PROFESSIONAL
WRITING
I have always loved to write, from writing creative fiction in elementary school for National Novel Writing Month to covering hockey with previews, recaps, features, roundtables, and more to honing my skills with professional brand communication, including press and news releases and more.
​
Jump to the following categories:
​
BRAND COMMUNICATIONS
I first developed an interest in writing brand and business communications during a class I took my junior year of undergraduate study at the University of Illinois: Principles of Business Communication. Learning about the different strategies and the most effective ways to communicate information really piqued my interest, and it was from there that I elected to pursue my minor in public relations and further develop my writing and strategy.
​
For me, I define my brand communications experience as materials written and developed internally for organizations, including during my tenure with ECAC Hockey and the Premier Hockey Federation's Connecticut Whale.
FEATURE WRITING
I have always loved to write and have always been a storyteller, from my preschool days spent creating picture books with scribbled drawings and minimal plot, to winning National Novel Writing Month three years in a row in grade school, to breaking into the journalism sector with features focused on my favorite sport: women's hockey.
​
Below, you can read samples of my work writing features both internally, for organizations such as ECAC Hockey, and externally, for media outlets such as The Ice Garden.
MARIA DENNIS CONTINUES TO EMPOWER HOCKEY COMMUNITY ON AND OFF THE ICE
While her lifetime of achievement betrays her grit and tenacity on and off the ice, hockey wasn't always the easiest — or most welcoming — path for Dennis. As a young girl growing up in South Windsor, Connecticut, in the 1970s and '80s, she didn't have a lot of women's hockey influences to look up to — or even hockey influences, period, outside her father, Tony, who she credits with being the influence in her life that shaped her into both the hockey player and the person that she is today.
​
Image courtesy of Maria Dennis
'JUST LEAVE IT ALL OUT THERE': ON RETURNING FOR A FIFTH YEAR
There’s no question that the 2020-21 season of women’s hockey has been one of the most irregular the sport has ever witnessed — whether at the professional, international, or collegiate levels. Between the NWHL’s suspension of their Lake Placid season due to COVID-19, the PWHPA’s postponement of the St. Louis stop of the Secret Dream Gap Tour, the cancellation (and subsequent rescheduling) of Women’s Worlds, and multiple series cancellations across the NCAA, this year has been rife with uncertainty.
​
Amidst all of the unknowns, though, there was a bright spot.
​
Image credit to the Minnesota Golden Gophers/Gopher Athletics
