Stephanie Wood has conquered virtually every level of hockey she’s been at.
Now she’s coming for the world of hockey podcasts.
The head coach of the girls hockey team at Austin Prep and the women’s director at the Islanders Hockey Club, Wood is the new host of New England Hockey Journal’s RinkWise podcast.
“My extensive experiences in the hockey world have allowed me to interact with people from all hockey backgrounds and become a well known and trusted hockey voice across New England. With this comes the ability to communicate well with people of all different hockey walks,” Wood said.
“I’m so excited to continue bringing our wonderful hockey community together through the RinkWise podcast.”
Wood has been the head coach at Austin Prep since 2012 and this past season led the team to a 27-0 record and the MIAA championship. Since 2011, she has also led the women’s division of the Islanders Hockey Club, which she has grown into one of the largest programs in the country.
A native of Saint John, New Brunswick, who has been skating since the age of 5, Wood played hockey for four years at Northeastern on a full athletic scholarship. After she completed her four years of eligibility on the hockey team, she joined the Northeastern basketball team during her fifth year at the school and became one of the few athletes in school history to play two Division 1 sports.
“I can’t think of a better person to host RinkWise,” Seamans Media president and publisher Eric Seamans said.
“Stephanie, first and foremost, is a hockey expert who can talk authoritatively about the sport at all levels. Her relationships across the sport are going to help us fulfill the mission of the RinkWise podcast, which is to help amateur athletes grow and develop in their athletic careers.”
Said Wood, “New England Hockey Journal is already a leader in the hockey world. I want to join them to help the amateur hockey community collaborate and grow, and I hope listeners will trust me to do that.”
For more than a decade, Wood has helped student-athletes with their overall development and through the NCAA recruiting process. Her first podcast as host, which examines the officiating crisis in hockey, is available now.
“Stephanie has a unique ability to connect with people. That’s evident from the success she’s had as a coach and administrator helping young hockey players improve,” said Seamans Media Chief Operating Officer Sean Leahy.
“We’re thrilled that she will now be able to reach even more young hockey players and their supporters. I know Stephanie will introduce listeners to terrific stories across the sport of hockey.”
Wood, who also holds a Master’s in Policy, Planning, and Administration from Boston University and an MBA from UMass’ Isenberg School of Management, has been named Coach of the Year by both the Boston Globe and the New England Hockey Journal. Her teams have won three MIAA Division 1 state championships and six Central Catholic League championships. She is a past winner of the USA Hockey New Leader Award and the USA Hockey Director of the Year Award. She has received Mass. Hockey’s “Excellence In Program Growth Award" for contributions to growing hockey at grassroots levels. She is a two-time recipient of Autism Awareness’ "Black Diamond Award" for leading fundraising contributions for Islanders Program and Autism Awareness. She was formerly an elected women's director and alternate women's director of Mass. Hockey and she has been involved in the USA Hockey Coaching Education Program, Teaching Coaching seminars and High Performance Coaching clinics.
The RinkWise podcast can be streamed at hockeyjournal.com/podcast and on major platforms, such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
RinkWise is brought to you by Lovell Academy, Quincy College and Bando Hockey.
