Erin Hamlen (born October 26, 1971) is an American retired ice hockey goaltender and the current head coach of the Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. She was among the first women to play professional ice hockey and, on October 30, 1993, she became the first woman to earn a victory in a professional hockey game as a goaltender, in the Toledo Storm's 6–5 win over the Dayton Bombers in the East Coast Hockey League. As a member of the U.S. national team, she competed in and won silver medals at four IIHF Women's World Championships. She was USA Hockey Women's Player of the Year in 1994.
Hamlen previously spent ten years as an assistant and associate coach with the New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey program and was the first head coach of the Boston Blades.
Playing career
Hamlen is from Glens Falls, New York, where she grew up playing hockey with the neighborhood boys, starting at age 5. She moved to goaltending at age 12.
Hamlen played in the Adirondack Youth Hockey Association. In high school, she was the first female player for the Glens Falls Indians. She was a backup goaltender in her junior year and started in net as a senior.
In high school, she accumulated a 21–9 record with a 2.0 GAA. She was selected as a Central District High School Hockey League All-Star Honorable Mention. In 1989, she was the first female player to compete in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Division 2 High School Hockey Championships.
Hamlen was recruited to play for women's teams at Northeastern University and the University of New Hampshire.
University of New Hampshire
Hamlen played all four years she attended the University of New Hampshire, before graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1993. Over four seasons she compiled a record of 54–14–4, with a .910 save percentage.
Hamlen shut out Dartmouth College in her collegiate debut and helped lead the Wildcats to two ECAC titles, in 1990 and 1991. As a college player, she was selected as First-Team All-Star four times. She won the ECAC Goaltender of the Year award in 1992.
At the time of her graduation, Hamlen held the UNH records for saves in a game (46), saves in a season (511), and career saves (1,556). She had 51 career victories -- second most in school history at the time.
Professional career
After her graduation from college, Hamlen was working at an Adirondack Red Wings summer camp when two players introduced her to agent Steve Bartlett, who also represented Manon Rheaume. He landed her an opportunity to tryout with the Red Wings, though she eventually signed with the Toledo Storm of the ECHL and coach Chris McSorley. “I’ve dressed everywhere from the women's bathroom to the closet,” she said in November 1993, of being the team's only female player. “If I could fit all the gear in a phone booth, I'm sure I'd have used one of those by now.”
As a goaltender with Toledo, she was the first woman to earn a victory in a professional ice hockey game, during a 6–5 win against the Dayton Bombers on October 30, 1993. Hamlen had come into a tied game for the injured Alain Harvey in the second period. The Storm clearly played with more intensity with Hamlen in net, according to the Toledo Blade. Barry Potomski, typically a Storm enforcer, tallied a hat-trick. Hamlen stopped 15 of 19 shots and was credited with the win.
At the time, Hamlen was under the misimpression that Rheaume, who had been the first woman to play in a pro hockey game during the prior season, had already recorded a win. “I'm not quite sure how to react because I just heard it myself,” Hamlen told the Toledo Blade after the game. She said it was “nice to be in the record books” but it had been “just another win. Hopefully there will be a few more.”
She told the Blade: “I'm doing what I love to do. Whether that makes history or not, it doesn't really matter to me. I just want to play hockey.”
Hamlen was 22 years old at the time, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, and weighed 155 pounds. She later told The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, “I'm glad I'm in the record books. Nobody can take that away. I'd like to play as much as I can and see how far I can take it.”
Hamlen also played professionally with the Dallas Freeze of the Central Hockey League (CHL) in the 1993–94 season.
She played in the Colonial Hockey League (CoHL) with the Utica Blizzard in the 1994–95 season and the Flint Generals in the 1995–96 season. She was the first woman to participate in a game in each of the leagues.
Hamlen also played roller hockey with the Pittsburgh Phantoms and the Oakland Skates.