After being passed over twice in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) drafts, Kamloops local goaltender Kendra Woodland never gave up hope on her hockey career. She kept training at home in Kamloops until she was invited to a pro-tryout with the Ottawa Charge this past July, a moment she’d been waiting for since finishing her career with the University of New Brunswick Reds. Finally, the words she had been waiting to hear after all the hard work she put in camp came last November: a one-year contract with the Ottawa team. “I think I got 40 lbs lighter,” Woodland said of when she heard the news.
Despite the setbacks, Woodland’s story marks a turning point for women’s hockey in Kamloops. She’s the first player from the city to sign with a team in the PWHL. After going undrafted twice, Woodland earned her spot with the Charge as the third goalie on their depth chart.
“It was a year and a half of wondering and working and hoping,” Woodland said, “I still loved the game. I wasn’t ready to stop training or stop competing.”
Now in its third season, the PWHL is quickly growing into one of the most competitive and closely followed women’s hockey leagues in the world. The Ottawa Charge, one of the original six teams in the league, has become a strong contender over the first two seasons. While the team missed the playoffs during its inaugural year, the Charge consistently filled arenas and even led league-wide attendance numbers.
However, this season is bringing some different challenges to Ottawa. This past month, the Ottawa city council approved demolishing their home rink and constructing a new facility with fewer seats. While the team navigates the uncertainty of their home rink, their roster this season is experienced and fiercely competitive, especially in goal, where three netminders battle daily for a chance to dress on game nights. It’s an environment that demands resilience, patience, and a strong internal drive from anyone trying to stand out.
For Woodland, those qualities were shaped long before she arrived in Ottawa. She grew up with older brothers who also played hockey, which meant she grew up on the ice and her playing the game was never in question.
“[We played] and passed in the basement, the backyard, they were taking shots on me, and everything.” Woodland said, “I think my start, definitely, I owe to my brothers a little bit.”
However, when it came to choosing her position, Woodland joked she became a goalie because she didn’t like it when she couldn’t score goals and decided that turnabout was fair play. So, if she couldn’t score, she’d stop her brothers from scoring, too.
She grew up playing hockey on boys’ teams. Woodland admitted it wasn’t always easy. Like many girls in small-town hockey communities, this meant getting dressed in boiler rooms, equipment closets and even rink lobbies because there were no girls’ facilities. Those early years taught her how to compete, how to push through discomfort, and how to keep showing up even when the path wasn’t easy. “ By the time I was 17, 18, they had it all mapped out for me. I think I had played in almost every rink in B.C. by that time and knew where all the rooms were, and everyone was really accommodating,” Woodland said.
It wasn’t all difficult moments, though. Woodland said that the majority of her youth teammates are still some of her best friends to date. After receiving her contract, she received messages from many of them congratulating her. It wasn’t until her first year at UNB that Woodland played women’s hockey for the first time, which brought a change in team culture and camaraderie.
Growing up, Woodland said she wanted to play for the Vancouver Canucks or the Olympic team. For many young girls, before the creation of the PWHL, there were very limited options for women’s hockey. The Olympics provided the highest level of women’s hockey you could play; however, the opportunities to represent your country aren’t an everyday opportunity. The PWHL provides a place where someone like Woodland can train, play, and build a career.
In Woodlands’ season opener, she wanted to pay respect to her hometown and to the Kamloops Blazers, who have bred many great hockey players in the city for the support they have given her throughout the years. That game, she debuted a vintage Blazers bomber from Darryl Sydor himself to start off the season in the right style.
For Woodland, representing Kamloops means more than just a hometown shoutout. It means becoming the kind of player young girls can look up to, just as the entire city looks up to Carolina Hurricanes forward Logan Stankoven. He’s become a hometown hero, a player whose success the community rallies around.
Woodland doesn’t compare herself to him, but she knows the impact he’s had.
“I just wanna make sure that females everywhere, especially in Kamloops, know that nothing’s too far to reach. As long as you’re working hard and you put your mind to something, you can achieve it,” Woodland said. “I think that’s just a really important message to send.”
Now, as she fights for her spot in Ottawa’s crease, she’s carving out her own place in Kamloops hockey history. This is just the beginning of Kendra Woodland’s career.