Preparation In The War Room

This image was tweeted out earlier today from the Toronto Furies' Twitter account as the team prepares for tomorrow's CWHL Entry Draft. We already know that the Furies are taking forward Sarah Nurse, goaltender Shea Tiley, and forward Brittany Howard with their pre-draft signings, so clearly GM Sami Jo Small, seated on the left in the picture, is looking to add some scoring punch to the club. Who else will Small add to her squad? We'll find out tomorrow as the CWHL Draft takes place tomorrow at 2:00 PM CT in Toronto, Ontario.

Among the other players already spoken for, Victoria Bach and Ailish Forfar have been selected by the Markham Thunder, Halli Krzyzaniak and Rebecca Leslie have been chosen by the Calgary Inferno, Kimberly Newell and Leah Lum will be heading to China thanks to the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays (that's a mouthful), and Genevieve Bannon will call Montreal home after Les Canadiennes selected her in the pre-draft signings.

There are still some big names on the board as Finnish Olympians Venla Hovi and Meeri Raisanen are available, US Olympian Alex Rigsby can be taken, former American league netminder Kelsey Neumann is up for grabs, Saskatchewan Huskies standout Kaitlin Willoughby can be chosen, and University of Vermont playmaking defender Taylor Willard is on the board.

You can follow the CWHL Draft tomorrow on the league's website, and I'll be keeping an eye on where Manitoba Bison Venla Hovi goes. I'll also be watching to see where Willoughby lands and where Calgary Dino forward Cheyann Newman goes in terms of Canada West players. I'm hoping there will be a chance to see all these players in the future if more games make it on Sportsnet, but we'll have to see what the future holds for that partnership.

Good luck to all the players in the draft and all six teams tomorrow!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!