On Monday, April 30, Goldeneyes players gathered to talk to the media one final time for the 2025-26 PWHL season.
One of two new expansion franchises, the Vancouver Goldeneyes finished their first PWHL season in sixth place. They won the Gold Plan, giving them the chance to draft first overall next season. The media first heard from the leadership team, captain Ashton Bell, and assistant captains Sarah Nurse and Claire Thompson. Next came general manager Cara Gardner Morey and head coach Brian Idalski. Finally, Jennifer Gardiner, Sophie Jaques, and Michelle Karvinen gave their answers to the media.
Here are five takeaways from the entire exit day session.
Players’ futures are up in the air
There are many questions heading into the off-season about who will continue to be a Goldeneye next season. Assistant captain Sarah Nurse is among the biggest names in free agency and a beloved member of the team.
“I think that obviously, what’s been built here in Vancouver, I think Cara has done an absolutely incredible job. I think I can speak for all of us and say we all have a great relationship with her and she has an incredible vision for where the organization can go,” Nurse said, when asked about her future with the team.
But she also highlighted that expansion has left a lot up in the air for her. “I think information [on expansion] is the biggest piece to start to make that decision,” Nurse continued.
For Claire Thompson, it’s more than just whether or not she’ll return to the Goldeneyes next season. The Canadian defender missed the first season of the PWHL to attend medical school. In 2025 she signed a one-year deal with the Goldeneyes. Now, she has to decide whether to return to her studies or continue playing hockey.
“I’ll go back to my home base in Toronto. [I’ll] spend some time with family, thinking about what I want next year to look like,” said Thompson. “The next five years, the next 10 years, and [then] really make a decision on what I think is best for me at this time.”
Jennifer Gardiner was more optimistic about her future in the PWHL. “I still haven’t even wrapped my head around the fact that I got to play at home this season. It just meant so much to me. And obviously, I’d love to be a Goldeneye. I’d love to build the franchise here into a Walter Cup-winning team.”
Though she is brand new to the PWHL, Finnish Olympian Michelle Karvinen is a well-known name in women’s hockey. She was drafted in the first round by the Goldeneyes and put up nine points, ninth in team scoring. Karvinen said her future is more about the decision to continue playing, rather than a decision to stay in Vancouver.
“I think playing for Vancouver is an honour. I think for anyone to be able to come back here would be very special. I think, obviously, for me, I’m in a bit of a different situation than most players here. I will definitely take some time now to consider what my next steps are, if I’m continuing playing or not. I think that’s a bit more of a question for me right now than where I’m going.”
Lastly, head coach Brian Idalski did not comment on his future with the team. The 2025-26 season was his first as a coach in the PWHL. Since this press conference was held, Idalski has been confirmed as the head coach of Team Czechia.
The season did not go as planned, but there are positives to take away
For any team, even an expansion franchise, winning the Walter Cup is the goal from the first puck drop. But, a lack of wins on the road and difficulty building team chemistry ultimately held the Goldeneyes back.
“Our goal was, at the beginning of the season, and I think for this organization, is always to bring championships to the city, and we unfortunately fell short of that this year,” Claire Thompson said.
“I think we’re really proud of the growth that our group showed over this year. And you can see by our record, we were trending in the right direction, unfortunately, just a bit too late. But next season, we’re hoping to build on that progress,” she added.
Her teammate Jennifer Gardiner echoed the sentiment a few minutes later. “When you’re a part of a start-up team…there’s going to be a lot of hiccups and roadblocks that come up along the way. But, I think that also adds to the experience. I think it helped our group become so much tighter just dealing with a lot of things being thrown our direction, a lot of uncontrollables.”
The brand new team wasn’t just a challenge for the players. It was also a challenge for the brand new general manager, Cara Gardner Morey, and first-time PWHL coach, Brian Idalski.
“I’ve been involved in hockey and women’s hockey forever, but understanding basically institutional knowledge, how things operate, things operate differently from where we all came from,” Gardner Morey explained. “That was a learning curve, and I think we got a great handle on it halfway through, towards the end of the season. And I think that did show up on the ice.”
All signs point to a better second season for the Goldeneyes. The team now knows what to expect and how to handle adversity. But it won’t be that straightforward, with expansion hovering on the horizon.
Expansion leaves a lot of unanswered questions
At the time of this press conference, very little was known about the upcoming expansion. We’ve since learned a few details about the expansion process and the teams. However, this uncertainty is something that plagues both the players and management as they look ahead to next season.
“I don’t think it’s like a secret. I think [this team is] going to look very different [next season],” Sarah Nurse said. “I think the most disappointing part for us is that we had such a great group this year, on and off of the ice, and so to have fallen short of our ultimate goal of winning a Walter Cup, it’s sad to know that we’re not going to be able to do this again next with this group.”
Jennifer Gardiner shared similar sentiments. “There’s so much up in the air, like everything, every day, is changing, and I feel like that’s kind of been a big topic of conversation lately. But at the same time, we’re just so grateful for the group that we had here this season, and this year was really a dream year.”
Both Nurse and Gardiner are free agents going into the 2026 season. Even players who have contracts are unsure what is ahead for them.
“While I do have a contract, we still have no idea how expansion is going to look or what’s going to happen from that front of things,” Sophie Jaques said.
In the previous expansion period, any unprotected players were eligible for the expansion draft. Now, with the new expansion process, there’s still a possibility that players under contract could be signed by the new expansion teams. While the team might look different for the players on the ice, the team assembly will come down to Cara Gardner Morey. She expressed that keeping the core players is a priority of hers.
“My biggest challenge in the off season is making sure that we have our core here, keeping as many players as we can through this process, and then finishing our roster with people who are going to help us elevate our game to the next level,” Gardner Morey said, “A lot of looking ahead and looking at strategy around both expansion and the entry draft, and figuring out the pieces we need to take this program one step higher than we were this year.”
With expansion looming and the first overall pick in hand, she has a lot on her plate for 2026.
Many highlights, despite the outcome
Though the outcome wasn’t what the players hoped for, they gave plenty of praise about the experience.
“I think going back to where it all began, our home opener was really, really special. Our first night in this building, winning that game in overtime, seeing our crowd for the first time. Seeing the rink come together with our team logo was really, really special,” Claire Thompson said when asked about a season highlight.
This sentiment was shared by players and coaches alike.
“For me, coming in from college, just the takeover games, the crowds, the fan support here, honestly, was a bit overwhelming. It was more than you could have ever expected. It exceeded expectations 1,000%, so a lot of positives and a lot of things that were super cool that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life,” Brian Idalski said.
Sitting next to him, Cara Gardner Morey said she never expected to see women’s hockey get to where it is today.
“The season opener, for sure, it did take my breath away and bring me to tears. As someone who’s been involved in women’s hockey her entire life, I truly never thought I would see this happen where, you know, like 14,000 people were showing up, wearing our jerseys, cheering for our players, and truly loving our product.”
Even Michelle Karvinen, who’s played on some of the world’s biggest stages, said the fan support was her season highlight. “Coming to warmups, every single game, seeing all the girls by the glass with signs and things like that, would definitely be something that I cherish a lot. I think it’s so cool to finally be living the dream and also being their dream and role model for them.”
Anyone who’s followed the Goldeneyes knows that the love for the team didn’t just stay at the home opener. It continued through the season, on the road, all over North America and into the final game of the season. Said Gardner Morey, “The last game of the season, where the fans stayed, and you wonder as the GM like, ‘did we do enough?’ And to see the way the fans, you know, we won in overtime. It seemed like we won the Walter Cup that day.”
While that final game didn’t earn Vancouver a title, it gave them a chance at a great consolation prize: the first overall pick.
A bright light at the end of the season: the first overall pick
Coming down to a double tie breaker, the Goldeneyes won the Gold Plan. They beat their expansion siblings the Seattle Torrent to the first overall pick.
“Obviously, it’s very exciting to have the first pick. And then that includes the first pick each round, like that’s really exciting for me,” Gardner Morey said. “It’s pretty exciting that you have the control of the first pick of who you would like to bring into this city and make a big impact on our program.”
With 23 players from the 2026 Olympics declaring for the draft, there’s no shortage of talent. Among them is Olympic MVP and the Patty Kazmaier Award winner Caroline Harvey, who’s likely to go first overall.
“I think that this year’s draft class is incredible. No matter what pick you have, you’re going to get a great player,” Sophie Jaques said when asked by TIG about potentially playing with Harvey next season. “And I think Harvey is just someone who’s a great hockey player, a great offensive defenseman with a great mind. So obviously, excited to welcome a player like that onto our team, if we were to go that route. And, I think it would just be a lot of fun to get to play alongside her.”
There is still a lot to be decided heading into the Goldeneyes’ second season, but it’s safe to say the first one was pretty magical.
Quotes may have been edited for clarity or length.