Writer: Sofi Dawalibi
Editor: Mare Lara
To be a captain is to undertake a responsibility to your team, to promise to do your best to unite the players, and to prioritize the necessities. In the PWHL, the captain guides and motivates their team, especially as their identities have just been settled. Wearing the big C on your jersey is a tremendous honor, though it also comes with colossal responsibilities as they usually represent the team in public appearances, and while on the ice, they’re the only player who’s able to discuss questions about the interpretations of the rules with the referees.
With its second season approaching in November, it’s essential that we’re familiar with the players on the ice – and what’s a better way to start than with the captains?
Blayre Turnbull
Blayre Turnbull is the captain for the Toronto Sceptres. The team’s forward attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s, – when she was classmates with Nathan MacKinnon, center and alternate captain for the Colorado Avalanche of NHL – where just as a junior, with the girls’ hockey team, she gained 60 points split right in the middle with goals and assists. Winning two national championships in two years with the same team.
Later, Blayre helped the Calgary Inferno win their first Clarkson Cup championship in 2016. Scoring twice in an 8-3 game victory over Les Canadiennes de Montréal. In 2018, she was selected to play for Canada in Korea’s 2018 Winter Olympics, where she put up 3 points in 5 games and led the team to win a silver medal. A couple of years later, in 2022, she won a gold medal with the Canadian team in the Olympics, defeating the United States with a 3-2 final score.
Brianne Jenner
The captain of the Ottawa Charge is Brianne Jenner, the Canadian forward for the team. She played for both the Cornell Big Red Team and the Canada Women’s National Ice Hockey Team, winning three Olympic medals – of which two were gold. – She first made her debut for Canada in the 2010 Four Nations Cup, winning a gold medal that year.
Outside of the ice, Jenner served on the board of directors for the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) and still serves on the executive committee of the Professional Women’s Hockey League Players Association (PWHLPA). With the disintegration of the CWHL in 2019, Brianne helped launch the PWHPA, leading a boycott of the remaining North American professional league – the National Women’s Hockey League – in favor of having a more unified and sustainable professional league.
Micah Zandee-Hart
Micah Zandee-Hart takes the title of captain of the New York Sirens. As a defenseman, Zandee-Hart ranked third in team scoring and first among defensemen with 18 points in her freshman season at Cornell University. In her sophomore year, she was named captain of the Big Red in 2017 – the second sophomore in program history to receive that title. – She had 5 goals and 16 points over 32 games, with 5 power-play goals, 11 power-play points, and 56 blocked shots, being a finalist for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Defenseman of the Year.
The Sirens’ captain was invited to participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s High Performance Camp in 2013 in Sheffield, England. Just two years later she was named the province’s flag bearer by Team British Columbia at the 2015 Canada Winter Games. Winning gold the year prior, and silver as a captain.
Marie-Philip Poulin
Marie-Philip Poulin has a long history of being a captain before claiming the title with the Montreal Victoire. The forward three-time Olympic gold medallist and four-time World Champion with the Canadian national team, Poulin scored the game-winning goal in three out of the four Olympic games she competed in, receiving the nickname of Captain Clutch. Since 2015, she has been captain of Team Canada, winning a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and a gold one at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
As a member of the PWHPA, she partook in the Elite Women’s Showcase at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, getting appointed as the best female hockey player in the world by NHL players. Being widely regarded to be one of the greatest women’s hockey players of all time, the Montreal Victoire have a tremendous advantage by having Poulin on their team. As she was named CWHL MVP three times while playing with Les Canadiennes, winning the Clarkson Cup twice.
Kendall Coyne Schofield
Besides being a movie star after voicing a hockey announcer in Inside Out 2, Kendall Coyne Schofield is also the captain of the Minnesota Frost. However, this is not her first time being a captain, as she’s been the captain for Team USA since 2019, winning 3 Olympic medals and 9 IIHF Women’s World Championship medals. Prior to that, Kendall attended the Berkshire School for the 2010-11 season, having a total of over 70 points on 55 goals, and 22 assists in 25 games – being named the New England Prep School Player of the Year.
In 2019, Coyne was a replacement for Colorado Avalanche's forward Nathan MacKinnon at the NHL All-Star weekend, being the first woman to compete in an NHL All-Stars skill competition. Outside of the ice, she’s also been a color commentator for the San Jose Sharks as well as a player development coach for the Chicago Blackhawks’ American Hockey League affiliate (Rockford IceHogs).
Hilary Knight
Hilary Knight is the captain of the Boston Fleet. Winning the inaugural Isobel Cup with the Boston Pride of the NWHL. She has gathered 9 gold medals at the IIHF World Women’s Championship with the US national team and a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Being the recipient of the IIHF Female Player of the Year award just last year in 2023.
In her freshman year with the Wisconsin college hockey team, she helped the team place second in the NCAA championships. She ranked second on the team in goals and tied for fifth in assists, having an overall 38-point total in team scoring. As a sophomore, she led the NCAA in goal scoring with 45 goals and 83 points. She had over 15 power-play goals and ranked first in the NCAA. She is the record-holder for points, goals, and power-play goals in one season.