(Photo via Shannon Doyle twitter)

The Connecticut Whale have re-signed their top blueliner, Shannon Doyle on Monday for the 2017-2018 National Women’s Hockey League season.

Doyle, led the Whale defensemen in points and blocked shots this past season. The 5-foot-4 defender put up seven points in 15 games, during the 2016-2017 season. In the inaugural NWHL season, she put up two goals and three assists from the blue line.

The Ontario native, played two years at Colgate University before transferring to Boston University for two seasons. In her senior year with the Terriers, she put up four goals and 25 assists in 36 games.

Seven years ago, she helped Team Canada capture the gold at the Under-18 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Chicago, Illinois. In June, she will represent Canada at the International Street and Ball Hockey Federation World Championships in the Czech Republic, where she will play center.

Doyle said, “I am incredibly excited to be a part of the NWHL and the Whale for a third season. Seasons one and two were great learning experiences and saw the league grow and develop into the established franchise it is now. Season three brings with it new challenges and opportunities for us as players and ambassadors for the game. Being able to have the opportunity to play women’s ice hockey at an elite level and be a role model that younger female athletes can look up to is a dream I am very thankful I can continue to live.”

In addition to her career within the NWHL, the 25-year-old is also a second-grade co-teacher as well as the boys’ varsity hockey coach at Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich, Connecticut. In addition, she also teaches a girls’ team with the Greenwich Skating Club.

Doyle added, “Working with second graders this year has been so refreshing. They truly love to learn and are determined to face any academic challenges you may throw at them with a smile and a belief that they can solve it. The future for teaching for me hopefully leads me to the high school level. I would like to work with high school girls’ varsity hockey programs and teach English while being a part of a school community. I graduated from a prep school in Toronto and fell in love with the environment living and learning at the school produced for both the faculty and students.”

Doyle and the Whale, along with the members of the other three teams in the NWHL, the New York Riveters, Boston Pride and Buffalo Beauts will faceoff for the third season of the league in October. All four teams will have the full slate of their home games, as well as a few neutral site matchups as the league hopes to market the game in other areas. The NWHL compensates its players as well as providing each of them with a share of the sales from their jersey and “shirsey” sales.