Behind Every Team: Fans of the New York Riveters

A flag designed by Riveters fan Nick W. Photo Credit: @Rivs_Fans/@DJBigNicky

The New York Riveters are one of the Founding Four teams of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). Although the Riveters finished last with a 4-12-2 record in the inaugural season, New York fans made an indelible mark with the Riveters, as well as other players in the league. While the New York Riveters fans do not have an official supporters group, there are several very faithful spectators. Fans traveled from New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester and the 5 boroughs for the inaugural season. We caught up with two Riveters fans, Hannah Beckman and Dmitry Kristal, via e-mail about the first NWHL season, free agency and more.

Introduction to the Game

Hannah is a hockey player who attributes her love of the game to her father, a New Jersey Devils fan. She began watching at five, “from that point on I fell in love with it, and it wasn't until the age of 12 that I decided I wanted to play hockey myself because I loved it so much.” Dmitry has been watching hockey for some time, but his passion for the game elevated when hockey came to Brooklyn by way of the New York Aviators, a team that played at the same arena as the Riveters.

He greatly enjoyed watching live hockey so close to home in Brooklyn. When he heard that hockey would return to Aviator Sports Complex, he assumed it would be men’s hockey, “Someone pointed out it was women's hockey. This is the first time I was going to attend women's hockey and I didn't know what to expect.” However, he would soon become one of the many loyal Riveters fans for the upcoming NWHL season.

Picking the Riveters

New York Riveters Defenseman Gabie Figueroa poses with Dmitry after a preseason game at Aviator. Photo Courtesy of Dmitry Kristal.

For Dmitry, there was never a doubt that he would be on hand to watch the newest New York hockey team, “At one point Aviators won 20+ games in a row, so I was still riding high, even though it's been over 5 years. My expectations were high!” Dmitry got his first chance to see the New York Riveters in action during a preseason matchup against the New York Fire Department, “I made my first favorite player Gabie Figueroa, as it was she and Janine Weber who came out after the game. They had nothing to sign but schedule cards, but that was the official day I was born a Riveters fan and bought season tickets that night.” Thus, his loyalty to the newest local team was born.

For Hannah, she had a bit more of a process when it came to selecting a team, “I chose [The Riveters] as ‘my team’ because I knew that the organization and the players themselves were all about the journey, which I absolutely loved. The players were all so welcoming to us fans, which I highly enjoyed. A big plus is that the Riveters home games are not a far drive for me, so I loved that my favorite team was just a highway away!” However, as the season went on, both Hannah and Dmitry stood out for their ability to #RepTheRivs at Aviator and on social media.

Creating A “Hostile” Environment

Kelley Steadman and her Beauts teammates take in Dmitry’s latest signs before the last home game of the season at Aviator. Photo Courtesy of Dmitry Kristal.

Most fan bases attempt to create a home advantage by cheering the home team, and giving the visitors a hard time. Dmitry became known through the league, especially by the players for the latter. Although, perhaps “hostile” is a bit strong, as most opposing players really got a kick out of reading his signs. We asked Dmitry about is famous signs:

“The first night I brought the signs was home game #2 against the Whale. As soon as I put up ‘Fins Down’ sign, a puck came flying from a Whale player causing the sign to fall. From [there], it was on and it meant war! With each week the signs got more and more edgy and players were never offended. In fact they would occasionally tweet about [them] before each game, they would take turns stretching in front of signs and look whether or not they made the cut … Anya Battaglino even gave me a shout on the Charlie Flowe podcast about my signs. While Whale and Beauts appreciated my signs, out of respect for Boston, the only signs I made for them were Denna Laing-related (in support of the Boston player injured during the Outdoor Women’s Classic), but that changes next season.”

Some of Hannah’s design work for the Instagram account @Rosierivs

While Dmitry and a few other fans brought signs to the games, Hannah took her talents to Twitter. The NWHL has focused a lot on social media to promote the league and the players, so naturally, fans have used online outlets to interact with players and fans alike. For Hannah, she felt a sense of connection to the hockey community online, “Twitter has been, what I call, my NWHL world. Us fans have gathered together to talk about our shared love of the NWHL. Everyone is so nice! I think our job now is to keep growing our fan base and grow the game.” For her part, Hannah created an Instagram account to promote the New York Riveters, as well as her graphic design skills. Check her out on Instagram: @Rosierivs

Player-Fan Moments

The dedication of fans like Hannah and Dmitry has paid off for the infant league. Both have been able to connect with players after games and even elsewhere. For Hannah, as an aspiring Division I hockey player, she enjoyed meeting her favorite players Taylor Holze and Morgan Fritz-Ward. Taylor helped Hannah find her confidence,

“I thank her tons because she's helped me boost my confidence, which I've always had trouble being confident about myself. She did that by telling me that she herself believes in me and that I can do it! Ever since she gave me this book, “Mind Gym” (by Gary Mack), she's helped me become the player I am today ... she has taught me a key thing that has changed my perspective on my career, that the journey is the reward.”

Hannah has been able to take lessons with Holze, the picture above was taken after a session at Long Beach Ice Arena.

Fritz-Ward offers Hannah the opportunity to see someone with a similar story succeed at the professional level, “Morgan has inspired me to keep working hard no matter what. She's taught me that it doesn't matter when you started to play hockey, you can go far no matter what,” stated Hannah, “Morgan started hockey when she was 12, as did I, but I always thought that I started too late and that I would never be as good as anyone else, Morgan kind of showed me that it doesn't matter, you'll get there with hard work.”

In addition to meeting Gabie, Janine and the other Riveters, Dmitry greatly enjoyed meeting his original frenemy, “As a big fan of Olympics, I heard of names like Kelli Stack, Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan. While none of US Olympians were on the Riveters, having other NWHL players so widely accessible was a great feeling.”

During the final home game of the regular season at Chelsea Piers Stamford (home of the Connecticut Whale), Dmitry was able to chat with Kelli Stack (right) after an entire regular season of Twitter banter, sparked by his signs posted at Aviator, “[that] was by far one of my favorite NWHL nights … jabbing each other on Twitter and then finally meeting in person was incredible.”

The 2016-17 Roster

New General Manager and returning Head Coach Chad Wiseman certainly has made some moves in the offseason. The last place team has currently signed a league high twelve players to the 2016-17 roster. Hannah added that next season, she wants to see a few more returners, “So far, my predictions have been correct with the Riveters signing Morgan, (Madison) Packer, (Ashley) Johnston, and (Kiira) Dosdall. But, I think that they still need to bring back a couple more players, including Taylor (Holze) , Nana (Fujimoto), and (Brooke) Ammerman. I think those 3 players are key players that should come back. But, on the other hand, we need to bring in new players as well, like fresh talent coming out of college and maybe make a few trades here and there!”

To that end, Wiseman completed a huge free agent acquisition with the signing of Amanda Kessel. The new GM was also able to add league veterans, and former Whale players Jaimie Leonoff and Kaleigh Fratkin. Rookies Miye D’Oench and Courtney Burke were also signed. With the roster changes for the next season, Wiseman has room for four skaters and one goalie on his paid roster. The Riveters will also have room for six practice players, one of which must be a goalie.

As Hannah mentioned, Captains Ashley Johnston, Morgan Fritz-Ward and Madison Packer all re-signed, along with Bray Ketchum and Janine Weber also re-signed. Dmitry is cautiously optomistic about some of the new names added to the Riveters roster, “With each new player they signed, it means another player becomes an ex-Riveter. The pay is still relatively low, so if a player has a better opportunity to make a living, I can't blame her!” Such might be the case with players like Meghan Fardelmann, a founding member of the league who was able to work in New York on special assignment from her Kansas-based job with General Motors. Additionally, two Riveters, including one of Dmitry’s favorites, participated in a recent Free Agent Camp in Newark.

The league, and the New York Riveters have already felt the sting of the first official retirement. New York goaltender and NWHL Public R staffer, Jenny Scrivens, announced she will not return to the league. Scrivens struggled being away from her home and her husband, fellow pro goalie, Ben Scrivens. Although Scrivens appeared to have left with the utmost respect and appreciation for her role on and off the ice, the offseason has been rife with headlines that suggest that there might be some trying times ahead for the NWHL and Commissioner Dani Rylan.

Hopes for the Future

Dmitry and Hannah obviously enjoyed their experience with the inaugural season of the NWHL. We asked these die-hard Riveters fans to offer their take on the league. For Hannah, the new professional league provides a tangible goal to strive for, “I knew that this was the beginning of a new chapter in women's hockey. Also, for me personally, I knew that I had to start working harder than before in my hockey career … I was happy to hear that someday, I could be a professional hockey player!”

However, that does not mean the first season was perfect. Even fans like Dmitry noted some inconsistencies, “Some simple things like a signed team photo of entire team to a season ticket holder never happened, but because I had so many pictures and pucks signed, I overlooked it,” he continued, “players and staff kept giving love back and that was good enough for me to overlook the negatives.”

Hannah and Morgan Fritz-Ward take a selfie during warm-ups at Aviator Sports Complex.

Photo courtesy of Hannah B.

For Hannah, she is hopeful that the league will overcome any shortcomings, “My opinion on all the negative comments coming our way about the NWHL is simply this, give us a chance … the journey is going to be long, but all the work is going to pay off.” She added that the NWHL is the opportunity that female hockey players like herself desperately need, “There are girls and women around the world that need help to show off their skills. For a while, we couldn't do that because not everyone can make it into the Olympics, but with the NWHL we finally have a chance to show people what we are made of, that we are strong and can do anything.”

Either way, both fans have hopes that the Isobel Cup will make its way to Brooklyn, although the team’s return to Aviator has not yet been announced, “I hope to see us, hopefully, hoist the Isobel Cup, that may be a long journey, but I believe in our players and think they can do it,” said Hannah. Dmitry agreed, “I'm hoping this means first pro championship in Brooklyn since 1959 Dodgers, if they remain in Brooklyn.”

Thank you to Dmitry (@MightyD88) and Hannah (@HanHanR5_30) for your participation!

The NWHL will host the 2016 College Draft via Social Media on Saturday, June 18th. The league will also host two more Free Agent Camps later in the summer.

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @elindsay08