Sceptres veterans taking responsibility for rookies getting up to speed in PWHL

By Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press on November 13, 2024.

Toronto's Blayre Turnbull (40) greets fans ahead of playing Minnesota in Game 5 of a PWHL hockey playoff series in Toronto, on Friday, May 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch

Toronto Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull expects the team’s veterans to help rookies navigate through expectations and pressure of playing in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

The Sceptres have seven rookies on their training camp roster, with four of them signed and the others trying to earn roster spots in camp. The team has two pre-season scrimmages on Nov. 20 and Nov. 22 before opening the season on Nov. 30.

“I think it’s a huge responsibility on all the veterans on the team and the leaders on the team to make sure that our new players feel their best,” Turnbull said. “The biggest thing for me is, if you want to make sure your team is ready for gameplay, you have to practice the same way that you play.

“Right off the hop here at training camp, our first ice session is tomorrow and I think it’s gonna be really high paced, it’s gonna be physical but I think that’s the only way for us to help them prep for the season.

“And obviously we take a lot of pride in our environment in Toronto and how close we are as a team, so we’re here to help them in any way that we can.”

Turnbull recalled her first step out of the University of Wisconsin — a move to Calgary to train with the best players from Team Canada with a goal to make the national team some day. She said the biggest lesson was “learning from people around me on what it takes to get to the next level.”

While Turnbull believes there will be an adjustment period for the rookies, namely the physicality and pace of the PWHL, she says they do have time to get acclimated.

Forwards Julia Gosling and Izzy Daniel, as well as defender Megan Carter, were Toronto’s top three picks in June’s draft, joining a Sceptres team that has high expectations. Toronto is coming off an inaugural season where it finished atop the regular-season standings before falling in the semifinals.

There is a pressure to it, especially coming in from a strong draft class, Turnbull says.

“There are many people from this draft class that will be on Olympic rosters for the next Olympics,” she said. “I think the expectations that has been put on them to perform right away, as soon as they step foot on the ice in the PWHL, the expectations are high.

“I think all of them are ready, … Their personal expectations are high because they all wanna be elite and they wanna be the best they can be and I think there probably is a little bit of pressure on them that they’re feeling to settle into this league and perform right away.”

For Gosling, being close to home, having been centralized for the 2022 Olympics and a familiarity with teammates from Team Canada along with head coach Troy Ryan and general manager Gina Kingsbury helps with the transition.

While the pro lifestyle is one adjustment she knows she’ll have to make, she said that she may feel some pressure when the season begins as a first-round pick.

“I think when games start there might be more attention on it and just the media sometimes are probably saying different things,” the 23-year-old from London, Ont., said. “I think it’ll be an adjustment once games start but right now I don’t feel it.”

Carter, who was placed on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury on Wednesday, said she doesn’t feel too much pressure.

“The team environment is so positive and welcoming,” Carter said. “Everyone wants me to get better, everyone wants everyone to get better and work collectively to achieve our goals. It’s not a high-pressure environment.

NOTES

League MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner spoke on her injury Wednesday, reiterating that her return from knee surgery will not have a timeline but will be based on testing.

“There’s just certain progressions I have to hit, tests I have to pass with the doctor,” she said. “On the ice, I’ve hit most of my progressions so it’d be nice to, over the next few weeks, progress even more.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.