PWHL Vancouver GM Cara Gardner Morey excited to build expansion team’s inaugural roster

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Cara Gardner Morey knows her life is about to get very busy.

As the first general manager of Vancouver’s new Professional Women’s Hockey League team, her schedule for the upcoming weeks rapidly filled as the league announced plans for its two expansion teams to build out their rosters.

An exclusive signing window will open on Wednesday. That will be followed by the expansion draft on June 9, and a leaguewide entry draft on June 24.

“It’s such a cool opportunity,” Gardner Morey said Friday. “And I’m kind of chomping at the bit for June 4 when I can start making these calls and kind of talking to the players we’re interested in bringing to our franchise.”

Building a professional women’s hockey team is something Gardner Morey dreamt about when she was a player, first at Brown University, then in the National Women’s Hockey League where she played with Jayna Hefford, now the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations.

“We were just excited to be part of something where we didn’t have to pay for hockey,” Gardner Morey said. “And we’ve watched it over the years, and we’ve watched kind of professional hockey for women come and go and waiver.

“Then when this league started, just the way that it was structured, the business model, the leadership in place, you could see very quickly that this was going to be a success. And I knew it was something I really wanted to be a part of. I just feel so grateful that I can help be a part of this growth.”

More than 200 people applied to be the new general manager in Vancouver, Hefford said. Another 200 vied for the same job in Seattle, home of the league’s other expansion franchise.

Gardner Morey was picked because she’s proven herself during the 14 years she spent with Princeton’s women’s hockey team, Hefford added.

During her eight years as head coach, Princeton won an Ivy League championship, qualified for two NCAA quarterfinals and set a single-season record for wins (26).

“She has built a program (at Princeton) that has competed at the highest level, proven herself to be a great recruiter in terms of some of the players she was able to bring into that program and the success they’ve had both there and coming out of that program,” Hefford said. “And Cara just comes with such a passion and an energy for the game and the sport.”

While at Princeton, Gardner Morey coached Minnesota Frost defender Claire Thompson — a finalist for this year’s PWHL’s top defender award — and New York Sirens forward Sarah Fillier — who’s up for the top forward and rookie of the year awards.

Now tasked with building a team from scratch, Gardner Morey is working to find players and staff who’ll fit her vision for a speedy, skilled, physical team that has an amazing, competitive culture.

“Building rosters and building puzzle pieces and creating the culture is something I’m really, really excited about,” Gardner Morey said.

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AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

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