Chelsea Laden

Dr. Chelsea Laden (born September 12, 1992) is an American optometrist, paranormal investigator, television creator and retired ice hockey goaltender, who played with the Connecticut Whale and New York Riveters of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).

Chelsea Laden
Born	(1992-09-12) September 12, 1992 (age 32) Lakeville, Minnesota, United States
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	150 lb (68 kg; 10 st 10 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Lakeville South High (2009-2011) Quinnipiac Bobcats (2011-2015) Connecticut Whale (2015-2016) New York Riveters (2015-2016)
Playing career	2011–2016

Playing career

During her teenage years, she played ice hockey for Lakeville South High School in Lakeville, Minnesota, serving as team captain twice and earning all-state MVP honours four times.^[1]

From 2011 to 2015, she played NCAA Division I women's ice hockey with the Quinnipiac Bobcats of ECAC Hockey, serving as the starting goaltender of the women's hockey programme in her junior and senior seasons.^[2] As a freshman, she was named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week for the week of November 29, 2011, and notched her first career collegiate shutout in a 3–0 victory over Syracuse in January 2012. She was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Month in October 2013 and was a three-time ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team selection.^[3][4]

After graduating from Quinnipiac, she was ready to end her ice hockey career due to a lack of viable opportunities in the sport.^[5] However, when the PHF (then NWHL) was founded that summer by Dani Rylan, she was able to sign her first professional contract, worth $14,000, with the Connecticut Whale.^[6] She made her PHF debut in late October 2015, backstopping four third-period penalty kills in a victory over the Buffalo Beauts, the first away victory in Whale franchise history.^[7] She then missed several months of the season dealing with a finger injury.^[8] In February 2016, she became part of the first-ever trade in PHF history, being traded to the New York Riveters in exchange for Shenae Lundberg.^[9]

Filmography

In 2019, she began starring in a Travel Channel original paranormal television show called Destination Fear along with her brother, Dakota Laden, and friends Tanner Wiseman and Alex Schroeder.^[10] The show follows the group of self-proclaimed 'paranormal explorers' as they travel to reportedly haunted, paranormal hotspots across the United States at which the team separates and sleeps alone at the end of each night and records their experiences.^[11] The Ladens and Wiseman had previously produced a similarly-themed documentary called Trail to Terror in 2016. The documentary was shown in Theatres at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota on October 29, 2016.^[12]

Television

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Sports Paws	Guest	Q30 Television
2016	Trail to Terror	Herself	Crew member
2019–2023	Destination Fear	Herself	Crew member
2019	The Kelly Clarkson Show	Guest	With Dakota Laden
2020	The Jason Show	Guest	With Dakota Laden
2020	Darkness Radio Minnesota - Paranormal Talk Radio	Guest	With Dakota Laden
2020	Up Close - Para-Normal	Guest	With Destination Fear
2020	Rich Sports Talk: From Hockey to Haunts	Guest
2020	Shock Docs: This is Halloween	Herself	With Destination Fear
2020	Paranormal Pastime: Optometry student explores haunted places for Travel Channel show	Herself	WCTV
2021	Comic-Con: Wonder Women - Superstars of Paranormal	Guest panellist	With Amy Bruni Katrina Weidman Cindy Kaza
2021	Comic-Con: Tales From Route 666	Guest panellist	With Destination Fear
2021	The Jason Show	Guest	With Destination Fear
2021	Rich Sports Talk	Guest	Halloween special

Web

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
2023–present	Project Fear	Herself	https://www.youtube.com/@FearProject

Personal life

Laden was born on September 12, 1992, in Lakeville, Minnesota to Rob and Polly Laden. She has four siblings, an older sister Mykenna, and younger siblings Dakota, Tavian, and Isabella. She is currently married to Jake Rancic who she met while they were both studying at Illinois College of Optometry.

Laden has a bachelor's degree in pre-medical sciences from Quinnipiac University and a Doctor of Optometry degree from Illinois College of Optometry.^[13][14][15]

References

1. "2014-15 Women's Ice Hockey: #78 Chelsea Laden". Quinnipiac University Athletics. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
2. "Chelsea Laden, Quinnipiac women's hockey team shutting out opposition". New Haven Register. February 28, 2015. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
3. Williams, Doug (January 21, 2015). "Kaz Watch: Chelsea Laden Smothers the Opposition". Patty Kazmaier Award. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
4. McFadden, Kenisha (November 14, 2014). "Defense goes far beyond goaltending for Quinnipiac women's hockey". Quinnipiac Bobcats Sports Network. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
5. Niesen, Joan (October 27, 2015). "Hopeful signs in NWHL's first season". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
6. Altavilla, John (January 9, 2016). "Women's Pro Hockey League Has Believers; Connecticut Whale In First Place". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
7. Staffieri, Mark (October 27, 2015). "Chelsea Laden Victorious in Her NWHL Debut with Connecticut Whale". Women's Hockey Life. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
8. Murphy, Mike (February 17, 2016). "Exclusive Interview with Chelsea Laden of the New York Riveters". Blueshirt Banter. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
9. Staffieri, Mark (February 25, 2016). "Historic Trade Provides Change of Venue for Chelsea Laden". Women's Hockey Life. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
10. "Meet the 'Destination Fear' Team". Travel Channel. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
11. Justin, Neal (October 25, 2019). "Lakeville natives turn their obsession with haunted houses into TV series". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
12. "Destination Fear: Chelsea Laden '15 Set to Star in New Show for Travel Channel". Quinnipiac University Athletics. October 24, 2019. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
13. Woodley, Kevin (October 21, 2016). "Goaltenders pass the eye test". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
14. Kaplan, Katie (October 27, 2020). "Paranormal pastime: Optometry student explores haunted places for Travel Channel show". WCTV. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
15. "A Day in the Life". Illinois College of Optometry (Video journal). Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2021.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Chelsea Laden at IMDb 
• Chelsea Laden on Twitter
• Chelsea Laden on Instagram