New York PWHL Roster Overview
Alright folks, it’s time: we are going over every PWHL roster and who these players are and how they got here. Today, we’re looking at New York, as we’re going alphabetical by city, and they’re fourth. In a previous article (which you can find just below this paragraph) you can see I wrote about each team’s initial free agency signings, so if you want to read about New York’s three signings, read about them there. In this article, all I will be doing is giving brief biographies about each player. I don’t expect these articles to be too long, so let’s get into it.
Anyway, let’s start with the defenders:
Brooke Hobson: After five seasons of college hockey with Northeastern University, Brooke went pro last season. She would play for MoDo Hockey in the SDHL, but this season will be returning to North America for professional hockey. She has only played for Team Canada once, and that being in 2017. She would win a silver medal.
Ella Shelton: Having played four seasons in college with Clarkson University, she would win two NCAA titles. After that, she went to the PWHPA for two seasons. Internationally, she has represented Team Canada four times, winning two gold medals at the World Championships, one more at the Olympic Games, and a silver medal at the World Championships.
Jaime Bourbonnais: She would play four seasons with Cornell University, before playing professionally in the PWHPA for three seasons. Internationally, she has represented Team Canada six times, winning four medals: a gold, silver, bronze, and a silver medal with the U18 team.
Johanna Fällman: This Swede has mostly stayed in Europe, but from 2012-15 she played for the University of North Dakota before returning to Sweden. From there, she would join the SDHL and win six championships with Luleå HF. Internationally, she has represented Team Sweden since 2008, and has won no medals.
Micah Zandee-Hart: In college, she played for Cornell, including being team captain in her senior year. For club play, she played in the PWHPA. Internationally, she has won three gold medals with Team Canada (one being with the U18 team), one silver (with the U18 team), and one bronze.
Olivia Zafuto: After four seasons of playing for Colgate University, she would bounce around professionally. Olivia would play in the PWHPA for two seasons and the SDHL for one. Last season, she played for the Boston Pride in the PHF.
Taylor Baker: After college, where she played four seasons with Rochester IOT, she would move to Hungary to play in the EWHL (European Women’s Hockey League). She played two seasons with MAC Budapest and during that time, she gained Hungarian citizenship and would join their national team to play internationally. She has represented Hungary six times and has no medals. Moving back to club play, last season she moved back to North America and played for the Montreal Force in the PHF.
Moving on to goaltenders:
Abbey Levy: This will be Levy's first season playing professional hockey, as most recently she has played five seasons of college hockey. Her first two seasons were with Minnesota State University, and the last three with Boston College. Internationally, she has represented the USA once, winning a gold medal.
Corinne Schroeder: In college, she would play four seasons for Boston University, before transferring to Quinnipiac for a fifth season. While with Quinnipiac, she would be the first female goaltender to record a goal in the NCAA. After graduation, she went to play with the Boston Pride of the PHF, where she would win "Goaltender of the Year" and "Rookie of the Year".
Lindsey Post: She would play five seasons for the University of Alberta, and in her fifth and final season, won the USPORTS Championship. After this, she would go on to play two seasons in the CWHL for the Calgary Inferno, winning a championship in her second season. The CWHL would fold after this, and she went overseas to play for SDE HF in the SDHL for four seasons. In the 2019-20 season, she would be awarded "Goaltender of the Year" honors.
And finally, the forwards:
Abby Roque: She is the first indigenous player to ever play for the United States national women's ice hockey team (she's a member of the Wahnapitae First Nation tribe). In college, she played for the Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey team and won a championship as a freshman. After college, she would play in the PWHPA. Internationally, she has won two gold medals with Team USA (one on the U18 team) and four silver medals (one with the U18 team).
Alex Carpenter: In college, she went to Boston College and became the first player to win the Patty Kazmaier Award (awarded to the best female ice hockey player). When it comes to professional club hockey, she's been all over the place, quite literally. She played in the NWHL (later to become the PHF), CWHL, WHL (winning a championship as team captain for Shenzhen KRS), and the PWHPA. Internationally, she is well decorated, having seven gold medals (one with the U18 team) and six silver medals (two of them with the U18 team).
Alexandra Labelle: In five seasons of playing with the University of Montreal, Labelle would win one USPORTS Championship before going to the pros and playing in the PWHPA for two seasons. Most recently, though, she would play for the Montreal Force in the PHF. Internationally, she has represented Canada once, on their U18 team, and won a gold medal.
Chloé Aurard: This will be her rookie season, having just finished her sixth season of playing for Northeastern University. Internationally, she has been representing France since 2013. With the U18 team, she has two silver medals and a gold. With the adult team, she has won two gold medals and two silver medals, all in Division 1A.
Élizabeth Giguère: In college, she played her first four seasons with Clarkson, and last with Minnesota-Duluth. With Clarkson, she won a national championship, and won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2020 (an award for the best female hockey player in the NCAA). After five seasons in college, she went on to play for the Boston Pride for one season before the league got bought out.
Emma Woods: After four seasons in the NCAA with Quinnipiac University, she would bounce around professionally. First, she played two seasons in the CWHL, one for the Vanke Rays, and the second for the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays. After that league folded, she went to Sweden to play for Leksands IF in the SDHL for one season, before returning to North America to play for the Toronto Six in the PHF. In the league's final season, she would win the Isobel Cup (the championship trophy in the PHF).
Jade Downie-Landry: She played six seasons of college hockey with McGill University before going pro last season and playing with the Montreal Force of the PHF.
Jessie Eldridge: Having played four seasons with Clarkson University, she would help the team get to their sole national championship appearance in 2018 (where they would lose). After graduation, she would play four seasons in the PWHPA, and win a championship in 2021. Internationally, she has represented Canada three times, winning one gold medal in the World Championships.
Jill Saulnier: After playing four seasons with Cornell University, she would go pro in 2015 to play for Calgary in the CWHL. She would win the championship in 2016, and get traded to Montreal in 2018, and the league would fold after that season. She moved over to the PWHPA and played three seasons. Internationally, she has represented Canada since 2008, winning a silver and gold medal with the U18 team, two gold medals with the adult team, along with three silvers and a bronze.
Kayla Vespa: Having played four seasons for St. Lawrence University, Kayla would go on to play in the PWHPA for three seasons.
Madison Packer: Winning a national championship, Madison would play with the University of Wisconsin for four seasons before becoming a member of the Metropolitan Riveters (at the time they were "New York" rather than "Metropolitan", though) and remaining with them for their entire existence. She would also win one championship with the team. Internationally, she has represented the USA twice, both times being on the U18 team, and won a gold medal both times.
Paetyn Levis: This will be her rookie season, having come off five seasons with Ohio State University. She helped lead the team to their first national championship in 2022 and was named tournament MVP.
Savannah Norcross: We are closing this article with another rookie coming off five seasons of college hockey. She would spend her first three seasons with Boston College before transferring to the University of Minnesota for her last two.
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