Growing up, Erika Silva Adams had one of the only ponytails on the ice in a sport dominated by men. Now, she can reflect on her record-breaking legacy in women’s hockey.
From being the only girl in Joe Bertagna’s boys clinics to setting 11 Northeastern records and becoming the U.S. National Team’s goaltender, Adams has been at the forefront of women’s hockey her whole life. After traveling abroad in her adulthood, she has now returned to women’s college hockey as a coach at Brown University.
“Someone said to me, ‘Erika, aren’t you sad that your records have been broken by some of these goalies that have come after you?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m honored because could you imagine if my records were to still stand?’ That means our program would not continue to elevate. That’s the whole purpose, right? We want to move that stick,” Adams said.
Recently inducted into the Beanpot Hall of Fame on the same night of Northeastern women’s hockey’s 4-0 victory in front of a record-breaking crowd in TD Garden, Adams sat down with The Huntington News to reflect on the work that’s been done to bring women’s hockey to today’s success and what she hopes to see out of the sport in the future.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Huntington News: You came back for the Beanpot this year with more than 13,000 people in attendance at TD Garden. What was that like for you, to come back and see this record-setting crowd?
Adams: The record-setting crowd was, I mean, it’s the turnout that I anticipate and expect because I think that women’s hockey is probably the best game to watch, but I’m not the only person that’s going to sit in the seats. It was pretty awesome to see this huge milestone and it shows how much the sport has grown in both visibility and support and [the] sheer numbers of women [that] play. I’m really grateful that we’ve had this platform to be at the TD Garden to show not just that women want to watch women play, but I have two boys and they were over the moon excited to be at the game. They think the women’s game is an incredible game. They love to see the accuracy, the passing and there’s obviously hitting and body contact. Men, women, girls, boys, they all want to come out and see that awesome game. So I think that kind of shows you the growth of where the sport has come to. And you have to remember that most of these moments, they don’t just appear. It all came from all the women playing before me, and my group of women that played with me and now the women that play currently. It is a work in progress. That’s what it takes in order to grow a sport. It takes the amazing individuals that continue to push the envelope.
HN: What did you take away from those Beanpot experiences and what would you say is special about the tournament?
Adams: Boston has such a rich sports culture and the Boston Beanpot stands out as one of the most anticipated events on the women’s hockey calendar. When being recruited to Northeastern, this was one of the selling points — to be able to play in a Beanpot tournament and represent my school — that I took seriously because I was recruited by several schools and that was one of the tipping points, to be able to make a difference, to be able to make history, to be able to have the opportunity to win a Beanpot trophy. None of these other schools that recruited me had a tournament like this, that had the legacy, the history behind it. If you talk to anyone that’s played in a Beanpot game, unless their eyes are closed, it’s a pretty remarkable experience.
HN: Could you put into context where the Northeastern women’s hockey program was during your time and what your goals were?
Adams: I was very intrigued and impressed with coach Heather Linstad and her team because they had won [the Beanpot] the year before I arrived. They had won it all. I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and I wanted to go to a school where I wasn’t given the net. I had to earn it. I did not waste one second because I knew how precious ice time was. And I knew that if I wanted to reach the U.S. national team, if I wanted to be an All-American, if I wanted to break the ceiling, if I wanted to hold 11 Northeastern records, if I wanted to accomplish whatever it was that day, I had to have an intent and purpose and get 1% better every time I put my skates on. I, at one point, held 11 records at Northeastern, which, if you know anything about the goalies that have played behind me or even in front of me, there are some pretty incredible goalies. That’s not an easy feat. So I would say I’m proud of all of the things that I’ve done at Northeastern, but I’m really excited that I was in such great company.
HN: You took a hiatus from hockey and now you’re back as a coach at Brown University. How did being away change how you look at the sport?
Adams: I think the biggest takeaway from being away from the game and then coming back into it was I think I was burnt out and I didn’t know it. But it really gave me a fresh set of eyes to miss the game and then come back a little bit more refreshed. I think I would have been really burnt out if I didn’t have that time to just find myself, find other things that make me Erika Silva Adams to do other things that are not hockey related. Because then when I came back to coach at Salve [Regina University] in 2021, I had a fresh perspective. I wasn’t burnt out. There’s some frustrations when you coach a lot because sometimes it takes a long time to see progress. And I think I just had that opportunity to take a moment and a deep breath to come back at it with a really fresh, positive attitude.
HN: Now with the Professional Women’s Hockey League, or PWHL, in its second season, what do you think has changed on the college level just in seeing this next level of play that players can reach?
Adams: The PWHL is an awesome and remarkable stage that all these women have access to. I played in the NWHL [National Women’s Hockey League] and played pro up in Canada for the Brampton Thunder. But we had to travel to Canada. We didn’t get paid and the NWHL was not supported in a manner in which it would thrive. So the PWHL, with all its sponsorships and supporting cast and all of the funding that’s been put into it, makes me so happy because when I was a young girl, the only thing I could thrive and strive for was to be on the U.S. National Team. That’s a pretty big goal. Now I did it, but I would’ve liked to see what we have now. A place where other women can play. They don’t have to reach that level. They can still showcase their incredible talent. Be able to be revered and viewed as professional athletes, have the opportunity to play hockey just like the men do in the NHL and get paid to do it. I mean, that’s just another platform for women to continue to grow this game. And I’m just so happy and excited that we get to see and witness this because I’ve been there. We’ve pushed and tried really hard to get this to come to fruition. And I’m just happy that it’s actually happened.
HN: How did you/do you know Joe Bertagna?
Former Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna is the name behind the Beanpot tournament’s esteemed goaltender award. Adams won the Bertagna award in 2000 and 2001, the award’s first recipient and one of only three players to win it twice.
Adams: I attended his summer clinics ever since I was a young girl. A remarkable individual, the kindest person. I was one of the only girls, if the only girl, most of the time. And I would be sitting in the corner, slightly sweating it out because I was in a room full of boys or men, hoping I was going to do my part to just hold my own.
I think it’s important for people to understand when you’re the only female in a room full of men or boys, they’re going to pick you out of the crowd simply because when you have a ponytail, you’re already going to be assessed before you get on the ice. You don’t get to start with a clean slate. That’s probably why maybe I was always considered intense. If I wasn’t prepared and I wasn’t focused and I wasn’t ready and I didn’t have my intent and purpose for that day — meditating, visualizing and preparing myself — I would be considered, ‘Oh, she’s just a girl. She’s not very good.’ I always had to prove myself. Always. That’s exhausting on days where you’re just not feeling it. But I will tell you to this day — as a person, as a small business owner, as an athlete, as a mother, as a wife — it has helped me so much because it’s helped me get to where I wanted to go. So it’s really important and Joe definitely helped me to say, ‘Listen, Erika, I realize you’re tired today. But I want you to give me, even if it’s 50%, I want you to give me all of your 50% and I want you to focus on this one particular skill set.’
HN: What do you hope to see out of the sport in the future?
Adams: I want to see more people attending regular season games for women’s college hockey because it’s amazing. It’s incredible and they’re missing out. And that’s how we’re going to grow the game. Getting butts in the seat. People seeing how incredibly talented these women are and just increasing the attendance at games. And that is going to in turn help get the butts in the seat of the PWHL games. Because I have some of my college girls from a lot of the teams that I’ve coached, they go to the PWHL games, but they can’t go to every game because they’re playing themselves. So if we get people, even non-hockey people to come out and see a game, it’s a great family environment. And then obviously funding. Backing and funding for the PWHL so that we can continue to get closer and closer to what the NHL is doing. Because so many of these women are incredibly talented that they should be paid and be able to play hockey as their job, just like the men do. But it’s going to take every single person. Men, women, boys, girls, every hockey team, no matter what the sex or gender is, come out and support women’s hockey. And they will not be disappointed.
