There is no secret that the Boston Pride are the top team in women’s hockey this season. The city of Boston is known for its great sports teams and the Boston Pride are one of them. Having gone undefeated through 17 games so far this season, the Pride are far and away the top team in the National Women’s Hockey League during the 2019-20 season. Leading the way for the pack is veteran forward and team captain Jillian Dempsey.
Dempsey has served as the captain of the Boston Pride for the past two seasons and has taken her game and her role as captain to a whole new level this season. Through 17 games, Dempsey not only leads her team in points, but sits atop the entire league with a total of 29 points. She is having a career year as her 29 points are the highest mark in her entire professional career split between the NWHL and CWHL.
Her second-best season came in her first professional year out of the NCAA, playing in the CWHL for the Boston Blades where she recorded 28 points in 24 games.
The veteran goal scorer sits third in the league in goals with 12 behind teammate McKenna Brand who has 14 goals and Buffalo Beauts forward Taylor Accursi who leads the league with 15 goals on the season. Her 17 assists rank as the highest total in the league and are the highest amount of helpers she has recorded since making the jump from the NCAA.
With her 17 assists and counting, Dempsey has put herself in elite company for single-season performances. She sits tied on the NWHL’s single season assists list with Brianna Decker and Courtney Burke for third place on the all-time list. Her 29 points are also tied in third place with Decker on the all-time points per-season list.
Her astonishing season has also resulted in Dempsey becoming one of the best to ever play in the league. She currently sits in first place on the NWHL’s all-time assist list with 43 and the all-time goals list with 41. As a result, she is the NWHL’s all-time leading scorer with 87 points and is the longest-tenured player as she sits first place in games played with 84.
Dempsey is the favourite to finish the season with the league’s most points, but is also one of the favourites to be named the NWHL’s MVP. Despite her long tenure in the NWHL and her historic records, Dempsey has never finished a season in the NWHL as the league’s top-scorer. The 2019-20 season could be her first-ever season as the league’s top-scorer which would add to a long list of accomplishments Dempsey has achieved in her career thus far.
The forward has led her team to an unprecedented level of success in the sport and will look to help the Boston Pride continue their historic season when the playoffs commence.