Story and Photos by Janet Schultz, NYHOL
The Buffalo Beauts will return to the ice Saturday and Sunday (January 15/16) against the first place Toronto Six in Toronto. Buffalo’s weekend s series against Connecticut last weekend was postponed due to Covid Protocol, as was the two games against Minnesota in early December.
Toronto is leading the league with 22 points and a 7-1-1 (OT Tie) record, while the Beauts sit in last place in the league with a 1-4-0 record.
Dominque Kremer has 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points while four other players have also recorded four points each thus far. Anjelica Diffendal has 2 goals/2 assists; Autumn MacDougal 1 g/3a; Cassidy Vinkle, 1g/3a; Cassidy MacPherson, 4 assists.
Carly Jackson has been the go-to goalie but has only 1 win in the books with 3 losses.
Hoping to add to their scoring, the Beauts signed winger Claudia Kepler for the remainder of the 2021-22 PHF season. An assistant coach with Syracuse University’s women’s hockey team, Kepler won the 2019-20 ЖХЛ Championship with KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen. She scored 60 goals, 32 assists and 92 points in 145 NCAA games between Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin during her collegiate career.
The Beauts will continue their 2022 season with games scheduled for January 16 vs Toronto in Toronto; February 5 and 6 at Minnesota; February 12 and 13 at home against Metropolitan Riveters; February 21 vs Toronto at Riverworks in Buffalo and February 26 and 27 in Boston. Their final regular season games are March 12 and 13 in Connecticut.
The Premier Hockey Federation will hold their 2022 PHF All Star Showcase on January 29 in Toronto. Four Buffalo Beauts have been selected including Kremer, Marie-Jo Pelletier, Taylor Accursi and Diffendal.
Pelletier 
Accursi 
Diffendal
This is the first time the All-Star game will be played north of the border which focuses on the theme “Breaking Boundaries.”
The players have been selected by the coaches in the PHF with four more being selected by fan vote. Captains Shiann Darkangelo, Toronto; Jillian Dempsey, Boston; and Allie thurnstrom, Minnesota will hold a virtual draft to select their teams.
Hockey leaders Meghan Chayka, Melody Davidson, and Sami Jo Small will serve as honorary coaches for the All-Star Showcase. The trio are some of hockey’s most accomplished and influential figures and represent different areas of the game with Chayka’s expertise for data and analytics, Davidson’s iconic legacy behind the bench, and Small’s successful career between-the-pipes.
The Showcase will be live streamed via ESPN+ in the United States and on TSN in Canada.
In other news, the Players’ Association of the Premier Hockey Federation has elected Alex Sinatra as their executive director. She succeeds Anya Packer, who previously held the position until becoming the general manager of the Metropolitan Riveters earlier this year.
Sinatra is an attorney and has been an in-house counsel for a professional sports team, a multinational company, and various startups. As CEO and Founder of Your Potential for Everthing, she leads a strategic sports consulting firm that specifically guides women and minorities in the sports and entertainment industry to gain clarity, confidence and grow their businesses. She holds a JD from Texas A&M Univeristy School of Law and a BBA in marketing from Texas A&M University.
“I am honored to be selected by the players of the PHF to serve as the Executive Director of the Players’ Association,” said Sinatra. “The grit, determination, and work ethic of these players is inspiring. They are champions on and off the ice and I coudn’t be more proud to serve them. We want to change the sport of hockey for the better and continue to create opportunities for both current and future players.”
