Celebrating Black History Month: Blake Bolden
Throughout Black History Month, the Petes will recognize and highlight key members of the Black hockey community and showcase their illustrious careers and positive, long-term impact on the game.
Blake Bolden was born March 10, 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. Bolden was introduced to the game of hockey at a young age when she would go watch the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the now defunct International Hockey League.
Bolden played four years at one of the best hockey programs in the country at Boston College. Throughout her college career Bolden was consistently one of the top point scorers for defenders in the Hockey East conference and won the Hockey East defender of the year award for her performance in her senior season.
After her career at Boston College, Bolden went on to be the fifth overall pick in the CWHL Draft and was selected by the Boston Blades. Her pro career spanned seven years and included stints in the CWHL, NWHL, Swiss pro leagues as well as playing in the inaugural PWHPA dream gap tour. During her career she was named to the NWHL all star game three different times, was the NWHL defender of the year in 2019 and has won a CWHL and an NWHL championship.
After her playing career ended Bolden was hired by the Los Angeles Kings as a pro scout, making her the first Black woman and second woman overall to be hired as an NHL pro scout. In addition to scouting Bolden works as an inclusion and diversity specialist for the team. In her role Bolden has been able to launch a number of different initiatives under the We Are All Kings in an effort to grow the game of hockey in an equitable fashion.
Both on and off the ice, Blake Bolden has become the role model for young girls throughout the hockey community.
