The Rundown - Going Pro

Today, we'll take some time to look at another aspect of women's university hockey that a lot of people seem to ignore: what happens after these players graduate? As we know, they have degrees and can go off and work in those chosen fields, but a lot of women want to keep playing hockey as the competitive fires continue to burn. Where can they do that? Who might be looking for talented hockey players to improve their standing in their respective leagues and capture a championship? Today's all about who's playing where (and how you can watch them) on The Rundown!

I spent some time scouring all the leagues I could find as I was looking at all the former U SPORTS players who are off playing professionally at some level across the planet. Some leagues have many while other leagues do not, but the coolest part for me is being able to see how many women are still pursuing their dreams while, in some cases, travelling to amazing places to play hockey. I won't lie when I say I'm envious of some of these players based on where they call home for this season, but that's the benefit of being an outstanding player whose talents are coveted.

Let's get into these leagues as I'll start with the leagues who have the most former U SPORTS players and work down to the leagues with very few players. What should be noted is that the schools who once had these women playing for them have done very little to draw attention to the success they're having after left those respective campuses, so I'll once again fill that void. Without further adieu, though, let's take a look at who's playing where.

SWHL - Switzerland

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Elizabeth Lang	HC Davos	19	18	18	Calgary
Estelle Duvin	SC Bern	15	20	20	Montreal
Joelle Fiala	HC Davos	12	19	18	UBC
Courtney Kollman	HC Davos	8	23	18	MRU/CAL
Maggie Burbidge	Fribourg	11	9	17	StFX
Lea MacLeod	SC Bern	9	14	20	StFX
Lauren Dabrowski	Fribourg	7	8	17	StFX
Rosalie Begin-Cyr	Neuchatel	8	5	19	Concordia
Kaleigh Quennec	SC Bern	7	7	19	Montreal
Holly Reuther	Langenthal	6	4	16	Calgary
Jessika Boulanger	Langenthal	5	0	8	Montreal
Dominique Scheurer	ZSC Lions	0	3	15	MacEwan
Sophie Lalor	ZSC Lions	0	0	5	Saskatchewan

Goalies

Name	Team	Record	GAA	Sv%	GP	University
Sandy Heim	ZSC Lions	n/a	2.31	n/a	10	MacEwan
Dayna Owen	Langenthal	n/a	4.12	n/a	9	ALB/CAL

There is an immense amount of talent that U SPORTS has produced that is currently playing in Switzerland. As it stands, all of Lang, Duvin, Burbidge, Begin-Cyr, and Reuther lead their respective teams in scoring while Lang leads the entire PostFinance SWHL in scoring. Former MacEwan Griffins netminder Sandy Heim is among the top goalies in the circuit, and former StFX X-Women defender Lauren Dabrowski is second in scoring among all defenders.

You should be watching these games as the hockey is fast, entertaining, and quite fantastic. The good news? You shouldn't have any problem doing that as every game is offered for free via Red Sport in Switzerland and online. You can watch games on Red Sport's website or via the PostFinance SWHL site.

There are lower Swiss leagues that players can be moved to and from, and it should be noted that Sophie Lalor started with EHC Brandis in the SWHL-B league where she simply scored 25 goals and ten assists in ten games. As it stands, she's still 18 points ahead of the next closest scorer after being called up to Zurich, so Lalor was absolutely dominating that league before Zurich called.

Jessika Boulanger started with Lausanne HC in the SWHL-B where she had four goals and four assists in three games before moving up to SC Langenthal whereas Dayna Owen started the season with SC Rapperswil-Jona where she sports a 2.00 GAA in three games only to get bumped up to SC Langenthal where she's been serving mostly as a backup netminder. Life as a hockey player in the Swiss league means there could be player movement!

EWHL - Central Europe

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Hannah Tait	SKN Sabres	17	18	18	Guelph
Cassidy Maplethorpe	Almaty	18	14	16	BRK/ALB
Lauren Nicholson	Almaty	11	14	13	TMU
Breanne Trotter	Almaty	6	10	17	Mount Royal
Olivia Atkinson	Budapest	5	7	12	McG/CON
Rylee Davison	SKN Sabres	4	7	18	Guelph
Emma McKnight	SKN Sabres	6	4	7	Queen's
Roxanne Rioux	Almaty	5	4	17	Ottawa
Mariah Hinds	Almaty	3	6	8	TMU
Marie-Camille Theoret	Neuberg	4	4	6	Bishop's
Alex Gowie	Neuberg	4	4	10	CAL/ALB
Katherine Birkby	Budapest	3	3	12	Ottawa
Justine Larkin	Karnten	0	4	15	Carleton

Goalies

Name	Team	Record	GAA	Sv%	GP	University
Rachel Seeley	Almaty	n/a	0.99	.963	9	TMU

We're got ourselves a good, old-fashioned OUA scoring race as former Guelph Gryphons forward Hannah Tait leads the EWHL lead in scoring while former Brock Badgers and Alberta Pandas forward Cassidy Maplethorpe sits three points back. There are a lot more OUA players skating in the EWHL than anywhere else, the Kazakhstan-based Aisulu Almaty has a lot of U SPORTS players, and it seems everyone is doing their parts for their respective teams while Rachel Seeley is the lone former U SPORTS goalie in the league. Her stats, however, may have other teams looking for Canadian talent!

The EWHL doesn't livestream every game, so it's harder to follow one specific team with the lack of streams they offer. That being said, they do have livestreams of their games linked on the EWHL website at times, and I often watch games on OnHockey.tv. There are some teams who stream through YouTube - EVB Eagles South Tyrol, SportFanAustria, and Women's Hockey as examples - but there doesn't seem to be one specific place to get all the games.

SDHL - Sweden

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Jaycee Magwood	Lulea	4	11	24	Regina
Erica Rieder	Lulea	4	10	24	Manitoba
Emma Bergesen	SDE	2	10	21	Mount Royal
Lillian George	Leksand	2	3	21	UNB
Isabella Pozzi	Skelleftea	1	1	14	Saskatchewan
Sarah Bujold	Lulea	0	1	2	StFX
Audrey-Anne Veillette	HV71	0	1	1	Montreal
Mathea Fischer	SDE	0	0	0	UBC

Goalies

Name	Team	Record	GAA	Sv%	University
Camryn Drever	Skelleftea	5-8-0	2.20	.929	Saskatchewan

In a league considered to be the second-best professional women's league based on the number of Olympians and high-level players on the rosters, it's encouraging to see three former Canada West players doing well. Magwood, Rieder, and Bujold play for the league's best team while Bergesen has been a bright spot for a struggling SDE team. George is doing all she can in Leksand where that team is almost mathematically eliminated from the playoffs already, and Veillette joined HV71 who are battling Pozzi and Drever's Skelleftea team for the eighth-place spot in the standings. The weird one is Mathea Fischer who hasn't played yet this season despite her being listed on SDE's roster, and there seems to be no information as to why she's not on the ice for the Swedish club.

Almost all of the SDHL's games are behind paywalls despite them having a pile of players that fans want to see, but you can find games on OnHockey.tv at times. The SDHL schedule is here, so keep an eye on the offerings on the OnHockey.tv site to see some of these games!

DFEL - Germany

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Lindsey Donovan	HK Budapest	2	6	11	StFX
Lore Baudrit	ERC Ingolstadt	3	4	12	Montreal
Alix Yallowega	ERC Ingolstadt	2	1	12	Dalhousie
Dana Wood	EC Bergkamener Baren	1	2	11	Calgary
Isadora Quirion	Eisbaren Juniors Berlin	1	2	13	Moncton
Cassandra Call	Eisbaren Juniors Berlin	1	0	13	Moncton
Annalise Meier	EC Bergkamener Baren	0	1	11	Calgary

Germany is playing host to a number of former U SPORTS players as the AUS and the University of Calgary are well-represented. Lindsey Donovan is helping Budapest in the standings in their first season in the DFEL while Lore Baudrit has played all over the world since leaving France for the University of Montreal so her experience is paying off. Yallowega, Wood, Quirion, Call, and Meier are all finding their way through a very competitive DFEL for four teams. The major exception is Bergkamener where they've scored just seven goals in eleven games thus far while sitting with an 0-10-0-1 record.

The schedule for the DFEL can be found here, and it seems they have their games on the German version of Red+. It appears one may have to pay on this version of Red+, so I'm not signing up for the service. In saying that, I've never seen the DFEL on the OnHockey.tv site, but I'm going to start looking a little more for it moving forward.

NDHL - Sweden

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Alli Borrow	Farjestad BK	14	16	11	LET/CAL
Hunter Mosher	Sodertalje SK	11	12	12	Nipissing
Kara Kondrat	Team Uppsala HC	3	3	5	Saskatchewan
Adela Juzkova	Farjestad BK	1	5	11	Regina
Olivia Hilton	Rogle BK	1	2	11	Toronto
Maddie Nicholson	Team Uppsala HC	1	1	6	Brock

We head back to Sweden where the Division-1 Swedish league known as the NDHL features a handful of U SPORTS players. Alli Borrow, who seems to be scoring at will, is actually fourth in league scoring while Mosher is second on her team in scoring. Kondrat has only played a handful of games for some reason, Juzkova has become more of a defensive defender, Hilton always was a solid defensive defender, and Nicholson was moved up from Division-2 Sollentuna to join Uppsala. Perhaps that's possibly to fill in for Kondrat if she's injured?

Like the SDHL, finding places to watch these games without logins or payments seems to be a tougher ask than to find out where players are playing, so I'm going to throw it back to the OnHockey.tv site as I've watched a handful of games there. Honestly, the schedule isn't easy to follow either, so do your best when looking for NDHL games.

PWHL - North America

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Jade Downie-Landry	New York	1	1	4	McGill
Rylind MacKinnon	Toronto	0	2	5	UBC
Emmy Fecteau	New York	1	0	4	Concordia
Catherine Dubois	Montreal	0	1	3	Montreal
Kaitlyn Willoughby	Toronto	0	0	5	Saskatchewan
Alexandra Labelle	Montreal	0	0	4	Montreal

The U SPORTS numbers in the PWHL should concern Hockey Canada who apparently are going to try to help U SPORTS develop more athletes at a high level, but the six players skating on three teams have certainly carved out impressive university careers. While the PWHL hasn't played very may games this season to this point, it should be noted that there's also a pile of former U SPORTS talent working behind the benches and in front offices in the PWHL.

As you're likely aware, the PWHL signed Canadian national broadcast partnerships with TSN, CBC, and Prime Video while exclusive French-language coverage will be provided by RDS and Radio-Canada for all 30 Montréal Victoire games. The schedule of all of these broadcasts can be found here. Depending on where you live and what you have available in your cable package, Boston can be seen on NESN, New York can be seen on MSG Networks, and Minnesota has a deal with FanDuel Sports Network. Or, if you want a one-stop shop, the OnHockey.tv site carries all the broadcasts as well.

IHLW - Italy

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Olivia De Ciantis	AHC Eurospar Lakers	4	12	12	York

Goalies

Name	Team	Record	GAA	Sv%	University
Gabriella Durante	Real Torino	n/a	1.40	.964	Calgary

De Ciantis is playing a big role in helping AHC Eurostar get out to a 9-4-0-0 record and first-place in the IHLW. While former McGill head coach Kayla Tutino had announced her retirement from professional hockey in 2018, she's back and leading AHC Eurostar in scoring while De Ciantis is third in team scoring and tied for third-overall in assists.

Gabriella Durante has also played a major role in Torino's climb up the standings to a 5-5-1-0 record and fifth-place out of eight teams. Her GAA is third among goalies with six-or-more games played, and her save percentage is tops among goalies with six-or-more games played. In short, she's been a key part of Torino's success!

The IHLW schedule is here, but it seems they have no broadcast partners who are showing games. The few times I've been able to catch a game were on the OnHockey.tv site, so you may be best to check there if you want to watch either Olivia or Gabriella play.

Auroraliiga - Finland

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Emma Hall‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎	KalPa (Kalevan Pallo)	4	3	13	UBC

Emma Hall is the lone U SPORTS skater in Finland's top league, and she has helped KalPa to a 7-13-2-3 record. KalPa's had an up-and-down season so far where the win one and lose two, but they just don't seem to have consistent scoring.

If you want to watch Auroraliiga games, you have to pay for Leijonat TV. I just watch streams on the OnHockey.tv site. Save your cash.

Naisten Suomi-Sarja - Finland

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Miressa Makela‎ ‎ ‎ ‎	‎ ‎ ‎ ‎HIFK Challenger‎ ‎ ‎ ‎	3	2	2	Manitoba

Regarded as Finland's Division-II level of hockey, Miressa was injured in her only season of play with Manitoba before heading back home. She did take some time off, but it looks like she's back on the ice with HIFK's team in Finland's lower division. Two games isn't a lot of history, but those five games shows why Manitoba wanted to see what she could do as a player in Canada West.

This league is not bring broadcasted anywhere. I couldn't even find a proper schedule, so these games will be tough to find.

Women's Extraliga - Czechia

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Martina Maskova	HC Banik Pribram	2	6	3	Regina

Maskova never really found her in southern Saskatchewan, but she went home and joined a Pribram team that's been pretty solid over the years including a 12-0-0-0 run this season to begin Extraliga play. While she's certainly not the top scorer just three games into her season, Pribram does have the top six scorers in the league and seven in the top-ten scoring list. Needless to say, Maskova has a pretty nice setup going back in Czechia.

Not surprisingly, there aren't many broadcast options for the Women's Extraliga. That might be ok, though, as the league is on a break until January 25, 2025. In any case, there's a login and cost on the Czech Ice Hockey TV site. I have yet to see the games shown on the site, but the OnHockey.tv site might be your best bet.

WCIHL - China

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Danielle Fox‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎	‎ ‎ ‎KRS Shenzhen ‎ ‎ ‎	12	15	24	TMU

Don't expect much information on this league. Danielle Fox is part of the Shenzhen team which seems to be stacked with North American talent every year, and Shenzhen usually wins the WCIHL every season. Take nothing away from what Danielle is doing there, though, as 27 points in 24 games is nothing to shrug off.

Because it's China, there are no TV feeds nor is there even a schedule of games that I can find without learning Mandarin.

FFHG Féminin Élite - France

Skaters

Name	Team	G	A	GP	University
Emmanuelle Passard	Jets d’Evry-Viry	34	32	7	Montreal

No, I didn't miss a number in the games played number above. Emmanuelle Passard really does have 66 points in seven games. She leads the Jets in points, and they currently have 113 goals-for and only eight goals-against. I'm not saying that the Jets are the favorite in the FFHG Women's Elite league, but they do have seven players in the top-ten scorers in jumping out to a 7-0-0 record.

The schedule for the French women's league is here, but their YouTube channel seems filled with only men's hockey. That being said, you can try your luck with the OnHockey.tv site, but French women's hockey may be tougher to find.

In total, there are 64 former U SPORTS players shown above playing in twelve professional leagues across the globe, representing 35 professional teams and 26 U SPORTS programs. If that's not an impressive number to you, I'm not sure what else I can say to convince you that U SPORTS women's hockey has a pile of talent in it. My hope is that Hockey Canada would notice this, but I'm very aware that they don't read this blog.

Every Canada West team except Trinity Western has at least two players playing professionally this season, and I'm pretty sure they could have had one had Neisha Germann gone back to Neuberg in the EWHL as she did last season. Calgary leads the way with nine players who wore Dinos colours, but they do share three of those players with other teams as Courtney Kollman suited up for Mount Royal and both Dayna Owen and Alex Gowie were Pandas. Saskatchewan has five players playing pro, UBC has four, all of Regina, Mount Royal, and Alberta can claim three, and both Manitoba and MacEwan have two players in the professional ranks. In total, 27 former Canada West players are skating professionally.

Potentially, there could be a lot more playing as well, but circumstances change. As mentioned, Neisha Germann didn't go back to the EWHL, all of Anna Purschke, Tatum Amy, and Autumn MacDougall aren't in the SDHL any longer, Alex Poznikoff retired from the PWHL, and Bailee Bourassa is following her nursing career rather than playing another season in the SDHL. Danielle Stone's situation in the SDHL changed last year, Lilla Carpenter-Boesch moved on from the SWHL, and Jordan Kulbida left the EWHL behind.

As you can see, the talent coming out of Canada West and the other three conferences is considerable, and these players need to be recognized for what they're doing now and what they did at their schools while attending those campuses. Once again, The Rundown is proud to post this kind of information and recognize these women for all that they've accomplished, and I hope that you'll watch them play with their new teams just as did when they were playing for the U SPORTS team(s) you follow.

The Last Word

This was a long entry that took a lot of time to compile and write, so I hope you enjoyed the look at all the players professionally. These women still are, in this writer's view, some of the best to have ever played the game at any level, and I wish them all the best this season and beyond, even if that beyond takes them away from the game.

For all players, coaches, staff, fans, parents, and former players who make this game so good, I hope everyone has a very merry holiday season, that health and happiness find you in whatever form you desire, and that everyone is surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones during this season. It's the most wonderful time of year, and then we get the rush of playoff races before the big dance starts!

Happy holidays, everyone! All the best to you and yours!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!