Nicole Hensley

Nicole Hensley won Olympic gold with the United States in 2018 and returned four years later to claim silver in Beijing — but she has described playing in front of an almost empty arena with no family or friends present as a "different feel" from the charged home-ice atmosphere she now experiences in the PWHL. That contrast, between hockey played in isolation and hockey played before sold-out crowds, runs through her career story.

Hensley was born June 23, 1994, in Lakewood, Colorado, and grew up to become one of that state's most decorated young athletes, winning the Colorado Sportswoman of the Year award three consecutive times from 2013 to 2015 before being inducted into the Colorado Sportswomen of the Year Hall of Fame in 2015.

She played her college hockey at Lindenwood University, where she finished as the program's all-time leader in saves (4,094), wins (30), save percentage (.921), minutes played (7,117:44), and shutouts (four). The honors accumulated alongside those records: four selections to the All-CHA team, nine CHA Goalie of the Week awards, four CHA Student Athlete of the Year titles, four appearances on the CHA All-Academic team, and three CoSIDA Academic All-American designations.

Her national team career began in earnest with the U.S. Women's National Team, where she has appeared in six IIHF Women's World Championships, collecting gold medals in 2016, 2017, and 2023, and silver medals in 2021, 2022, and 2024. The two Olympic appearances — gold in PyeongChang in 2018, silver in Beijing in 2022 — bookend a sustained period of international competition.

At the professional level, Hensley played for Buffalo in the PHF in 2018–19 before the formation of the PWHL, spending time also in the PWHPA. When the PWHL launched, she joined the Minnesota Frost, and her early impressions of what the league represented were immediate. In episode 242 of the InGoal Radio podcast, recorded in January 2024, she described the shift as "night and day compared to just about almost everything I've been a part of in the women's hockey world," pointing specifically to the full-time staffing — athletic trainers, massage therapists, chiropractors — as infrastructure that professional athletes need to compete over a long season ^[1].

That same conversation covered the mental side of goaltending in considerable depth. Hensley told InGoal Radio that she has long identified as an overthinker and a perfectionist, and that learning to work with those tendencies — rather than against them — took years and the help of sports psychologists she wishes she had found earlier. On the subject of pre-game nerves she was direct: "I kind of got to the point where it happened enough that I was that nervous and went out and played well that it was just kind of like, it's just energy. It means you care. It means you wanna do well." Her preparation routine — consistent music on the way to the rink, taping a stick upon arrival, keeping her mind occupied with non-hockey activity until puck drop — is something she has kept deliberately stable across home games, road games, and Olympic appearances alike ^[1].

The ice cream cone stitched onto her Brian's gloves has its own origin story, which she recounted in that episode: a frustrated early-morning session with goalie coach Luke Banker in St. Louis led to a joke about ice cream, which led to stickers on a glove, which eventually became a permanent feature of every set of gear she has worn since ^[1].

InGoal Magazine has covered Nicole Hensley in one podcast appearance. The full episode — including her discussion of TV timeout management, the role of sports psychology, and what it was like to drive herself to a professional home game for the first time — is available at ^[1].

Hensley currently wears number 29 and catches left. She stands 5'7".