One of my favourite things about interviewing hockey players is when players love the game as much, or more, than the fans do, and when they do everything they possibly can to keep playing the game they love. Regardless of visa troubles, redirections, or other setbacks, these players work their butts off to be able to keep playing the game that they love. And now that the PWHL is adding four more teams, we have the chance to see many more fantastic players declare for the draft.
Today’s feature is one of those players. I found out about Emma Hall when her brother commented on my tweet, letting everyone in Vancouver know that she was entering the draft and eager to play for her hometown team, the Goldeneyes.
Vancouver loves its hometown products, as is clear with Gardiner, Miller, Jobst-Smith, and Chan, all players who joined the Goldeneyes this past year and grew up in the area, who easily became fan favourites. Ahead of the PWHL Entry Draft on June 17, I sat down with Maple Ridge, BC’s Emma Hall to chat about her path towards a chance to play pro hockey in North America.
The Ice Garden: How did you get into hockey in the first place?
Emma Hall: I have an older brother, Avery. He’s three years older, and he played hockey, and my dad did too. So, I was at the rink a lot. When he would have practices and games, I would go in the dressing room and hang out, and I’d go in everyone’s bag and look for extra gear, socks, jerseys, and stuff … The interest was definitely there super early. When it came time to sign up for hockey, there were no girls’ teams my age.
TIG: So you said you played boys’ hockey for a bit. What did your minor hockey journey look like before you went to play in university?
Hall: I played for the Ridge Meadows Rustlers for eight years and then when I got to Bantam (U15), that’s when I switched to girls. I went and played for the Surrey Falcons. And then my final two years of minor hockey I played with the Greater Vancouver Comets, so that was pretty cool.
In her final season with the Greater Vancouver Comets, Hall played with current Vancouver Goldeneyes players Jenn Gardiner and Nina Jobst-Smith, as well as Seattle Torrent forward Jenna Buglioni.
TIG: You went on to play for the University of British Columbia in university. Why UBC?
Hall: UBC, I always had on my vision board. I knew two schools, you know, growing up in the lower mainland. I knew there was SFU, I knew there was UBC, and I was like, UBC is the provincial university, it’s the biggest one, it must be the best. So that’s where I wanted to go.
When I was 11, I got to go there for the first time. I got to go on campus. We did a Sportchek ad … so I got to skate on Father Bauer, which was crazy. I was like, oh, I could play hockey at university, I didn’t know that. And so I definitely had my sights set very early that this is where I wanted to go, and then a couple of years later, I was an affiliate for the West Coast Avalanche, and Dom Di Rocco was the coach of that team. In my final two summers before university, I was at the Richmond Oval doing practices with her and Mark Summer and they invited me to do a visit at UBC. So there’s been all of these connection points along the way, it felt like it had been brewing for a long time.
And Graham Thomas, he was the head coach of Team BC my final year and after a July camp, my dad and I were waiting for the ferry and that’s when he gave me a call and asked if I’d like to go [to UBC]. And it felt like I had been waiting for that call since I first went there, so it was a very easy decision — like, the best campus, great school, great hockey, beautiful jerseys.
TIG: After you finished at UBC, you decided to go overseas. Can you talk a little bit about what led you to go over there?
Hall: I’ve had this kind of long, winding journey. I feel like I just knew after university, I was like, “I’m not going to be done playing hockey, no way.” You get such a short little time in your life to be an athlete, so I want to squeeze all the juice out of this and just keep playing, because it’s my favourite thing.
So my first year, I ended up in Sweden and played in the NDHL there, and that was super cool. It was my first time overseas. It felt like living in a parallel universe. It was so crazy. It was super cool. I wanted to do it again.
I ended up going to Finland. I was trying to go back to Sweden because I liked it there, but I used up my working holiday visa, so I was trying to get a working visa, but it wasn’t working out. So I just emailed every team in Europe. I just went league by league. I emailed everyone. By September, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do?’ And then KalPa in Finland, they got back to me, saying they would like to have me. I was the only North American in that league [Auroraliiga], so that was a crazy experience. It was a little harder to connect with my teammates, just naturally, not a lot of English going on, I’m the only one.
After Finland, again, I emailed every team in Europe to see where I could find a home, ultimately trying to play the best hockey I possibly can, trying to see how far I can go and how good I can get. There’s not a lot of room; there are some leagues that don’t have a lot of spots for import players, or maybe there aren’t a lot of resources to have imports. But the EWHL had both of those things, so that was the next best step for me. And it was close to lots of countries, so I could see a lot of countries at once. That’s a bonus as well: getting to travel a little bit, see the world, and keep playing hockey.
I’m very, very lucky, that’s like winning the lottery kind of thing. Many people don’t get to do that.
TIG: What would you say has been a highlight of your hockey career so far?
Hall: There’s been lots of good things, lots of good moments. I’ve been on teams that have been very successful, you know? I remember we won back-to-back bronze with Team BC and at UBC, back-to-back Can West titles. Then now I’ve been going overseas, and I’ve gotten to live in three different countries, in total now I’ve visited like 16 or 17, which doesn’t even sound real to say.
I think, you know, the journey is the destination thing — that may be corny to say, but it’s definitely true. Hockey’s given me so much and taught me so many lessons and brought wonderful people into my life. So I think the highlight is just that I’ve gotten to do it for so long, and that I still get to do this, all these years later. It’s been more than 20 years now, and I still get to pursue my passion and wake up and have that sense of purpose to keep trying to get better and strive for more. It’s hard to ask for more than that.
TIG: Let’s fast-forward to now. You’ve had eligibility to declare for the PWHL draft for a while. Was there something about this time around that made you want to do that?
Hall: I’ve kind of been on this journey of trying to prove myself overseas, and I spent a few years trying to do that. I think my first year [of eligibility] I had no shot, second year, I was like “Okay, probably no shot.” But this year, I mean, who knows: There’s so much growth and so many open slots, it’s like, why not just shoot your shot and see what happens? What’s the worst thing that can happen here? Might as well go for it.
TIG: What does it mean to you to have that opportunity to play pro women’s hockey in the city that you grew up in?
Hall: It’s really hard to describe. I was always a Canucks fan growing up, always wearing a Canucks jersey. I remember so clearly the 2011 playoffs, and how exciting that felt, and I always used to say that I wanted to play in the NHL. And people would say, “Well, you know girls don’t do that, right?” Boys get Stanley Cups, and I guess girls get gold medals.
So now to have that opportunity to play pro, it’s super special. When I go to the rinks now, and I see power skating, it’s all girls on the ice. I didn’t even know any other girls who played hockey when I was in elementary school. To see how the game has grown … I can only imagine the growth that is happening now and in the coming years, now that young female hockey players can have that dream of making it. It’s exciting!
Hall and 234 other players will hope to hear their names called on June 17 at the PWHL Entry Draft in Detroit.
Note: The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
