PWHL_NewYork (October 31, 2023). "It's New York or nowhere. 🗽 We have officially signed Team Canada Olympian Ella Shelton ( @ella_shelton11 ) to a three-year contract. Welcome to the City of Dreams!" (Tweet). Retrieved November 3, 2023 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ @PWHL_NewYork (December 21, 2023). "Meet the first-ever Captains of PWHL New York! 🫡 We are proud to announce defender Micah Zandee-Hart as our Captain and forward Alex Carpenter and defender Ella Shelton as our Alternate Captains!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ "New York's Shelton scores first-ever PWHL goal". TSN.ca. January 1, 2024. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  10. ^ "Ella Shelton, Natalie Spooner, Hilary Knight the PWHL's three stars of the week". sportsnet.ca. Sportsnet. May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  11. ^ "2018 Nations Cup: Game # 7 - Fifth Place FINAL". hockeycanada.ca. January 6, 2018. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  12. ^ "Canada 2018 Nations Cup". Hockey Canada. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  13. ^ Spencer, Donna (August 22, 2021). "Canada has offensive outburst to defeat ROC at women's world hockey championship". CBC. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  14. ^ Podnieks, Andrew (August 31, 2021). "Poulin scores golden goal". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  15. ^ "CANADA'S NATIONAL WOMEN'S TEAM UNVEILS OLYMPIC CENTRALIZATION ROSTER: 28 players to centralize in Calgary ahead of 2022 Olympic Winter Games". hockeycanada.ca. May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  16. ^ Awad, Brandi (January 11, 2022). "Team Canada's women's hockey roster revealed for Beijing 2022". Canadian Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  17. ^ "Canada's 2022 Olympic women's hockey team roster". Canadian Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. January 11, 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  18. ^ "2022 Olympic Winter Games (Women)". www.hockeycanada.ca/. Hockey Canada. January 11, 2022. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  19. ^ "Canada eases by Finland 4-1 for its 100th program win at the IIHF women's world championship". AP News. April 5, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  20. ^ Salvian, Hailey (April 15, 2024). "How Canada defeated the U.S. to capture the gold medal at Women's Worlds". The Athletic. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  21. ^ "2016-17 Women's Hockey Honors". clarksonathletics.com. Clarkson Golden Knights. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  22. ^ "2019-20 Clarkson Women's Hockey Honors". clarksonathletics.com. Clarkson Golden Knights. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  23. ^ Kennedy, Ian (June 11, 2024). "PWHL Hands Out Year End Awards, Spooner Named MVP". The Hockey News. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
edit