Meet the 2016 Whale Draftees

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The NWHL held their second annual entry draft at the end of June. Twenty women were drafted between the founding four teams.

This year the Connecticut Whale held the number three pick in the draft.

Let’s meet the five ladies the Connecticut Whale drafted in the 2016 draft.

Dani Cameranesi – Forward – Minnesota

Before Cameranesi was 18 years old she was a household name in Minnesota.

Cameranesi was a beast during her time at Blake School. By the end of her senior year, Cameranesi put up a whopping 200 goals and 157 assists. This incredible display of hockey skill led Cameranesi to be named an all-state honoree and all-conference honoree four times as well as Minnesota Ms. Hockey her senior year.

In 2012 and 2013, Cameranesi and Team USA won silver medals at the IIHF U-18 Women’s World Championship.

Things didn’t slow down for Cameranesi at the start of college.

Cameranesi was named National Rookie of the Year, WCHA Rookie of the year, and WCHA Preseason Rookie of the year during her first season as a Minnesota Gopher. These awards were well deserved. In 41 games, Cameranesi tallied 19 goals and 17 assists ranking her second in the nation among rookies in scoring. Eight of those goals were power-play goals which placed her at the top of the team and second in the nation. By the end of the season, Cameranesi’s propensity for finding the back of the net led her to have 11 multi-point and five multi-goal games.

During Sophomore year amped things up a bit on the ice. Over the course of 40 games, Cameranesi tallied 65 points in the form of 23 goals and 42 assists. A third of those goals were power-play goals placing her in the top 10 in the nation. Cameranesi’s 42 assists and +63 put her in the top seven in single-season records for the Gophers. She led the Gophers and ranked fourth in the nation with 1.05 assists per game.

At the end of the 2014-15 season, Cameranesi was named a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist, AHCA/CCM Second Team All-American, and NCAA All-Tournament team.

Things kept going upwards in Cameranesi’s career at Minnesota.

Junior year (2015-16) brought a career high 68 points, 33 goals, and 35 assists. Her 33 goals and 13 power-play goals placed Cameranesi first on the team in those categories.

Cameranesi would be named a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist for the second year in a row.

Andie Anastos – Forward – Boston College

Before heading to Boston College, Anastos played for the Honeybaked team which won Michigan’s AAA State Championship in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013. In 2011, Honeybaked won the National Championship.

Anastos brought the heat during her Freshman year at Boston College. In 37 games, she scored 14 goals and 21 assists. Her 35 points landed her second on the team. At the end of the season, Anastos was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team, won Hockey East Rookie of the Year, and was awarded the Freshman Outstanding Scholar Athlete Award by Boston College.

During Sophomore year, Anastos played in 39 games scoring 14 goals and 16 assists. She would end the season with six multi-point games, two of which were multi-goal games.

At the start of the 2015-16 season, Anastos was named captain alongside Alex Carpenter, Dana Trivigno, Lexi Bender, and Haley Skarupa.

She played in all 41 games tallying 14 goals and 23 assists for a total of 27 points.

Mellissa Channell – Defense – Wisconsin

During high school, Channell played for Little Caesar in Michigan. Her freshman year Little Caesar won the State Championship.

She also was the assistant captain for the Burlington Barracudas of the Provincial Women’s Hockey League.

In her first year with the Wisconsin Badgers, Channell played in 38 games scoring 12 points.

During her sophomore year, Channell notched 20 points over the course of 36 games. After a strong showing in the Final Face-off Tournament, she was named to the WCHA Final Face-off All-Tournament team.

Channell was Minnesota State’s biggest foe during the 2015-16 season. She scored four points on a power play goal and three assists during Wisconsin’s sweep of Minnesota State in October. During the first round of the WCHA Championship Tournament, Channell scored two goals and one assist against Minnesota State.

Channell played for Team Canada in the 2016 Four Nations Cup assisting on the gold medal game winner.

Paige Savage – Forward – Northeastern

Before college, Savage captained the NAHA U-19 team leading them to the Junior Hockey League title as it’s leading scorer.

Savage had quite the impressive international career the past few years. She was on Team USA when they  placed first (2012) and second (2014) in the Four Nations Cup. When the U-18 World Championships rolled around she won both a gold (2011) and silver (2012) medal.

This past season Savage skated in 38 games at Northeastern scoring 28 points in the form of 11 goals and 17 assists.

Sydney Rossman – Goalie – Quinnipiac

Minnetonka High School was home to Rossman during her teenage years.

As a Junior at Minnetonka, Rossman received All-Conference Honors and was named to the Minnesota All-Tournament Team.

Senior year of high school was when Rossman really began to shine. In 14 of her 19 starts, Rossman allowed one or fewer goals. Four of those games were shutouts.

Rossman led Minnetonka to their Minnesota Class AA Semifinals win. The six overtime win was the longest in the history of Minnesota hockey.During the game, Rossman had 49 saves.

By the end of her high school career, Rossman racked up a plethora of awards and accolades. She was named to the Minnesota All-Tournament Team, Academic All-State, Star Tribune All-Metro,Associated Press All-State honors, MGHCA All-State Honors, and All-Conference Honors.

Rossman was also awarded the 2013 Let’s Play Hockey Senior Goalie of the Year and the Hobey Baker award. Let’s Play Hockey Senior Goalie of the Year

Let’s Play Hockey Senior Goalie of the Year is awarded annually to the top senior goalie in girl’s high school hockey.

The Hobey Baker is awarded to the high school hockey players who exemplifies the characteristics of integrity, coachability, outstanding sportsmanship, and community spirit.

Quinnipiac would become Rossman’s collegiate home.

As a Freshman, Rossman played in eight games starting in four of them. After posting a 2-0 record, 1.00 GAA, and a .980save percentage during the Nutmeg Classic, Rossman was named Nutmeg Classic’s Top Goaltender.

Rossman would finish the season with the second-best single seasonGAA (1.36) and save percentage (.933)in program history.

During Sophomore year, Rossman played in four games allowing only three goals all season. At the end of the season, she was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team.

Junior year was Rossman’s time to shine at Quinnipiac. She led all NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey Goaltenders with 38 starts and 2,342:10 minutes of ice time. Rossman now holds the program record for consecutive shutouts with four.

From November 6th to February 6th, Rossman had a 21 game unbeaten streak. The Nutmeg Classic named her the Most Outstanding Goaltender for the second year in a row.

The Nutmeg Classic named her the Most Outstanding Goaltender for the second year in a row.

Rossman set the program record for the best season by a goaltender with 30 wins and a win percentage of .855.

At the end of the season, Rossman was named Quinnipiac’s MVP.

 

The Connecticut Whale kick off the 2016-17 season against the Buffalo Beauts on October 9th.