You may know that Kacey Bellamy, former assistant captain and defensive star of the 2018 USA Women’s Olympic Hockey Team, is a 3-time Olympian. You may know that she has won a remarkable 8 IIHF Gold Medals playing for the USA National Team and 1 Olympic Gold. But did you know she was born in Rhode Island in 1987 and lived in East Providence?

Hockey entered Kacey’s life in Riverside, where her parents, Maura and Bob Bellamy, grew up. They eventually moved to Westfield, MA, where they knew no one. “We had to find our own way, without family,” Maura recalled. “Hockey started us within the community and grew us within the community.”

Kacey was inspired to play hockey because of the success of her older brother, Robby, who played hockey at the University of Maine, as well as in the Philadelphia farm system. Her younger brother, Corey, followed in his siblings’ footsteps and now skates for the Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL. Kacey also has a younger sister, Lindsey.

Growing up in Westfield, Kacey spent four years at the Berkshire School and graduated in 2005, where she lettered in hockey, field hockey and softball. In her senior year, she was named team MVP and co-MVP of the New England Prep School Athletic Council Division I. She finished her hockey career with 30 goals and 80 assists. She was Berkshire’s Female Athlete of the Year as a junior and senior.

In 2009, Kacey graduated from the University of New Hampshire with All-American status and a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies. She ranks third all-time at UNH in career points by a defenseman. She was also selected to Hockey East’s 10th Anniversary Team

Bellamy has represented the USA in every Olympics and World Championship since 2008, developing into a physical shot blocker rather than an offensive creator. Her work ethic was likely honed by her upbringing. Bellamy’s parents average 40,000 miles per year on the road while making significant financial sacrifices for their three hockey-playing kids.

Kacey, a born leader, served as an alternate captain for USA world championship teams in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021. She has won the Isobel Cup with the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League and is a two-time Clarkson Cup champion of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League when she skated with the Boston Blades, coached by 2019 RI Hockey Hall of Famer, Digit Murphy.

After a brief retirement, she signed a contract in April of 2023 to play for the Connecticut Whale hockey team in the 2023-24 Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) season.

Posted by RIHHOF