Now Playing In PWHL, Ella Huber ‘Loved Every Second’ Of Her Illinois Hockey Career

By Ross Forman
Ella Huber brings quite the resume to this, her rookie season in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, as a forward for the Boston Fleet. 

She was a five-time Illinois state champion, primarily for the Chicago Mission, and a two-time national champion. She also tallied 140 points (52 goals and 88 assists) in her four-year career at the University of Minnesota, which spanned 158 games.

“Ella Huber is a coach’s dream, the heart of a team,” said Erin Rourke, 19U head coach and co-director of the Mission girls’ program – and she coached Huber for four years. 

“She has an elite hockey IQ; she sees the lanes before they open and is always ready to execute a drive to the net with great accuracy. She was an invaluable teammate in the locker room, a selfless leader and she made everyone around her better.”

Huber, 23, is a left-handed shooting left wing from Northfield who attended New Trier High School. She played her final two seasons for the Trevians in Metro Girls and for the Mission.

Huber then landed in hockey-crazed Minnesota, where:

•    During her freshman year, she was one of nine players to appear in all 39 games for the Gophers, earning a spot on the WCHA All-Rookie Team and was named National Rookie of the Month (March 2022) and twice the WCHA Rookie of the Week.
•    As a senior, Huber ranked second on the team and 12th in the nation in points (48).
•    She was a three-time WCHA All-Academic Team honoree.
•    Was assistant captain as a junior and captain as a senior.

“It has been such a gift to have been able to play a small role in Ella’s career and watch her turn into the successful young lady she is today,” Rourke said.

Added Kelly Gorbatenko, a former Mission star who now skates at the University of Wisconsin: “Ella is an amazing teammate. She is so silly, joyous and fun to be around. She is a great leader and teammate who brings out the best in others.”

Huber was drafted by Boston in the second round (10th overall) of the 2025 PWHL Draft. In her first 20 PWHL games, she had 3 goals and 2 assists – and all three were game-winning goals. 

“It’s super cool to see where the league (is at). Growing up, there wasn’t a league like this, but to now have this opportunity and for the league to be as special and as growing as it is, it’s awesome,” Huber said.

Her path to Boston started in Illinois, first for the Winnetka Warriors, then two seasons for CYA and her final six for the Mission. Her two older brothers were hockey players and she was in figure skating. “I saw them play and I wanted to play (hockey), too,” Huber said.

Huber and goalie Annie Spring were the lone girls on the Winnetka teams.

Spring, from Winnetka, later played for the Chicago Mission from 2017-20 and was a three-time state champion with the Mission. She also played for the Chicago Young Americans, where she won two state championships.

“I loved Winnetka; it was very impactful to start your hockey career with the boys; you learn how to keep up with them; you learn how to play physical; you learn how to skate,” said Huber, who skated on boys’ teams for three years – and still recalls and cherishes the memories of playing mini sticks in hotels with her Warrior teammates.

After Winnetka, she played for CYA and said, “I loved CYA; it was a great experience.”

But, after a couple of seasons, Huber went to a pizza lunch with her dad and Tony Cachey, then the Mission’s director of girls’ hockey. He convinced Huber to go green and jump to the Mission.

“I loved every second of,” playing in Illinois, Huber said. “I had a great experience playing in Illinois.

“We had a lot of success at the Chicago Mission and all of my friends from the Mission, we all still stay in contact. We had an incredible crew there. I loved playing in Chicago; I wouldn’t trade my experience in Chicago for anything.”

Winning five state championships and two national championships “was a testament to the players we had; we just had a lot of talent at the Mission and our coaches were incredible: Tony Cachey, Erin Rourke, Mary DeBartolo and Tom Mandarino,” Huber said. “I keep in contact with my Mission coaches, to this day.

“The program was run so smoothly; we all were so close.”

Her favorite Mission memory was “kind of an odd memory, but none of us ever forget it,” she said. “One year, we played quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals on the same day for the national championship tournament. Our quarterfinal (game) went into overtime against the Mid-Fairfield Stars,” with the Mission ultimately winning on a Huber-to-Abbey Murphy goal. 

“That game was incredible,” Huber said. “We basically played hockey that whole day. That was a pretty cool memory for all of us.

“I had an incredible experience at the Mission.”

Former Mission teammate Lyndie Lobdell, now playing for Seattle in the PWHL, returns home on Wednesday, March 25, when the New York Sirens battle the Seattle Torrent in the Takeover Tour™ Game at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

Huber is envious.

“I love Chicago; I’m proud to represent Chicago in the league,” Huber said. “My Mission teammate Lyndie is lucky enough to play in Chicago (on March 25). I was bummed Boston was not a part of that. I really would have liked to have played in Chicago; that’s so cool for her.”

Huber said she naturally has a soft spot in her heart for one of the state’s best-ever women’s hockey players: Kendall Coyne Schofield.

“Growing up, she definitely was one of my idols,” Huber said. “I’ve looked up to her my whole life. Now, to be able to play against her ... and she is one of the best humans ever, so kind, so humble. She’s incredible, a great role-model.”

Huber said her two seasons skating for the Trevians were special. The level of play in Metro Girls was not at that of the Mission, “but it really was a fun experience,” she said.

Huber said skating for New Trier Green, the school’s top boys team, a perennial powerhouse, was never considered. “They are full of talent, but very, very physical,” she said.

Huber did not know that the Trevians won the 2026 Illinois Girls High School Hockey State Championship days before this interview. “Oh wow, good for them. Congratulations to them; that’s very cool,” she said.

Her brother, Hans, was a two-time state champion for Green, but Ella was not able to attend either state championship game at the United Center.

“Ella is an amazing person. She always puts a smile on your face and is always fun to be around,” said Nicole Gorbatenko, a former Mission star now playing at the University of Wisconsin. “She is a great role model and showed that by working hard to be where she is now, in the PWHL.”

Added Jimmy Warrick, who guided Huber in a few local skills sessions: “She is an excellent skater.”

One Person: Abbey Murphy, a fellow Illinois native:
“Being teammates with Murph for … all the Mission years and college for, what, 10+ years. Having that constant friend and teammate, and we were always linemates … memories of Murph on and off the ice, are super special. She was very impactful on my career and memories in my life.”