Nicole Hensley
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| Nicole Hensley | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Hensley with PWHL Minnesota in 2024 | |||
| Born |
June 23, 1994 Littleton, Colorado, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | ||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Catches | Left | ||
| PWHL team Former teams |
Minnesota Frost Lindenwood Lady Lions | ||
| National team |
 United States | ||
| Playing career | 2012–present | ||
Nicole Hensley (born June 23, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Minnesota Frost of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team.
Lindenwood University
Hensley debuted with the Lindenwood Lady Lions ice hockey team during the 2012-13 Lindenwood Lady Lions ice hockey season. Hensley won four consecutive CHA Student-Athlete of the Year awards, and landed on the CHA all-Academic team each year.[1]
NWHL
On June 12, 2018, Hensley signed a contract with the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).[2] In her debut for the Beauts, Hensley earned a shutout win over Finnish Olympian Meeri Räisänen of the Connecticut Whale in a 4–0 final on October 7, 2018.[3] In the 2019 NWHL All-Star Weekend, Hensley won the Chipwich Fastest Goalie competition.[4]
PWHPA
Hensley was scheduled to be one of three goaltenders to play in the PWHPA Dream Gap tour stop in Tokyo, Japan, along with Kimberley Sass and Alex Cavalinni.[5]
PWHL
On September 18, 2023, Hensley was selected in the 2nd round, 12th overall by PWHL Minnesota in the 2023 PWHL Draft, the first goaltender selected. Playing in a tandem with Maddie Rooney, she delivered two shutouts in the playoffs and the team won the first-ever Walter Cup to conclude the 2023–24 season.
In 2025, Hensley had the opportunity to play in front of her hometown crowd as part of the PWHL Takeover Tour. She noted it was the first women's game at Denver's Ball Arena since 2001.[6] She delivered a 24-save shutout with one game to go in the season to put the Frost within one point of the fourth-place charge, giving the Frost the opportunity to make the playoffs.[7] She played in three playoff games for the 2024–25 season and the team became back-to-back Walter Cup champions.
International play
Hensley was named one of three goaltenders to compete for the United States women's national ice hockey team at the 2016 IIHF Women's World Championship in Kamloops, British Columbia.[8] Hensley was also named to the 2017 team, where she was in net for a shutout against Canada in the preliminary rounds, started the quarterfinal against Germany, and played in Team USA's 3–2 OT win against Canada for the championship.[9][10]
She made the 2018 Olympic team, where the United States won the gold medal, earning a shutout win over the Russian team in her only appearance.[11]
Hensley was one of the goaltenders named to Team USA's rosters for the second half of the rivalry series between Team USA and Team Canada in 2019–2020.[12]
On January 2, 2022, Hensley was named to Team USA's roster to represent the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics.[13]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T/OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 2012–13 | Lindenwood Lady Lions | CHA |
27 | 7 | 16 | 3 | 1597 | 91 | 0 | 3.42 | .922 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Lindenwood Lady Lions | CHA |
33 | 5 | 25 | 3 | 1864 | 103 | 0 | 3.31 | .921 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Lindenwood Lady Lions | CHA |
30 | 10 | 17 | 2 | 1750 | 79 | 2 | 2.71 | .916 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Lindenwood Lady Lions | CHA |
32 | 8 | 20 | 4 | 1904 | 80 | 2 | 2.52 | .922 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Buffalo Beauts | NWHL |
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 360 | 9 | 2 | 1.50 | .935 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 2 | 0 | 1.97 | .935 | ||
| 2019–20 | Team Minnesota | PWHPA |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | PWHPA Minnesota | PWHPA |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 180 | 4 | 0 | 1.33 | .956 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Team Sonnet | PWHPA |
13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 771 | 33 | 1 | 2.57 | .921 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | PWHL Minnesota | PWHL |
14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 849 | 31 | 1 | 2.19 | .919 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 338 | 6 | 2 | 1.06 | .945 | ||
| 2024–25 | Minnesota Frost | PWHL |
11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 639 | 27 | 1 | 2.53 | .900 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 197 | 8 | 0 | 2.43 | .906 | ||
| NCAA totals | 123 | 30 | 78 | 12 | 7117 | 353 | 4 | 2.98 | .921 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| NWHL totals | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 360 | 9 | 2 | 1.50 | .935 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 2 | 0 | 1.97 | .935 | ||||
| PWHPA totals | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 771 | 33 | 1 | 2.57 | .921 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| PWHL totals | 25 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 1488 | 58 | 2 | 2.33 | .911 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 535 | 14 | 2 | 1.57 | .928 | ||||
International
| Regular season | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | W | L | T/OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | |
| 2018 | USA | OG |  |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.000 | |
| 2022 | USA | OG |  |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.000 | |