By Canadian Press

Ikuzo! Ottawa’s roster brings international flavour to newly launched women’s pro hockey league

Dec 26, 2023 | 10:03 AM

“Ikuzo!” as they’d say in Japan. Or how about “Pojďme!” or ”Útra fel!” in Czech or Hungarian.

The roster of Ottawa’s new Professional Women’s Hockey League team has such an array of international talent that defenceman Jincy Roese said one way to spur the bonding experience was having everyone learn how to say “Let’s go!” in various languages.

“Oh, my gosh, it’s so cool,” said Roese, a U.S. national team player from O’Fallon, Missouri. “A lot of us are foreigners. I don’t think anyone is local to Ottawa, even. But it’s cool to experience different cultures. … And we just have these conversation point to go off which has really helped foster a good team environment.”

The PWHL is awaiting rights clearances to unveil the nicknames of its original six franchises in kicking off its inaugural season starting Jan. 1. For now, perhaps Ottawa can go by “The Ambassadors.”

The team features the league’s most diverse roster with 11 Canadians, seven Americans, two Czechs, a German, Hungarian and Japan’s Akane Shiga.

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Even coach Carla MacLeod has international connections. The former Canadian national team player also doubles as head coach of the fast-developing Czech Republic women’s national team, and was an assistant on Japan’s 2014 Olympic team.

“The vision of this league has always been one to be the best leagues in the world. In order to do that, you have to have the world involved,” MacLeod said. “For us, it was a no-brainer to go down that path.”

Most of the PWHL’s 139 rostered players hail from the sport’s two global powers, with 76 from Canada and 50 from the U.S. Next in line are five players from the Czech Republic and two from Sweden. Aside from Ottawa, teams also feature players from Finland, France, Austria and Switzerland.

Ottawa, so far, is more the exception than the rule. And the challenge for the newly launched PWHL in becoming the world’s top pro women’s league will be expanding its international reach, much like the NHL did with the influx of Europeans in the late 1970s and Russians a decade later.

Ottawa general manager Michael Hirshfeld focused on attracting players outside of North America by taking into account the diverse population of Canada’s capital as a way to attract fans. Hirshfeld also understood how Ottawa isn’t a hotbed for developing players in comparison to Toronto, Minnesota, or Boston’s hub of women’s college programs.

“We always felt that we were going to be a little bit disadvantaged to those other teams because they have so many homegrown players,” Hirshfeld said. “And so our niche, we thought, was the European angle.”

And yes, they need at least one translator.

While the European players are mostly fluent in English, Shiga is not. The team has leaned on Madoka Suzuki, a Japanese-born member of Ottawa’s Carleton University’s men’s hockey program, to help in the interim.

“Akane’s become the most beloved player on the team,” Hirshfeld said. “They’re all learning Japanese so they can talk to her.”

The common connection of being new to Ottawa is also helping bond players.

“It’s a fresh slate for all of us,” said Brianne Jenner, who grew up outside of Toronto. “We’re all kind of bonded by making Ottawa home and making that dressing room ours and that culture ours, and figuring out what our identity is going to be.”

Katerina Mrazova is already feeling at home in Ottawa, where she represented the Czech Republic at the 2013 women’s world championships.

“Everyone’s bringing their culture, but at the same time, it’s amazing to see and learn from different countries,” the 31-year-old Mrazova said. “I’m really happy to see that everyone is having such fun and supporting each other. That’s a big thing on our team.”

The makeup of the PWHL’s five other teams varies. Minnesota leads the league with 18 Americans, 11 of whom are from “State of Hockey,” while Toronto features 21 Canadians. New York has 14 Canadians and seven Americans.

New York was the PWHL’s only team to reach across the border during the league’s free agency period by signing Americans Alex Carpenter and Abby Roque, and Canadian Micah Zandee-Hart. New York’s roster also features the league’s only player from France in Chloe Aurard, who completed her five-year career at Northeastern in March with 89 goals and 204 points in 167 games.

“It’s evolving everywhere,” Aurard said of the women’s game. “To be drafted in this league is huge. And I really hope to be an example for future French players.”

MacLeod thinks the mix of styles her Ottawa players bring are an advantage, because it will allow the team to develop and sport as a whole to grow.

“I’ve had the unique experience of coaching different countries to learn how great the players are,” MacLeod said. “And when you blend them in with those top North American players, everyone’s rising. And I think it’s going to be great for our game.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

John Wawrow, The Associated Press