Kendra Woodland in action for the Ottawa Charge in a pre-season game against the Toronto Sceptres on Nov. 17, 2025. (Image Credit: Matt Rey/Ottawa Charge)

By Victor Kaisar

PWHL Dreams

Kendra Woodland of Kamloops signs PWHL contract with Ottawa Charge

Nov 21, 2025 | 5:00 AM

KAMLOOPS — Kendra Woodland is a professional hockey player.

The Ottawa Charge announced Thursday (Nov. 20) that Woodland had cracked their final roster ahead of the 2025-26 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season.

The 25-year-old Woodland is the first PWHL player from Kamloops in the league’s short three season history, and is one of 11 new players joining the Ottawa-based team.

Woodland will share the Ottawa crease with returning netminder Gwyneth Philips, 25, and Finnish rookie Sanni Ahola, also 25, who was drafted by the Charge in the fifth round of the 2025 PWHL Draft.

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The Charge signed Woodland to a one-year PWHL Standard Player Agreements at the conclusion of this year’s training camp.

“We had to think that our success last year showed us the style of hockey that we want to play here in Ottawa,” Charge General Manager Mike Hirshfeld said. “We chose the 23 players that fit the style that we think will help us be successful and win.”

Woodland was passed over twice in the PWHL draft, but was then contacted by the Charge and the Montréal Victoire. She chose Ottawa, believing it gave her the best opportunity to crack the roster.

“It’s the PWHL, so it’s going to be a huge level up, but I believe I’m ready for the challenge,” Woodland told CFJC in July.

“I’ve been training for a year and a half now. This is something that I’ve been thinking of since I was a little girl, so it’s an opportunity that I don’t want to waste.”

The Westsyde alumna, who last played in the 2023-24 season, won three consecutive Atlantic University Sport (AUS) titles between 2021-22 and 2023-24 to wrap up a five-season tenure with the University of New Brunswick Reds.

Woodland was named the U SPORTS women’s hockey player of the year for 2022-2023. She won the AUS Female Athlete of the Year award and was runner-up for the U SPORTS Female Athlete of the Year award that season.

She also backstopped Canada to gold at the 2023 Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, New York. The then 22-year-old stopped 63 of 64 shots in four games, with three shutouts, a 0.25 goals against average, and a .984 save percentage.

The Charge open their 2025-26 PWHL season against the New York Sirens this Saturday, Nov. 22. The Charge play their first game in Vancouver against the expansion Goldeneyes on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

– With files from Marty Hastings/CFJC Today