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Ella Shelton
Position: Defence 
Hometown: Ingersoll, Ont.
Age: 23

Ella Shelton is a newer face on Canada’s women’s hockey team. She made her debut for the senior team in 2019 and is one of eight players who will be making their worlds debut for the Canadians at this month’s IIHF Women’s World Championship.

“I’m super excited and super humbled,” Shelton told the Woodstock Sentinel Review. “As a young player in the program, it’s nice you’re getting recognition and hard work is paying off.”

Shelton played for the London Jr. Devilettes in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) from 2013 to 2016. She was named captain of the Devilettes for the 2015-16 season and led all PWHL defencemen in scoring with 11 goals and 27 points in 34 games.

She also won gold with Ontario Red at the 2015 National Women’s Under-18 Championship and was named Senior Athlete of the Year at St. Mary’s Catholic High School.

Shelton was recruited by numerous NCAA schools but chose Clarkson University, citing the school’s “strong academics, strong hockey program and great coaching staff.”

Shelton also said that the campus in Potsdam, N.Y., which has a population of just over 15,000, made her feel at home after growing up in rural Ontario.

She would win the NCAA championship twice with Clarkson in 2017 and 2018 and also reached the Frozen Four in 2019.

In her freshman year, Shelton was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie team, ECAC Hockey All-Academic team, and ECAC Hockey Championship All-Tournament team.

As both a sophomore and a junior, she once again was named to the ECAC All-Tournament team and ECAC Hockey All-Academic team, as well as picking up ECAC Second-Team All-Star honours, and in her third season she led all Clarkson defencemen in scoring.

She finished her career with 108 points in 153 games and is just the third Clarkson defencemen to reach the century mark (joining current Canadian teammate Erin Ambrose).

Shelton spent time with Canada’s development team and competed at the 2018 Nations Cup, where the team finished fifth. She made her debut for the senior team in a two-game series against the United States in 2019.

Following her collegiate career, Shelton joined Toronto’s Team Sonnet in the PWHPA. She scored her first professional goal at this year’s Dream Gap Tour in Calgary on May 24 against Team Bauer. She would finish with two goals and three assists in five games.