July 26, 2024

Amanda Leveille appreciation — Top stories from the week

Hockey Friday with The Ice Garden, July 26, 2024

Amanda Leveille is goalkeeping in a Minnesota Whitecaps uniform

Goaltender Amanda Leveille minds the goal as a member of the Minnesota Whitecaps. (Photo Credit: Kayla Jo Franz | PHF)

Happy Friday! I’m Leighann from The Ice Garden here with your women’s hockey weekly updates. This week we examine five top moments from the very accomplished career of Amanda Leveille as she announced her retirement from hockey.

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On July 23, goaltender Amanda Leveille announced her retirement from hockey after winning the Walter Cup with PWHL Minnesota earlier this year during the league’s inaugural season. That is far from the only trophy or accomplishment during her career and, while there are many more than five, I’ve decided to give you a small glimpse into that career with my top five ‘Lev’ moments.

Four-year PHF championship run

After becoming the first draft pick in PHF history to sign a contract, Leveille took the Buffalo Beauts to the Isobel Cup final in 2017 — and won. She then ran it back three more times, including a run with the Minnesota Whitecaps in 2019 where they won the Isobel Cup in their first season in the league.

In that time, Lev picked up a plethora of titles such as Goaltender of the Year, league leader in saves, minutes played and All-Star multiple times over — proving she’s simply always been a star.

Amanda Leveille nuff said 😏 pic.twitter.com/uSk0B7dFWB
— Minnesota Whitecaps (@WhitecapsHockey) January 5, 2020

Any time she has ever posted on Instagram

Okay, so this isn’t one moment. But seriously, if you aren’t following @mandy_leveille on Instagram and didn’t witness the purely chaotic and always funny goalie content from her days with the Buffalo Beauts or Minnesota Whitecaps, you’re missing out.

If you’ve just started following the NWHL, let me present you with compelling evidence that Whitecaps starting goalie Amanda Leveille has the world’s most entertaining Instagram account. We always say hockey needs more personality, so here you go! pic.twitter.com/CwrEg18jU0
— Catherine Silverman (@catmsilverman) January 26, 2021

College shutout streak

Scoring on Lev is few and far between but opening her college career at the University of Minnesota with seven shutout games while playing backup to the iconic Noora Räty is something only she could do. Through 279:35 minutes of play in her freshman season, Lev didn’t let up a single goal nor did the team lose a single game. They went 41-0. Leveille was credited with three shutouts in her three starts.

Three NCAA championships

Amanda Leveille has been in and won more championship games in her career than she hasn’t. It’s very rare to see her have an off day and even more rare to see her not succeed in a high pressure situation or miss out on a game where the big trophy is on the line.

A two-time Isobel Cup champion, one-time Walter Cup champion and three-time NCAA champion, she’s one of the most decorated players in pro women’s hockey history and that wouldn’t have been possible without her many magic moments as a Gopher.

Impact on the game

Again, this isn’t technically one moment but let me explain. It’s no question that Leveille has had a very successful hockey career full of impressive numbers and accolades which will not be forgotten. She will go down as one of the best goaltenders in the history of women’s hockey but also as a funny half of any goalie duo she’s been a part of, a friendly presence in any media scrum and someone who always fought for the ability of women’s hockey players to go pro and make money doing it even if they weren’t on an Olympic roster.

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