| Sonja van der Bliek | |
| |
| In action with the Brampton Thunder, Photo by Jess Bazal | |
| Position | Goaltender |
| Catches | Left |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| PWHL NCAA CWHL Team |
Toronto Jr. Aeros (2005-07) RPI (2007-11) Brampton Thunder |
| Pro Career | 2005 – present |
Sonja van der Bliek is a women’s hockey goaltender that was selected by the Brampton Thunder in the 2013 CWHL Draft.
Playing career[]
She would compete in the PWHL with the Toronto Jr. Aeros. With the club, she would capture a bronze medal in the 2006 Provincial Championships and a gold medal in 2007.
NCAA[]
As a member of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers from 2007 to 2011, she was the team’s Most Valuable Player in 2009 and 2011. Having graduated with a record of 51-50-15, she is the all-time program record holder in games played, wins, saves, minutes and shutouts.
During the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs, she would stop 63 of 64 shots in a two-game sweep of Princeton. In the ECAC semifinals, she made 48 saves in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Harvard Crimson. In two consecutive seasons (2008-09, 2009-10), she would play in 35 games. Her cumulative win-loss record for those two campaigns was 33-28-9.
CWHL[]
She made her CWHL debut on November 2, 2013 against the defending Clarkson Cup champion Boston Blades. She posted 35 saves and played two periods of shutout hockey in a visceral 2-1 loss.
Her first CWHL win came on November 10 contest against the Calgary Inferno. Of note, the game went into a shootout and van der Bliek denied all three Inferno shooters, Jenna Cunningham, Danielle Stone and Julie Paetsch in a 3-2 win.
Personal[]
In high school, she was a two-sport star, also competing in soccer. She is a goalie coach at Intech Skills and has also served as the Director of Ticket Sales for the Central Hockey League’s Brampton Beast.
Awards and honors[]
- ECAC All-Academic: 2008, 2009
- ECAC Hockey Championship All-Tournament Team: 2009
- Patty Kazmaier Award Nominee: 2010
- RPI Team MVP: 2009 and 2011