St.Catharines, ON- After a four year career with the Brock Badgers, Hunter Accursi is headed to the NWHL. She will be joining her older sister Taylor and former teammates Kim Brown and Megan Delay on the Buffalo Beauts.
The Beauts got to see Hunter Accursi in person at the beginning of last season when the Badgers traveled to Buffalo to play an exhibition game. Accursi finished this past season with 2 goals and 2 assists in 24 games.
There are a few things that this signing can mean for the Beauts.
Forward Depth
The Beauts finished the 2019-20 season fourth overall, in a league with only five teams (at the time), that was far from ideal. While a lot of the Beauts issues last season can be chalked up to goaltending issues, there’s certainly no harm in adding more offensive talent.
Accursi was an important part of the Badgers core over the past couple of seasons, though her contributions may not have always shown up on the score sheet. She had 16 points over the course of 87 career games. Her contributions often involved recovering the puck in her own end or making a breakout pass that lead to a scoring opportunity for a teammate.
The Brockffalo Badgers
Hunter Accursi becomes the third current Beaut who has played for the Badgers. Kim Brown played at Brock from 2014-15 until 2018-19. Brown was a rookie on the Beauts in 19/20, who like Accursi, signed in Buffalo following her graduation.
Also on the Beauts is Megan Delay who in addition to being Hunter’s teammate for a year at Brock (2016/17), played for the same PWHL team, the Burlington Barracudas. Delay joined the Beauts for the 2019/20 season
So why are so many Badgers signing with the Beauts. Maybe they only play for teams that have a double B alliterative name (Brock Badgers, Buffalo Beauts, Burlington Barracudas, come on folks, it makes sense!)
Or maybe there’s some deeper conspiracy at work here, one that requires more detective work-
Hold on, let me check google maps.
So it’s probably the commute, I like the Double B theory better. Whatever the reason, this recent signing has strengthened the Brock to Buffalo pipeline.
Super Secret Sister Mind Reading Powers Chemistry
Okay, okay, Hunter and Taylor Accursi (probably) can’t read each other’s minds, but that doesn’t mean we should overlook the fact that the Beauts now have a pair of sisters on their roster.
Communication is important in hockey- things happen within a split second and plays can develop out of seemingly nowhere, it’s important to know where your teammates stand. I will say, in my personal experience, there is no one in the world I can communicate with faster than my sister. Time will only tell if that’s something that translates into an on-ice advantage but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if Hunter’s production increases once she starts playing professionally, in the same way that her older sister’s did. Taylor Accursi graduated from Mercyhurst University with just 38 points in 113 career games. As a member of the Beauts in 2019-20, the older Accursi had 16 goals in 24 games, including one incredibly memorable game where she scored four times in a single period.
The NWHL season is set to start on January 1, all their games will be streamed live for free at https://www.twitch.tv/nwhl
Cover Photo: Brock Badgers Athletics