Nicole Hensley
American goaltender, Olympic gold medalist, two-time Walter Cup champion.
Nicole Hensley, a goaltender born on June 23, 1994, plays for PWHL Las Vegas in the Professional Women’s Hockey League and represents the United States national team. Before joining Las Vegas, she was with the PWHL’s Minnesota Frost.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 23 June 1994
- Birthplace
- Littleton, Colorado, U.S.
- Position
- Goaltender
- Catches
- Left
- League
- PWHL
- Team
- PWHL Las Vegas
- Former teams
- Lindenwood Lady Lions; Minnesota Frost
Facts from the source article.
Playing career
Nicole Hensley started her college hockey career with the Lindenwood Lady Lions in the 2012-13 season. Over her time there, she was named CHA Student-Athlete of the Year four years in a row and made the CHA all-Academic team each season. She signed with the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League on June 12, 2018. In her first game for the Beauts, on October 7, 2018, she shut out Finnish Olympian Meeri Räisänen and the Connecticut Whale by a score of 4-0. During the 2019 NWHL All-Star Weekend, she took first place in the Chipwich Fastest Goalie competition. She was also set to join Kimberley Sass and Alex Cavalinni as one of three goalies for the PWHPA Dream Gap tour stop in Tokyo, Japan. In the 2023 PWHL Draft, PWHL Minnesota picked her in the second round, 12th overall, making her the first goaltender selected. Sharing the crease with Maddie Rooney, she notched two shutouts in the playoffs, and the team claimed the first-ever Walter Cup at the end of the 2023-24 season. In 2025, she got to play in front of her hometown fans during the PWHL Takeover Tour at Denver's Ball Arena, marking the first women's game there since 2001. With one game left in the regular season, she turned in a 24-save shutout that put the Frost within a single point of the fourth-place spot, keeping their playoff hopes alive. She played in three playoff games that year, and the Frost won back-to-back Walter Cup titles. During the 2025-26 season, she suited up for 13 games, putting up a 7-4-2 record, a 2.69 goals against average, and a .908 save percentage. In November, she made 30 saves in a shutout of the Seattle Torrent at Climate Pledge Arena, a game that set a new attendance record. When the league expanded to 12 teams ahead of the 2026-27 season, the Frost left her unprotected, and she signed a two-year deal with PWHL Las Vegas on June 10, 2026.
International play
Hensley was chosen as one of three goalies for the U.S. at the 2016 IIHF Women's World Championship in Kamloops. The following year, she made the squad again, notching a preliminary-round shutout versus Canada, starting the quarterfinal against Germany, and appearing in the 3-2 overtime championship win over Canada. She earned a spot on the 2018 Olympic team, winning gold and recording a shutout against Russia in her sole game. For the 2019–2020 season, she was among the goalies selected for the second half of the U.S.-Canada rivalry series. On January 2, 2022, she was named to the U.S. roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
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