Brittany Howard (ice hockey)

Brittany Howard
Howard with PWHL Toronto in 2024
Born (1995-11-20) November 20, 1995 (age 28)
St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Weight 135 lb (61 kg; 9 st 9 lb)
Position Forward
Shot Right
Played for
Playing career 2013–2024

Brittany Howard (born November 20, 1995) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. She played one season in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) for PWHL Toronto. She played college ice hockey at Robert Morris and was the first Colonial player to win the CHA Player of the Year award.

Playing career

Junior

Howard attended Parkside Collegiate Institute in her hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, where she was named MVP of her basketball team, received the Award of Excellence, and was a three-time honor student.[1] Howard played four seasons of junior hockey in London, Ontario with the London Jr. Devilettes of the Provincial Women's Hockey League. On October 21, 2012, Howard scored seven points to tie the league single-game record in a 7–3 win against the Kitchener-Waterloo Rangers.[2] Howard was an alternate captain and led the Devilettes in scoring in her final season.[3] Along with other Devilettes Jessica Dodds and Tia Kipfer, Howard earned a place at Robert Morris in 2013, joining former Devilettes Anneline Lauziere and Erin Staniewski. All eleven graduating players from the Devilettes 2012–13 squad would move on to play for NCAA or CIS schools.[4]

NCAA

Howard first played for Robert Morris University in the 2013–14 season. During the 2013–14 season, she made an immediate impact, being named the CHA Player of the month in her first month of play. The addition of Howard was credited with improving the tenth-ranked team's overall offense and making it harder to defend.[5] That season, she led all rookies in the country in assists and points (17G, 24A, 41P). She was named to the USCHO All-Rookie Team (national), the CHA All-Rookie Team and the CHA All-Star Second Team.[6]

Howard played only two games in 2014–15 due to a knee injury. The injury gives her an extra year of NCAA eligibility. The team missed her point total of 41 in 2013–14 which led the team, while in 2014–15 the team leader had 21 points. Howard returned in September 2015 to bolster their offence.[7] In the 2015–16 season, she was a CHA First Team All-Star, leading the conference in points (40). She finished the season being named ASN Women's Player of the Week after back-to-back three-point games and led the team in goals and points.[8]

The 2016–17 season was Howard's best year to date, as she was named the CHA Player of the Year, with multiple Player of the month accolades,[9] on the strength of 20 goals and 30 assists. Her 50 points were the tenth best in the nation, as she was the offensive leader during Robert Morris' first season in which they won the CHA conference championship and played in the NCAA Tournament.[10][11][12][13][14][15] Number 8-ranked RMU would lose in the first round to the no. 1-ranked University of Wisconsin.[16] During the season, Howard surpassed Rebecca Vint as the all-time leading scorer for the RMU program.[17]

The NWHL named Howard the top available prospect in the nation. As she committed to completing her senior year at Robert Morris, she was drafted 10th overall by the Buffalo Beauts, the first CHA Conference member to be drafted by the league.[18][19]

Howard, Jaycee Gebhard and Amber Rennie contributed 42% of RMU's points in 2016-17. With all three returning the next season, Robert Morris was favored to win the CHA again in 2017–18. The Colonials had another strong year, winning the regular season championship. They played Mercyhurst in the CHA championship game, losing by a score of 3-5.[16] Playing as a red-shirt senior, Howard finished the year with 49 point on 25 goals and 24 assists.[20]

Professional

Howard was drafted in the third round of the 2017 NWHL Draft by the Buffalo Beauts after being named the top prospect in the nation. Rather than sign with the Beauts, she chose to join the Toronto Furies of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) and went on to spend three seasons with the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) following the collapse of the CWHL in 2019.[20] She joined the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) for the 2022-23 season, being named an all-star and leading the team in scoring as the Six would go on to win the Isobel Cup.[21]

She was drafted in the eighth round of the 2023 PWHL Draft by Toronto.[22]

Career statistics

NCAA

Season GP G A Pts
2013–14 Robert Morris 34 17 24 41
2014–15 Robert Morris 2 0 1 1
2015–16 Robert Morris 36 17 23 40
2016–17 Robert Morris 35 20 30 50
2017–18 Robert Morris 31 25 24 49
Robert Morris totals 138 79 102 181

Source: USCHO.[23]

Awards and honours

  • 2014 All-CHA Rookie Team, 2014 All-CHA Second Team, October CHA Player of the Month, November CHA Rookie of the Month[24]
  • 2014 USCHO All-Rookie Team[25]
  • 2016 All-CHA First Team
  • 2017 All-CHA First Team[26]
  • 2017 CHA Championship All-tournament team[14]
  • 2017 CHA Player of the Year[27]

References

  1. ^ "Brittany Howard". Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  2. ^ Chronicle Staff (October 23, 2012). "PWHL Rangers fall to Devilettes - minor hockey briefs". Waterloo Chronicle.
  3. ^ "Devilettes face Wildcats on Sunday at Timken Centre". St. Thomas Times-Journal. February 1, 2013. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  4. ^ Robinson, Jacob (April 12, 2013). "Devilettes trio find a home at RMU". Simcoe Reformer. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  5. ^ Fundaro, Gabriella (December 4, 2013). "NCAA Women's Hockey Weekly Round-Up: December 4th, 2013". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  6. ^ "CHA Regular Season Awards". yourerie.com. March 6, 2017. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  7. ^ Marttila, Arlan (October 5, 2015). "Robert Morris buoyed by return of Howard". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  8. ^ Dondeneau, Dave. "Back with a vengeance, RMU's Brittany Howard earns Women's Player of the Week honors". American Sports Net. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  9. ^ Collier, Sean (January 18, 2017). "She is Robert Morris University's Colonial Ace on Ice". Pittsburgh Magazine. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  10. ^ "Brittany Howard Bio". Robert Morris University. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  11. ^ "RMU Claims CHA Coach, Player and Rookie of the Year". Robert Morris University. March 1, 2017. Archived from the original on March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  12. ^ "Around the world of NCAA women's ice hockey". NCAA.com. January 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  13. ^ Berl, Justin (January 12, 2017). "Robert Morris' Brittany Howard combining skill with physicality for women's hockey team". Timesonline.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Robert Morris women's hockey wins CHA title, qualifies for NCAA Tournament". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. March 4, 2017. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  15. ^ Palla, Chaz (March 25, 2017). "Behind the scenes of Robert Morris women's hockey's championship run". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  16. ^ a b Haase, Nicole (September 24, 2017). "CHA season preview: Robert Morris still the favorite". Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  17. ^ Anthony, Samuel (August 22, 2017). "Former Colonial Rebecca Vint signs NWHL contract". RMU Sentry. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  18. ^ Brian Mitchell (August 16, 2017). "Brittany Howard named NWHL's top draft prospect". Pittsburgh Hockey Digest. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  19. ^ "2017 NWHL Draft". National Women's Hockey League. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  20. ^ a b "Player profile: Brittany Howard". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  21. ^ Zwolinski, Mark (May 20, 2023). "Toronto Six star Brittany Howard departs, expansion talks surface in busy start to PHF off-season". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  22. ^ Lale, Brent (September 19, 2023). "Three former London Devilettes chosen in inaugural PWHL draft". CTV News. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  23. ^ "Brittany Howard: Career Statistics". USCHO. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  24. ^ Snyder, Larry (April 2, 2014). "Robert Morris Hockey: Cody Wydo, Jessica Dodds, Brittany Howard Bring Home More Awards". cityofchampionssports.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  25. ^ Wisneski, Andrew (August 10, 2017). "The 10 Greatest College Hockey America Freshman Seasons". Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  26. ^ Shultz, Randy (March 3, 2017). "College Hockey America Announces Regular Season Award Winners". www.nyhockeyonline.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  27. ^ Staffieri, Mark (April 19, 2017). "Jessica Dodds Dazzles in Landmark Season for RMU Colonials". Women's Hockey Life. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.

[1]

  1. ^ "NCAA Women's Hockey Weekly Round-Up: December 4th, 2013". December 4, 2013.