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How deep does the pool move?

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“4 extra groups means 100 new jobs,” mentioned Charge GM Mike Hirshfeld. “You’re at all times going to dilute skill while you upload 4 groups. That’s simply math. However the just right information is there are so much of nice gamers in the market who deserve a chance on this league, and that’s what’s thrilling. They’ll get that chance, after which we’ll have extra towns and extra enthusiasts be ready to watch our video games and spot the nice product we placed on the ice, and the ability and athleticism of those athletes.

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“We’re in reality all in favour of the larger image and the just right information tale this is the reality expansion means that extra other people get to see our gamers in our recreation, and our recreation is constant to develop.”

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What does it imply for a participant like Kendra Woodland?

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If her identify is unfamiliar, it’s as a result of Woodland is a third-string rookie goalie for the Charge.

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At 26 years previous, the Kamloops, B.C., local is a first-rate instance of perseverance.

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She began to fall in love with hockey when she was once 3 years previous and was once quickly taking part in the sport on the streets along with her two older brothers.

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Her “adventure” to Ottawa incorporated 5 seasons at the College of New Brunswick, the place she led the Reds to 3 Atlantic College Sports activities championships with an general file of 53-35-0, together with a 1.68 goals-against moderate and a .941 save share.

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Woodland was once overpassed in the 2024 and 2025 PWHL drafts earlier than becoming a member of the Charge as a loose agent walk-on at this season’s coaching camp.

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She made the staff and performed somewhat greater than 45 mins of one sport, on March 18 in Minnesota, when she allowed two aims and made 14 saves in a 5-0 loss to the Frost.

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Woodland will not be a family identify, however she does have known hockey connections in Carolina Hurricanes playoff celebrity Logan Stankoven, an in depth pal since formative years who she nonetheless trains with in the offseason, and, in a much less non-public manner, former Detroit Pink Wings goalie Chris Osgood, whose father was once the essential at her basic faculty in Alberta.

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After which there’s the hyperlink to former goalie Manon Rhéaume, a trendsetter who was the first lady to play in an exhibition sport with any primary North American sports activities staff of any sort when she suited up for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992 and 1993.

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Woodland was once a liaison at the 2023 Memorial Cup in Kamloops when she met Rhéaume, who impressed her to proceed pursuing her function.

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“Seeing her grow to be any such trailblazer in hockey, and being that first lady to play in the NHL, was once large for me, particularly being a goalie,” mentioned Woodland. “It was once one thing that I may just resonate with. To satisfy her and to simply, you pick out her mind for per week was once in reality particular for me.”

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4 extra groups in the PWHL, of direction, will supply Woodland with a better alternative to grow to be a beginning goalie in the league.

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“It was once a grind for me to battle my manner onto this staff, and my adventure to get right here,” mentioned Woodland. “Clearly, extra groups means extra spots for everyone, so it’s laborious no longer to suppose of it on a private word, however clearly the Charge has been so superb … I completely find it irresistible right here, and it’s someplace I’d need to keep.

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“However, yeah, I feel extra alternatives simply means extra spots, so discovering some way to play and a spot to play is in reality essential. I’ll simply move the place the wind takes me.”

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