Welcome to the Pittsburgh Puffins site!

The Pittsburgh Puffins are a recreational women's ice hockey team made up of women ages 20 to 64 with various ability levels. We play to learn and have fun! The Puffins began in 1998 and are a founding member of the Pennsylvania-Ohio Women's Hockey Association (POWHA). We compete in its lower division as well as play games against area teams and travel to tournaments around the US and Canada.

For more information about the Puffins, please check out our About Us section.



Puffin merchandise can be purchased at the Team Store or our special 10th anniversary store.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PITTSBURGH PUFFINS MEDIA GUIDE!

2011-2012 POWHA League Record 2-1-0
Overall Record 3-7-1


FINAL 2011 SEASON RECORD
2010-2011 POWHA League Record 7-5-1
Overall Record 12-7-2

Puffins suffer 2 tough losses in roadtrip to Columbus.

The Pittsburgh Puffins suffered 2 tough losses January 14th and 15th in Columbus, OH. The first game was on Saturday vs. POWHA foe, the Columbus Bandits. The teams were faced with extremely substandard ice conditions at the rink, as the facility was having issues with their chillers, causing the surface to remain wet almost the entire game and causing for slow and unpredictable game. The Puffins had a tough first period of that game and fought valiently in the 2nd and 3rd periods, but could not muster a rally enough to overcome a 6-3 loss.

The next morning, the Puffins travelled to a different rink to face POWHA upper level team, the Columbus Capitals. The Puffins played well against the Capitals and managed more shots on goal vs. that team than the night before, however,the Puffins were outgunned and lost the game 9-3.

Puffins sweep Cincinnati in 2 weekend POWHA matchups.

The Pittsburgh Puffins started out the POWHA league season the weekend of December 3rd and 4th with two games versus the travelling Cincinnati Rising Stars II.

The first game was Saturday night at 8:10 PM at Mt. Lebanon municipal. A well fought game, with the Rising Stars taking a bold stand with only 8 skaters vs. the full 18 Puffin skaters. The game was scoreless after the end of 2 periods, with an earlier Puffin goal from Kelley Vitale waived off because the goalie had knocked the goal off of its mooring a split second before the goal was scored. In the 3rd period, the Rising Stars came out with 11:52 remaining to strike first blood, but the Puffins qucikly responded 23 seconds later when left wing Janine Maxeiner was in perfect position to bury a rebound from the point shot of defenseman Ginger Morris. Maxeiners goal tied the game at 1-1 and momentum quickly turned in the Puffins favor. The two teams continued to battle, but it was Puffins Captain, Marcia Metz that put the game winner in with 5:18 remaining to give the Puffins their first Powha win this season with the 2-1 victory.

The next game was bright and early at 9:15 AM at Rostraver Ice Garden. Even though it was early (and very cold), the Puffins were ready to go and scored two goals in the first period with goals from Gretchen Maxeiner and Maria Totin. Both first period goals were achieved by the ladies positioning themselves to be in the right spot for rebounds and making the most of opportunities. In the second period, Gretchen Maxeiner again scored through tenacious play close to the net. Puffins veteran, Jean Deep scored the fourth goal from the off-side post when center Amanda Thornton drew the defense into her setting up a perfect pass to Deep for her first ever Powha league goal. The Puffins continued playing strong in the third period when they put in their fifth and final goal of the game that came from a flying backhanded centering pass across the front of the net to right winger, Kaysie Strang who positioned herself on the far post, handled and buried the puck. The Puffins defense, again shined with only 11 shots being allowed on net, and goalie Tracy Burgoon had her first shutout of the season, finishing out the weekend with a 95.2% save percentage. After this 5-0 win, the Puffins have a long hiatus with the next games to be January 21-22nd in Columbus, OH.

Puffins return to Cleveland and split games

The Pittsburgh Puffins traveled to Cleveland Heights, OH in early December to play two non-Powha scrimmage games. Once again, the team the Puffins were facing were made up of a mix of Cleveland Falcons and Cleveland Ice Hawks players. Saturday nights game was a very close game with the Puffins winding up on the losing end of a 2-1 battle. Defenseman Deb Bayha scored the Puffins lone goal in the game and Puffins goaltender, Tracy Burgoon stopped 23 of the 25 shots against her. Sunday morning proved to be a much brighter outcome for the Puffins, with a surge of 2nd period scoring helping to solidify and extend a lead that would culminate in a 6-2 win for the Puffins, their first for the season. Highlights from the game were center Amanda Thorntons hat-trick, Captain and defenseman Marcia Metz's two goals and new full-time Puffin Linda Nicoloff's first ever Puffin goal! Tracy once again had a steller game in net stopping 27 of 29 shots and finishing with an impressive 92.6% save percentage for the weekend! The Puffins are on an upswing and are looking forward to the upcoming Powha matchup versus Cincinatti this coming weekend at home!

Puffins go 0-2-1 in Strongsville

The Pittsburgh Puffins traveled to Strongsville, OH November 11-12th to play in the annual "Fall Classic" womens hockey tournament. The Puffins struggled early with a loss to Niagara on Friday night, came back strong Saturday afternoon and narrowly missed a win versus Strongsville with a 3-3 tie, and dropped a tight game vs. the Steel City Sirens on Saturday night. The Puffins took not only some of the core "Powha game" Puffins, but also had many "practice Puffins" getting their shot at participating in these fun games. Overall, even though the win-loss record wasn't a success, the team got some valuable experience and team building throughout the weekend.

Puffins drop 2 close games in Cleveland

The Pittsburgh Puffins traveled to Cleveland Heights, OH in early October to play two non-Powha scrimmage games. The team the Puffins were facing were made up of a mix of Cleveland Falcons and Cleveland Ice Hawks players. Even though the rosters for the opposing team was different from Saturday nights game to Sunday mornings game, the result was the same score a 4-5 loss for the Puffins. Each game was well fought and came down to the final seconds.

Puffins looking forward to 2011-2012 season

After a long summer off, the Pittsburgh Puffins are looking forward to getting back to the ice as a team. The Puffins enjoyed a fun summer, and even played in a "Pink the Rink" tournament in May in Wooster, OH and took first place! The Puffins welcome several new members up to the "full time" roster and have added a few new faces to the "practice" roster. The first Puffins Practice is September 9th and the Puffins first scrimmage is Saturday October 1st in Cleveland Heights, OH.

This year Puffin practices will be held on Friday nights at 10:40 pm at the Mt. Lebanon Ice Rink starting on September 9th.

Look for our full practice and game schedule available for viewing from the menu on the left side of this page.

As always, go Puffins!