Dunne’s sister Joy Dunne, girlfriend Ella Shelton are set to face off in at KeyBank Center
Josh Dunne was watching from afar as his younger sister, Joy, unleashed a wrist shot from the faceoff dot with just over seven minutes left in the third period and put Ohio State ahead 1-0 in the 2024 National Championship game.
Joy’s game-winner gave the Buckeyes their second ever national title, and it gave Josh a moment he will never forget.
“The sky is the limit for her,” Josh said.
Saturday, they’ll call the same ice home as Joy suits up for Team USA in the Rivalry Series against Canada at KeyBank Center. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.
The Rivalry Series consists of four games between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Canadian Women’s National Team ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics. The United States won the first game 4-1 in Cleveland on Thursday.
“It’s kind of hilarious, the first one is stopping at Cleveland, which I played there for a couple years,” Josh said. “It’s kind of funny that they’re in both places. It’s really cool to be able to say we share the same ice surface.”
Joy Dunne
Josh kickstarted the Dunne hockey lineage that spans to all six of Tom and Tammy Dunne’s children. Josh – who was the third-born Dunne child – said he started watching hockey around four or five years old and shortly after, started playing inline hockey (otherwise known as roller hockey)
Josh said his days on roller skates ignited his older sisters’ passion for the game as Jincy and Jessica Dunne – the oldest of the six – started playing. Jessica, Jincy and Josh transitioned to traditional ice hockey and set the stage for Josey, James and Joy Dunne to create hockey legacies of their own.
“Ironically, my parents actually never played but it was fun because we would go to the rink, and we’d be at the rink from like 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Josh said. “People would be running out, getting lunch orders, and we were always there with each other, supporting each other. I played with my older sisters at some point, so we all were there at the same point, and just made it so much fun to all be there and kind of have something in common, to be able talk about (hockey) and understand it at a deeper level.”
The six Dunne kids are separated by nine years from oldest to youngest and all played college hockey at some level.
Jessica played 65 games at Ohio State (NCAA), Josey played three years at Minnesota before transferring to Lindenwood where she’s in her second season, James played ACHA hockey at Oklahoma State, and Joy was named 2024 NCAA Rookie of the Year at Ohio State.
Jincy, meanwhile, was a two-time CCM Hockey Women’s Division I First-Team All-American for the Buckeyes. She’s played one Olympics and two World Championships with Team USA and, at the U-18 World Championship in 2015, carved out her own piece of history in Buffalo when she scored the gold medal-winning goal in overtime against Canada. With Josh in attendance.
The pickup games in the driveway or on the ice were highly contentious and usually ended in a scrum. Josh, however, said it’s something he wouldn’t trade for anything else.
“They’ve all worked so hard and it’s so cool to see their journeys from the beginning to where they are now, and the adversity they’ve pushed through, the injuries, the highs, the lows, to get where they are now,” Josh said.
“It’s really awesome to see that they’ve earned it. I just really enjoy knowing the backstory of it all, and very proud of them, very happy for them, and hope they just enjoy every moment.”
Josh’s siblings have supported him through his own pro journey, which began when he signed with Columbus following his junior season at Clarkson University in 2021.
Josh appeared in 14 NHL games over the next three and a half seasons in the Blue Jackets organization, during which he played primarily for their AHL affiliate in Cleveland. He then signed a two-year, two-way contract with Buffalo on July 1, 2024 and played a career-high 68 games with the Rochester in 2024-25.
Dunne was recalled from the Amerks on Oct. 25 and he made an immediate impact, scoring his first goal three days later against his former team. Awaiting him that night was an inundation of texts and calls from his siblings who celebrated the moment with him from afar.
“They were just so happy for me,” Josh said. “Just the thing about my journey, just for me getting here, they’ve been with me my whole life, and they’ve seen the ups and downs, so it just meant a lot to them, meant a lot to me. Their support has been incredible throughout the years… It was really, really a good moment for us all.”
Josh is in the midst of his fifth full season as a pro and said he’s learned as much from his sisters as they have from him. Despite the distance that separates the Dunne siblings, Josh said they’re always unified through hockey and shared he wouldn’t be in the NHL without them.
“It’s been awesome to have them in the same sport because I’ve been able to pick their brains a lot about things,” Josh said. “A lot of different circumstances, whether with hockey, on ice, off ice, with teammates or coaches, some of my experiences I’ve learned have actually been through them. It’s been great to bounce stuff off them, bounce ideas, hear things, new perspectives, see new things.
“I’ve become more well-rounded as a hockey player, and even a person, being able to learn from their experiences, and just having that support group is very important for me… They’re always there for me, and they know when it’s hard for me or when it’s good and they always have my back.”
The connections for Josh will run deep on Saturday as Joy – who finished third in the country in goals last season and has scored in each of the last two national championship games – will line up against Ella Shelton – Josh’s girlfriend.
Ella Shelton
Josh and Shelton met at Clarkson – where the latter won back-to-back national championships in 2017 and 2018 – during Josh’s sophomore year. Their long-time, long-distance arrangement will get easier this year as Shelton is playing for the Toronto Sceptres in the PWHL this season.
Josh said he’s excited to watch his sister and his girlfriend face off in the unique occurrence on Saturday and wishes he could be in attendance (he’ll be on the road with the Sabres for their game in Carolina).
As for who he’s rooting for?
“I just hope both teams have fun,” he said.