New York Riveter’s Goaltender Jenny Scrivens: From Cornell To The NWHL [Exclusive Video]

New York Riveter’s Goaltender Jenny Scrivens… by uSports

Caifornia might not be a hotbed of hockey, but that’s where New York Riveters goalie Jenny Scrivens got her start. With the sport booming following Wayne Gretzky‘s trade to the Los Angeles Kings, Scrivens and her siblings were bitten by the hockey bug.  “I grew up in Southern California, I grew up in Camarillo, a town just outside Los Angeles and I come from a family of six. My two older brothers loved playing street hockey; it was kind of the thing to do. Along with my identical twin sister, we wanted to do everything they were doing, so that included street hockey and that progressed to inline and then ice hockey,” she told uSports exclusively. “But I have to say that I think we were also part of the ‘Gretzky Effect.’ I know that it’s gotten a lot of hype around the L.A Kings and Southern California and growing up Gretzky had a huge influence on every little kid wanting to grow up and be just like him. So I’d have to say that the Edmonton Oilers contributed to my playing hockey as well.”  Being the youngest sibling–not to mention a girl– came at a price, however; Jenny had to be the goalie. Once she moved into the net, though, the rest was history. “I was the youngest, although albeit only by five minutes, so I was still the youngest of the two girls and I think that my older brothers kind of just threw me in net. But also, when we were little, I think about six years old, we started playing in an inline roller hockey league,” she recalled. “The one goalie that we had didn’t do so well; I think he let in about 20 goals in one game. I was like ‘enough of this, I’m going to try it’ and I never looked back.”

 

But, before long, inline hockey wasn’t enough. And even after the move to ice hockey, there was yet another goal on the horizon. “My sister and I progressed from there together and when we were probably 12 or 13 we heard about Division 1 college hockey and that became our dream,” Scrivens said. “Once we had our sights set on the Ivy League, it was kind of no looking back from there. I wanted a good education and I wanted to play hockey, so for me that meant leaving the comforts of Southern California and heading to upstate New York where there were four seasons and a really really long winter.”

At Cornell University, Scrivens served as goaltender during her freshmen, sophomore, and junior years. She played 52 games with a 15-28-2 record for the Big Red. She recorded an overall save percentage of .916 in her final year, with 2.56 goals against average making 1,336 career saves.

In addition to playing at a high level, Cornell was also where she met her eventual husband, Ben Scrivens, who would go on to the NHL. Unsurprisingly the pair met through hockey.

“It was like ‘oh you’re the goalie on the men’s team? I’m the goalie on the women’s team,” Scrivens said. ” We couldn’t have been from two more different places in North America. I think Edmonton, Alberta is quite a stark contrast to Camarillo, Calif. I remember meeting him and he told me he was from a small town outside of Edmonton and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m from a small town outside of L.A.’ And then he showed me exactly how small Spruce Grove was and I said, ‘OK, I’m from a pretty big city in California.”

Even beyond their shared position, the pair had other things in common. “We even coincidentally chose the same jersey number,” Jenny said. “We both entered Cornell University our freshman year wearing the number 30 which, I know is kind of a common goalie number, but it was still a coincidence. For me, it was all the signs it was meant to be and for him it was just ‘statistically it’s going to happen.”

Cornell looked to be the last stop in Scrivens’ career, until the National Women’s Hockey League–the first paid professional women’s hockey league in the United States– was founded in 2015. Even in Edmonton, she took notice.

“I was sitting at my desk at the Ronald McDonald House in Edmonton working and because I was working in social media, I was always on Twitter. I saw that a lot of my friends and a lot of the players that I had recently played with were getting drafted into this new league called the NWHL,” Scrivens said.

“I was immediately hooked. I think I spent a little bit too much time away from my real job just looking at the Twitter draft, but it worked out really well for me. I followed their progress from that June draft through the summer and I had already decided to move on from the Ronald McDonald House to pursue other opportunities and to see where my husband’s career would take me. That’s something I always have to consider; we could be up and moving in a day’s notice. So I had taken the summer off, I was thinking about what I wanted to do and my mind kept going back to the NWHL and how much I wanted to help grow women’s hockey. For me, that meant leaving everything and helping with their communications and, fortunately enough, helping with the team as well. So I’m able to put all of my passions together into one fully comprehensive job. I help with the league’s P.R. and I’m one of the goalies on the New York Riveters.”

Several months and a move to New York later, Scrivens was one of three goalies on the Riveters as they started their inaugural season. Beyond the quality of play, she has also enjoyed the chance to ply her trade alongside other dedicated pros from around the world.

“I love working with Nana [Fujimoto, one of the Riveters’ other goalies],” Scrivens said.” I was looking at the roster the other day and I think my name is just before her’s in numerical order. Camarillo, California and Sapporo, Japan are not traditional hockey markets. So for me, it’s really fun to have ambassadors of the game coming from non-traditional hockey markets and grow the game in that way. But it’s been really fun working with Nana. There’s a bit of a language barrier but she is studying English and she is getting better, so we’re able to work together and give each other tips, especially working with [fellow goalie] Shenae [Lundberg] as well. She really knows the game and having the three of us out there on the ice together will just help push one another to get better.”

But off the ice, there was an even bigger moment: getting the first NWHL paycheck and officially becoming a professional hockey player.

“It was such a surreal moment; it was something I’m definitely going to remember for the rest of my life. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would get paid to play professional hockey. It’s something that I’m really familiar with just because my husband plays, but I’ve never seen a woman get a paycheck for playing hockey. It’s something that I’m very very proud of and I’m proud to be a part of this organization.”

 

 

But, even more importantly, Scrivens is part of a league that sets a positive example for future generations. After each game, young girls line up to meet the women who are showing them that everyone–no matter your gender–can be a professional athlete. That impact isn’t something lost on the players.

“It’s been so inspiring to see the fans come and not just support us during the game, but  wait around afterwards after a long day on a Sunday night when they have to get up and go to school or work the next day and just wait in line to get our autograph. That is so cool,” Scrivens said. “It’s something that still blows my mind. We have people come up to every single player on our team and say ‘excuse me, could I bother you for a second? I’d love to get your autograph’ and I don’t think they realize that we would drop anything and everything to give them an autograph because it’s still so surreal to us. Not only do we not mind, but we’re happy to do it.”

 

How did you get interested in hockey?

“I grew up in Southern California, I grew up in Camarillo, a town just outside Los Angeles and I come from a family of six. My two older brothers loved playing street hockey; it was kind of the thing to do. Along with my identical twin sister, we wanted to do everything they were doing, so that included street hockey and that progressed to inline and then ice hockey. But I have to say that I think we were also part of the ‘Gretzky Effect.’ I know that it’s gotten a lot of hype around the L.A Kings and Southern California and growing up Gretzky had a huge influence on every little kid wanting to grow up and be just like him. So I’d have to say that the Edmonton Oilers contributed to my playing hockey as well.”

Did you initially want to be a goalie?

“I was the youngest, although albeit only by five minutes, so I was still the youngest of the two girls and I think that my older brothers kind of just threw me in net. But also, when we were little, I think about six years old, we started playing in an inline roller hockey league. The one goalie that we had didn’t do so well; I think he let in about 20 goals in one game. I was like ‘enough of this, I’m going to try it’ and I never looked back.”

Did you look up to any specific goalies?

“I was a really big fan of Kelly Hrudey, which is hilarious because I know that he has had the chance to interview my husband [NHL goalie Ben] a few times and he made this offhand comment saying ‘oh yeah, I played for the Kings and your wife grew up liking the Kings so I was probably a big part of why you guys are together now.’ He actually hit it right on the head. I grew up wanting to be like Kelly Hrudey and I wore a bandana under my helmet. I ended up meeting my husband playing hockey. So, yes, Kelly Hrudey thank you for introducing me to my husband.”

How did you and your husband, NHL goalie Ben Scrivens, first meet?

“It was like ‘oh you’re the goalie on the men’s team? I’m the goalie on the women’s team.’ We couldn’t have been from two more different places in North America. I think Edmonton, Alberta is quite a stark contrast toCamarillo, California. I remember meeting him and he told me he was from a small town outside of Edmonton and I was like ‘Oh, I’m from a small town outside of L.A.’ And then he showed me exactly how small Spruce Grove was and I said ‘OK, I’m from a pretty big city in California.’ Our relationship grew from there; we obviously have a lot in common. We even coincidentally chose the same jersey number. We both entered Cornell University our freshman year wearing the number 30 which, I know is kind of a common goalie number, but it was still a coincidence. For me, it was all the signs it was meant to be and for him it was just ‘statistically it’s going to happen.”

What was it like to transition from playing street hockey in California to ice hockey at Cornell?

“It’s been a huge transition from playing roller hockey at six years old to making the jump to ice hockey at 10 because there were a lot more opportunities to play and travel playing ice. My sister and I progressed from there together and when we were probably 12 or 13 we heard about Division 1 college hockey and that became our dream. Once we had our sights set on the Ivy League, it was kind of no looking back from there. I wanted a good education and I wanted to play hockey, so for me that meant leaving the comforts of Southern California and heading to upstate New York where there were four seasons and a really really long winter.”

Is it nice having a husband who is also a goalie?

“When it was only Ben playing professional hockey, which I love to say by the way now that it’s two of us, we tried to really leave work at work. When it was just the two of us and our families, we tried to not talk hockey just because it can be so all-consuming and it’s such a big part of his life. But as my career has grown and as I’ve gotten back to playing I’m constantly asking him questions and going to him for advice. That part I really love. But we still do really pride ourselves on being more than professional hockey players. We have outside interests, we like to read and study and debate back and forth, so we’re kind of pushing the envelope that way. But we’ll always have hockey in common.”

How did you first hear about the NWHL?

“I was sitting at my desk at the Ronald McDonald House in Edmonton working and because I was working in social media, I was always on Twitter. I saw that a lot of my friends and a lot of the players that I had recently played with were getting drafted into this new league called the NWHL. I was immediately hooked. I think I spent a little bit too much time away from my real job just looking at the Twitter draft, but it worked out really well for me. I followed their progress from that June draft through the summer and I had already decided to move on from the Ronald McDonald House to pursue other opportunities and to see where my husband’s career would take me. That’s something I always have to consider; we could be up and moving in a day’s notice. So I had taken the summer off, I was thinking about what I wanted to do and my mind kept going back to the NWHL and how much I wanted to help grow women’s hockey. For me, that meant leaving everything and helping with their communications and, fortunately enough, helping with the team as well. So I’m able to put all of my passions together into one fully comprehensive job. I help with the league’s P.R. and I’m one of the goalies on the New York Riveters.”

What has the experience playing professional hockey been like?

“It’s been amazing and the progress that we’ve seen from the first game October 11 to now has been huge. It’s been really fun to see the level of hockey that’s out there; I knew it was going to be better than college hockey, especially the college hockey that I left five or six years ago, but the level that’s out there has blown me away. It’s a fast game, it’s competitive. It’s aggressive and I think it’s something that the fans want to see. And the fact that there are only four teams, I think it’s really going to fuel some rivalries.”

What’s it like working with Nana [Fujimoto, one of the Riveters’ other goalies]?

“I love working with Nana. I was looking at the roster the other day and I think my name is just before her’s in numerical order. Camarillo, California and Sapporo, Japan are not traditional hockey markets. So for me, it’s really fun to have ambassadors of the game coming from non-traditional hockey markets and grow the game in that way. But it’s been really fun working with Nana. There’s a bit of a language barrier but she is studying English and she is getting better, so we’re able to work together and give each other tips, especially working with [fellow goalie] Shenae [Lundberg] as well. She really knows the game and having the three of us out there on the ice together will just help push one another to get better.”

What was it like getting your first NWHL paycheck?

“It was such a surreal moment; it was something I’m definitely going to remember for the rest of my life. Neve in my wildest dreams did I think that I would get paid to play professional hockey. It’s something that I’m really familiar with just because my husband plays, but I’ve never seen a woman get a paycheck for playing hockey. It’s something that I’m very very proud of and I’m proud to be a part of this organization.”

How does it feel to know you’re inspiring young girls to be athletes?

“It’s been so inspiring to see the fans come and not just support us during the game, but  wait around afterwards after a long day on a Sunday night when they have to get up and go to school or work the next day and just wait in line to get our autograph. That is so cool. It’s something that still blows my mind. We have people come up to every single player on our team and say ‘excuse me, could I bother you for a second? I’d love to get your autograph’ and I don’t think they realize that we would drop anything and everything to give them an autograph because it’s still so surreal to us. Not only do we not mind, but we’re happy to do it.”

Photo: Goalie Jenny Scrivens in net for the NWHL’s New York Riveters by Troy Parla