Marie-Jo Pelletier

Marie-Jo Pelletier
Born (1997-09-05) 5 September 1997 (age 27)
Dalhousie, New Brunswick, Canada
Height 151 cm (4 ft 11 in)
Position Defence
Shot Right
PHF team
Former teams		 Buffalo Beauts
New Hampshire Wildcats
Playing career 2015–2022

Marie-Jo Pelletier (born 5 September 1997) is a Canadian former ice hockey player. She played her entire professional career for the Buffalo Beauts of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF; called NWHL until 2021).[1]

Playing career

Pelletier played college ice hockey with the New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (WHEA) conference of the NCAA Division I during 2015 to 2019. With the Wildcats, she scored 52 points across 143 games and was a three-season captain.[2] She garnered the nickname 'Mighty Mouse,' a recognition of her excellent play in defiance of her short stature.[3][4] She won the Hockey East Sportsmanship Award in 2019, becoming the second University of New Hampshire (UNH) player to win the award, after Sara Carlson.[5]

Following graduation in 2019, Pelletier opted to sign with the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). As a rookie in the 2019–20 NWHL season, she posted 21 points in 24 games – setting a league record for most power-play points in a season[6] – and was named to the 2020 NWHL All-Star Game.[7] She was also a finalist for the NWHL Newcomer of the Year award and was selected as one of the NWHL Fans’ Three Stars of the Year.[8]

In the 2020–21 season, she contributed 3 assists across 6 games in the Lake Placid bubble but the Beauts narrowly missed the playoffs. On 13 May 2021, Pelletier became the first player in the league to sign a contract for the 2021–22 season, returning to the Beauts for a third season.[9]

On April 1, 2022, Pelletier announced her retirement via social media.[10]

Career Statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2019-20 Buffalo Beauts NWHL 24 6 15 21 0 1 0 0 0 0
2020-21 Buffalo Beauts NWHL 6 0 3 3 0 - - - - -
2021-22 Buffalo Beauts PHF 20 0 5 5 2 1 0 0 0 0
NWHL totals 50 6 23 29 2 2 0 0 0 0

References

  1. ^ "Buffalo Beauts 2021-22 PHF Roster: Marie-Jo Pelletier, #4 Defense". Premier Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  2. ^ Lessels, Allen (18 February 2018). "UNH women's hockey: Seniors set the tone on blueline". Concord Monitor. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  3. ^ Oliver, Nathaniel (18 October 2017). "UNH Wildcat Marie-Jo Pelletier Is a 'Mighty Mouse' of Sorts". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Athlete Awards, Women's Spotlight: Marie-Jo Pelletier". University of New Hampshire Athletics (Press release). 27 February 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Pelletier Wins Sportsmanship Award". University of New Hampshire Athletics (Press release). 6 March 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  6. ^ Oliver, Nathaniel (28 April 2020). ""Mighty Mouse" MJ Pelletier Returns to the Beauts". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  7. ^ McCoy, James P. (9 January 2020). "Beauts have six players named to NWHL All-Star game". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  8. ^ Clinton, Jared (6 March 2020). "Beauts' Pelletier proved naysayers wrong – and now she wants Buffalo to do the same". The Hockey News on Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Beauts Kick Off Re-Signings With MJP". Premier Hockey Federation (Press release). 13 May 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  10. ^ @mj_pelletier (1 April 2022). "Thank you💙" (Tweet) – via Twitter.