The Vineyard Gazette – Martha’s Vineyard News

For hockey player and Vineyard resident Casey O’Brien, her earliest memory of being on ice skates is waking up at the crack of dawn and piling into a car with her dad and brothers to drive to the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. 

“We’d always stop at Dunkin’ Donuts, and [my dad] would bring us to the rink,” she recalled with a laugh. “It was exhausting but every time we put the skates on, all of a sudden you’re wide awake, and it was the best part of the day.” 

In the fall, Ms. O’Brien, 23, will start her professional hockey career in the same area where she first fell in love with the game. She will suit up as a member of the New York Sirens after being drafted third overall in the 2025 Professional Women’s Hockey League Entry Draft in June. 

Ms. O’Brien is coming off a record-breaking career at the University of Wisconsin. As a forward, she led her team to three national championships. Individually, she is the all-time points leader in the program’s history, surpassing Olympian and women’s hockey superstar Hilary Knight. She also won the Patty Kazmaier Award in March as the top female college hockey player of the year.  

Casey O’Brien has been skating since she was a kid.

— Jamie O’Brien

There was never a time when hockey wasn’t a part of her life.

“It’s always been hockey for me ever since I could remember,” she said. “I just loved it from the moment I got on the ice for the first time.” 

Ms. O’Brien grew up in New York and Boston, but spent summers on the Vineyard with her family. Since 2020, her parents have lived in Aquinnah full time, and Ms. O’Brien comes back to the Island in the hockey off-season.

“Growing up in New York City, it’s not the ideal place for kids during the summer,” said her father, Jamie O’Brien. “As soon as school was out, they were running around Menemsha and the Chilmark Community Center. We’re very grateful that they could have that balance and [give the kids] kind of an old school sort of youth.” 

Ms. O’Brien has fond memories of running around the Chilmark Community Center with her brothers, participating in CCC day camps. 

“Me and my brothers, we loved to head to the community center,” she said. “Whether it was shooting a basketball around or playing tennis against each other, we loved to go there and stay outside and stay active.”

Before her collegiate career began, Ms. O’Brien spent three years at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a boarding school in Minnesota that caters to emerging hockey talent. Her time there was essential to her continued success. 

“We practiced at 7 a.m. but everybody was up for it, because everybody wanted to be the best and wanted to make those around them better,” she said. “It was such a great environment for my development.” 

Gordie Stafford, Ms. O’Brien’s coach at Shattuck, said that she is a player who always shows up in big moments. But he has also seen the hard work she has put in behind the scenes.  

“The thing that I’m the most proud of is her resilience and her love of the game, and passion for the game and will to continue to improve and play with a little bit of a chip on her shoulder to show everybody what she’s capable of,” Mr. Stafford said. 

When reflecting on her career as a Wisconsin Badger, Ms. O’Brien said she will cherish the connections with the fans and her teammates for the rest of her life.

“Being a captain my final year was the biggest honor, to know that I had any kind of impact on the players on the team off the ice,” she said. “Maybe making a freshman’s life a little bit easier with making the transition. Those little things are what I really wanted more than anything on the ice or any individual accolade.” 

Though she has represented the United States internationally at the under-18 level, the Olympics continues to be her ultimate goal. 

Mr. O’Brien said he remembers seeing his daughter develop that dream in real time during the 2010 Winter Olympics when she was eight years old. 

“I walked in and she had a little chalkboard on her bedroom wall and she wrote 2022 on it,” he recalled. “I was like, what’s that? She was like ‘that’s my Olympics,’ so I knew she was committed and had the bug.” 

The women’s professional hockey landscape has changed throughout her life, with leagues folding and transforming. Ms. O’Brien has seen the National Women’s Hockey League, Canadian Women’s Hockey League and the Premier Hockey Federation come and go. But she is excited to be a part of a new era of women’s hockey with the recently formed Professional Women’s Hockey League.

“To be able to be a part of the third season and still being instrumental in the growth of this league, it’s the coolest thing ever,” she said. “I would love to be able to go back and tell my younger self that I’m a part of this, because it’s everything that she dreamed of.” 

Off the ice, she has developed a passion for volunteer work. During her time at Wisconsin, she was a part of a program called Badgers Give Back, where she spent time during the week going to elementary schools and reading to the kids.  

The opportunity to give back to her local community, with or without skates on, is something she hopes to continue doing in the New York area. 

“When I was younger, I didn’t have that many opportunities to develop and to pursue my passion for hockey, just because hockey isn’t that big in New York for the youth game,” she said. “To be able to come back and have a platform and have the opportunity to try to grow the game and give little kids the opportunity that I didn’t have is super exciting.” 

Having spent time at the Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena, Ms. O’Brien hopes that the Island’s hockey scene continues to grow, too.  

“It’s not the cheapest sport, not the most accessible, but I think they’re doing a great job down at the rink and giving opportunities,” she said. “I would encourage people if they have young daughters and young sons, to just give it a try and go down there, because they’ve got some great stuff going on.”