PWHL Ottawa Roster Primer Part 2, Defence and Goalies
Welcome back to our PWHL roster primer series, where we introduce the players that make up PWHL Ottawa: their hockey careers, their off-ice hobbies, and everything else that makes them worth paying attention to. I’ve scoured old interviews and social media pages to bring you all the most interesting personal storylines to watch in this upcoming season.
In the first part, I wrote about the forward group. Today, we’re meeting the blueline and the goaltenders.
Defence
#2: Aneta Tejralová (1996, Czechia, drafted 7th round)
Czech left shot defender Aneta Tejralova is one of the most experienced players on this roster, even at just 27 years old. She’s been a star of Czechia’s national team for pretty much her entire career, and has played professionally in Russia, the PHF and most recently Sweden. Apparently she likes blocking shots! She’s more of a shutdown defender than some of the others in this group, but she’s also known for her skating ability.
#3: Zoe Boyd (2000, Canada, drafted 9th round)
Boyd brings both local vibes and friendship to the PWHL Ottawa team: she and fellow Ottawa draft pick Kristin Della Rovere were childhood best friends growing up in Caledon East, Ontario. At just 23, she’s fresh out of college, and set to play her first ever season of professional hockey.
#5: Victoria Howran (1998, Canada, training camp invite)
Because Ottawa focused so heavily on defense in the draft, they only ended up making one addition to their blueline in training camp, and that was Victoria Howran. The 25-year-old defender spent three seasons with the PHF’s Connecticut Whale after an impressive NCAA career at the University of New Hampshire. She’s known as a great defensive defender, which should make her a good fit on a very offense-first blueline.
#15: Savannah Harmon (1995, USA, drafted 1st round)
You may remember Savannah Harmon as Ottawa’s first ever draft pick; she was selected 5th overall in a move that surprised a lot of people, not because she isn’t good enough to be picked that high, but because people weren’t expecting Ottawa to start out with an American.
Harmon is a fairly recent addition to Team USA’s blueline, having debuted with them at the 2021 World Championships. She also led all USA defenders in points at the 2022 Olympics, with 7 points in 7 games. Throughout her career, she’s been known for her ability to create offense from the blueline; something you’ll notice is a strength with this defense group in general.
Although the lines and pairings haven’t been confirmed yet, expect to see Harmon on the first pairing, leading the team in icetime and quarterbacking the powerplay.
#21: Ashton Bell (1999, Canada, drafted 2nd round)
Ashton Bell is just like me: a horse girl. In high school, she competed in rodeos in between hockey tournaments, excelling at breakaway roping especially. These days, riding is just a hobby away from the rink. She’s an offensive defender, having scored at nearly a point-per-game pace during her final season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where she served as captain. At just 23, she’s never played pro hockey before, but she’s represented Canada at a few international tournaments, including the most recent Olympics, where she scored 1 goal and 4 assists en route to a gold medal.
#28: Amanda Boulier (1993, USA, drafted 13th round)
A veteran of the PHF, Boulier holds the league’s record for the most career goals scored by a defender. She turned pro immediately after an impressive college career, and has never represented the US on the world stage, but brings a winning pedigree as a two-time Isobel Cup champion. Outside of her own playing career, she’s also served as a coach for a few minor hockey and college hockey teams. Like many professional women’s hockey players, she’s toyed with the idea of early retirement, but is giving things another shot in Ottawa.
#71: Jincy Roese (1997, USA, drafted 3rd round)
You might have heard the name “Jincy Dunne” in recent games between Canada and the US; the 26-year-old defender has started to make a name for herself as a left shot defender on Team USA and a member of the PWHPA. She changed her last name to Roese after getting married earlier this year, so that will be the name on her jersey this season. While Ashton Bell provides horse girl representation on this team, according to her Team USA profile Jincy Roese fills an equally important role: theatre kid.
GOALTENDERS
#30: Sandra Abstreiter (1998, Germany, drafted 12th round)
Sandra Abstreiter is a German goaltender and a rising star in International women’s hockey. After a stellar NCAA career at Providence College, she was set to join the Connecticut Whale before the PHF was bought out.
At just 25 and with no professional experience under her belt, she’s a little bit less proven than other backup goaltenders around the league, but her international and NCAA resumes make her an intriguing addition to an Ottawa team ready to prove itself.
#34: Rachel McQuigge (1998, Canada, training camp invite)
Ottawa’s third string goaltender is a graduate of Princeton, where she put together a great NCAA career and earned herself a spot with the PHF’s Metropolitan Riveters last season. She struggled a bit in her one PHF season, but I’ve heard her described as a player with a lot of upside, so hopefully she’ll develop into a solid goaltender for Ottawa.
#38: Emerance Maschmeyer (1994, Canada, signed FA)
Emerance Maschmeyer is Ottawa’s starting goaltender, and one of the leaders on the team. You may already know her as Team Canada’s perennial backup goaltender - she’s won multiple championships on the world stage behind first Geneviève Lacasse and then Ann-Renée Desbiens. Don’t let her history as a backup fool you, though; she’s one of the best goaltenders in the world and this chance to play the role of starter is long overdue.
Maschmeyer has been described by teammate Brianne Jenner as “normal,” an incredibly rare trait in a goaltender, but still has her quirks; if you watch her closely during games, you’ll see that she’s often singing to herself. Last summer, she married fellow goaltender Geneviève Lacasse, who will not be playing professional hockey this season but hopefully will still be seen around the team on occasion.
