BUFFALO – The Buffalo Beauts continued to shape their roster by securing a pair of returners. Forward Erin Gehen and goaltender Caty Flagg will rejoin the team for the 2021-22 NWHL season. NWHL teams had the exclusive right to re-sign any of their 2020-21 rostered players up until May 15 at 5:00 p.m. Both players were re-signed during the restricted period.
“We felt it was important to get key role players within our team re-signed early on,” said Beauts General Manager Nate Oliver. “Both Erin and Caty are as valuable to us off the ice as they are on the ice. They are integral to the culture and the environment we have been building within the Beauts, and they will continue to be so.”
Gehen will be playing her third season for the Beauts. A native from the Buffalo suburb of West Seneca, she has routinely brought speed and a scoring touch to the Beauts lineup. In 30 NWHL regular season games, Gehen has tallied 7 goals, 9 assists and 16 points across her two previous seasons for Buffalo. Gehen achieved numbers of 54-41-95 in 103 games at Buffalo State College, and is the program’s all-time leader in goals, assists, points, shorthanded goals, and games played for the Bengals. She was recently named Associate Director of Athletics for Elmira College.
“Gehen is a coach’s dream come true in many ways,” said Oliver. “She’ll do whatever it takes to win and she battles valiantly, game in and game out. She has great acceleration and tends to find openings where she can get a break in on the goalie.
Flagg served as Buffalo’s backup goalie in 2020-21 as an NWHL rookie. She dressed in all six regular season games in Lake Placid and saw her first professional action in a Jan. 31 contest against the Boston Pride. Flagg stopped nine of the 11 shots she faced after coming in as relief in her lone game of the season. She went 24-28-11 in her collegiate career split between the University of New England and UMass-Boston, and posted career numbers of a 1.92 goals against average and a .938 save percentage.
“In the Beauts organization we strive for a strong family-oriented culture,” said Beauts head coach Rhea Coad. “Caty is part of the core of our culture. Her drive to be the best teammate that she can be is honorable, and it is why we are so excited to have Caty back!”.
The Beauts will be adding another goaltender to their roster at some point this offseason, in addition to Flagg and recently signed netminder Carly Jackson.
