Gabriella "Gabie" Figueroa (born February 21, 1992)[1] is an American former professional ice hockey player who played for the New York Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).

Gabie Figueroa
Figueroa in 2015
Born (1992-02-21) February 21, 1992 (age 32)
Branchburg, New Jersey, USA
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight 146 lb (66 kg; 10 st 6 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for New York Riveters
Playing career 2009–2017

Playing career

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Figueroa was originally a defenseman.[2] She first played hockey when she was a 9-year-old.[3][4] She got into the sport because a bunch of her brother's friends from school were playing.[5] Before every game, she tapes her own stick. She believes doing so increases her puck control.[3]

Youth

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She played youth hockey for a number of clubs including Bridgewater Bears, Princeton Tiger Lilies, New Jersey Colonials and Connecticut Polar Bears and The Lawrenceville School.[6] Playing for Lawrenceville, she was named an all state player three times.[4] As a youth player, she sometimes played on all girls teams and mixed gender teams at the same time.[5]

Collegiate

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Figueroa attended college at Princeton University, where she played for the women's ice hockey team.[2][7] Her senior season in 2013-2014 finished with 13 points on 12 assists and a goal.[6] After finishing her career at Princeton, she initially believed her playing days were over because of the lack of opportunities for women to play after college.[3]

NWHL

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On August 15, 2015, Figueroa joined the New York Riveters for the inaugural 2015/16 NWHL season.[8][2][7][3][9][10] Because of salary cap restraints, most players needed to work other jobs including Figueroa who made the league minimum of $10,000. As a result, she only trained with the team two times a week with games played on Sunday.[2][7][3] When not training, she worked as a project engineer for Gilbane Building Company.[2][3] That season, she played in all 18 regular season games for the team, along with making post-season appearances.[11] She also played in the first game ever played in the league when the Riveters took on the Connecticut Whales.[12] She also scored the team's first ever goal.[13]

In 2016, she participated in the NWHL Free Agent Camp, watched by general managers from several teams in the league. She was one of only three defenders playing for her team in a scrimmage match.[14][15] In September 2016, it was announced that Figueroa would join the practice squad for the New York Riveters in their 2016/17 season.[16][11] Playing for the Riveters in 2017, injuries to other players meant she sometimes was playing as a forward. By mid-season, she had scored three times for her team.[17]

National team

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She played for the United States women's u-18 national ice hockey team.[3] With the team for the 2010 IIHF U-18 World Championship, she won a silver medal.[6][4]

Coaching

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In 2016, she was involved with running a USA Hockey ADM clinic.[4]

Personal

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Originally from Branchburg, New Jersey,[7] Figueroa attended college at Princeton University. Figueroa graduated from Princeton in 2014 with a degree in structural engineering.[2][7][3]

References

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  1. ^ "Gabie Figueroa - Player Profile - Ice Hockey". Eurosport. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Desai, Priya (June 5, 2016). "For Riveters' Gabie Figueroa, hockey is more than a game". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "What It's Like To Be One Of The First Pro Female Hockey Players In The U.S." MTV News. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Ice Hockey: New Jersey Devils, USA Hockey host first Girls Youth Hockey ADM clinic in Newark". NJ.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Bazis, Nicole (November 5, 2015). "Feminism Scores a Hat Trick with Women's Hockey League | Fordham Observer". Fordham Observer. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Feil, Justin (August 27, 2015). "PRINCETON: Figueroa's passion is following her to work". centraljersey.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e Kreda, Allan (February 20, 2016). "For Players in a New Women's League, a Rink Isn't the Only Office". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  8. ^ Lighthouse Hockey (August 15, 2015). "Riveters sign defenseman Gabie Figueroa". SB Nation. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  9. ^ "NWHL Three Stars: Pride put up 7 goals on Riveters; Power play big for Whale". Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  10. ^ "The Riveters' Lack of Puck Luck Saves the Whale, 3-1". Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  11. ^ a b "NWHL: New York Riveters sign five practice players - Excelle Sports". Excelle Sports. September 3, 2016. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  12. ^ Pendrys, David F. (October 16, 2015). "Connecticut Whale beat New York Riveters in first-ever NWHL game". SportzEdge. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  13. ^ "Everything You Need to Know About the Boston Pride's Home Opener". Boston Magazine. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  14. ^ "NWHL Free Agent Camp Notebook". The Victory Press. June 14, 2016. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  15. ^ "MyWSports | Growing The Games Together". MyWSports | Growing The Games Together. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  16. ^ Nelson, Dustin L. (September 3, 2016). "New York Riveters Announce Practice Squad Players". The Hockey Writers. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  17. ^ "Riveters Hope New Signing Lauren Wash Will Spark Third Line". www.fanragsports.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
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