2015-16 NWHL season

League	National Women's Hockey League
Duration	October 11, 2015 – February 28, 2016
Regular season
Season champions	Boston Pride
Top scorer	Hilary Knight
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Brianna Decker
Isobel Cup
Champions	Boston Pride
Runners-up	Buffalo Beauts
NWHL seasons
2016–17 →

The 2015–16 NWHL season is the first season of operation of the National Women's Hockey League. Four teams competed for the inaugural Isobel Cup: the Buffalo Beauts, Boston Pride, New York Riveters and Connecticut Whale. 

The season included an outdoor game played at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts in conjunction with the 2016 NHL Winter Classic which was called the 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic.  The game was unfortunately marred by an injury suffered by Boston Pride player Denna Laing who stepped on a stick and crashed head first into the boards. It was later announced that Laing had suffered a severe spinal cord injury and had limited movement of her arms and no feeling in her legs.

League business

• July 2015: The NWHL Foundation hosted a Canadian Training Camp Series in four different Canadian cities (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor).
• Late July 2015: A training camp for European players took place at Ristuccia Memorial Arena outside Boston on July 23, hosted by Boston Pride head coach Bobby Jay. Players from Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Japan attended.

NWHL Draft

The 2015 NWHL Draft took place on June 22, 2015. A draft lottery was held and the New York Riveters earned the first pick overall, selecting Alexandra Carpenter of the Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey program.

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	W%	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Boston Pride	18	14	3	1	0.806	75	39	+36	29
2	Connecticut Whale	18	13	5	0	0.722	61	51	+10	26
3	Buffalo Beauts	18	5	9	4	0.389	56	66	−10	14
4	New York Riveters	18	4	12	2	0.278	40	76	−36	10

Scoring leaders

• The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of season.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Hilary Knight	Boston Pride	17	15	18	33	8
Brianna Decker	Boston Pride	17	14	15	29	20
Kelli Stack	Connecticut Whale	17	8	14	22	24
Kelly Babstock	Connecticut Whale	18	9	13	22	24
Kelley Steadman	Buffalo Beauts	13	13	7	20	16

All-star game

The 1st NWHL All-Star Game was held January 24, 2016 at HarborCenter in Buffalo, the home of the Beauts.

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Final
	1	Boston Pride	2
	4	New York Riveters	0
						1	Boston Pride	2
						3	Buffalo Beauts	0
	2	Connecticut Whale	1
	3	Buffalo Beauts	2

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Team	Date
First goal	Jessica Koizumi	Connecticut Whale	Oct 11, 2015
First Canadian to score a goal	Kelly Babstock	Connecticut Whale	Oct 11, 2015
First European to log an assist	Lyudmila Belyakova	New York Riveters	Oct 11, 2015
First European to score a goal	Yekaterina Smolentseva	Connecticut Whale	Dec 13, 2015
First shootout goal	Kelly Babstock	Connecticut Whale	Nov 22, 2015
First multi-goal game	Hilary Knight (2 goals)	Boston Pride	Oct 11, 2015
First hat trick	Brianna Decker	Boston Pride	Oct 25, 2015
First multi-point game	Kelli Stack (3 points)	Connecticut Whale	Oct 11, 2015
First multi-point game by a defenseman	Kacey Bellamy (2 points)	Boston Pride	Oct 11, 2015
First goaltending win	Jaimie Leonoff  Canada	Connecticut Whale	Oct 11, 2015
First American-born goaltender to win a regular season game	Brittany Ott	Boston Pride	Oct 11, 2015
First international goaltender to win a regular season game	Nana Fujimoto	New York Riveters	Nov 15, 2015
First African-American player to compete in the NWHL	Blake Bolden	Boston Pride	Oct 11, 2015
First shootout game	Brittany Ott	Boston Pride	Dec 20, 2015

Awards and honors

• Brianna Decker, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Most Valuable Player
• Hilary Knight, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Scoring Champion
• Denna Laing, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Perseverance Award
• Denna Laing, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Foundation Award
• Gigi Marvin, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Defensive Player of the Year Award
• Brittany Ott, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Goaltender of the Year