This week on The IX Sports Podcast Hockey Edition, host Maya Smith is joined by Professional Women’s Hockey League Hamilton beat reporter Natalia Rachman.
Smith opened the podcast with the news that Cara Gardner Morey will be the next head coach of the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Gardner Morey previously served as the team’s general manager.
“This is surprising, but also not surprising,” Smith said. “So it’s — she has a ton of coaching experience. She coached at Princeton for a number of years and was very successful there. The GM role with the Golden Eyes in their first season was her first GM role, and so she really just wanted to go back to where her passion lies, which is coaching.”
Then Smith moved on to play an interview she previously conducted with Emily Clark, who recently signed with PWHL Hamilton; she previously played for the Ottawa Charge. In the interview, Clark said that it’s “comforting” to be joining a team with so many teammates she already knows.
Then Smith is joined by Rachman to discuss PWHL Hamilton’s current roster and how the expansion team is likely to fare.
Rachman said that despite the team picking up Clark, Alina Müller and Brianne Jenner early, the construction of the roster has prioritized defense.
This PWHL Hamilton team, Smith pointed out, is also, in many ways, just a repackaged version of the Ottawa Charge, with many notable players on the roster coming from Ottawa, including Clark, Jenner and Zoe Boyd.
Tune in to this week’s episode to hear more about the expansion team, and what surprises this roster may have in store.
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast for in-depth coverage of women’s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women’s Sports Daily, like WNBA news and PWHL expansion updates.
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