For years, girls and women who came from hockey playing families were often reduced to or referred to by referencing their fathers and brothers. Soon however, there will be a wave of hockey players hitting higher levels following in the footsteps of their hockey playing mothers.
One example that hit headlines recently was the commitment of 2008 born forward Emily Pohl to the University of Wisconsin. Pohl, a standout at Hill-Murray in Minnesota. Many expected she'd follow in the footsteps of her mother, Hockey Hall of Famer Krissy Wendell-Pohl, who won two national titles and a Patty Kazmaier Award at the University of Minnesota, but instead chose her own path to Wisconsin.
Krissy Wendell-Pohl represented Team USA at six World Championships and two Olympic Games including captaining USA in 2006 and 2007. Emily Pohl has yet to represent her nation, but continues to chase her own hockey dreams, which will now include an NCAA career at a program that has turned into a perennial powerhouse and national championship contender.
They aren't alone however, as more prospects continue to emerge from hockey families where their mothers were standouts. That includes one of Wendell-Pohl's former teammates, USA netminder Erin Whitten, whose daughter Alli Hamlen, is a 2011-born goaltender to watch. She's currently backstopping a boys' 14U 'AAA' team in New Hampshire. She was also part of the CCM 68 prospect camp this summer which featured a handful of second generation women's hockey players.
In the late 1990s, Alison Coughlin was won of the NCAA's top players with Princeton. The two-time Patty Kazmaier winner would eventually marry and have a family. Her daughters, Maggie Averill, Caroline Averill, and Annie Averill are all prominent players. Annie is in her third season playing NCAA hockey at Dartmouth, while Maggie and Caroline have both represented USA's U-18 national team at multiple World Championships and are both following in their mother's footsteps to join Princeton next season.
They're only a few of the many examples coming up through the hockey ranks currently.
There are moms of men's hockey players out there as well who rarely get the attention their hockey playing or hockey employed husbands received. Perhaps there's no greater example than Ellen Weinberg-Hughes. Weignberg-Hughes was a member of USA's national team at the 1992 World Championships winning silver and being named a tournament All-Star. It was her lone national team appearance following her NCAA career at New Hampshire. Her sons, Quinn Hughes, Jack Hughes, and Luke Hughes were all first round NHL picks, currently play in the league, and have each represented USA at various levels.
There are other examples as well, including the sons of Manon Rheaume, a long time Canadian national team netminder and the first woman to ever appear in an NHL preseason game. Her sons Dylan St. Cyr and Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen have each played NCAA hockey and represented USA at the U-18 level.
The list is certain to grow, including some day from former PWHL players as the league has developed supportive maternity plans into their collective bargaining agreement. The league has already featured several moms in competition including Natalie Spooner, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Emerance Maschmeyer, and Madison Packer, who were all able to balance their professional careers alongside being parents.
The hockey family is changing with the continued growth of professional women's hockey, and before long, more and more mothers will be the historic figures discussed alongside their hockey playing daughters and sons.