‘We’re growing, we’re evolving’: Goldeneyes searching for groove in first PWHL season

By Canadian Press on January 6, 2026.

VANCOUVER — Ten games into their inaugural season, the Vancouver Goldeneyes are still striving to find their groove.

A come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the league-leading Boston Fleet last weekend could provide the expansion club with a little momentum as it continues to push through the Professional Women’s Hockey League season.

“I think we’ve had a lot of character wins and character moments here,” said Goldeneyes captain Ashton Bell. “We’ve been through a lot already as a group early on, but I think that’s just going to benefit us down the road.”

Midway through the campaign, Vancouver sits second-last in the eight-team league, with two regulation wins, an overtime win, an overtime loss and five regulations losses.

The team boasts the PWHL’s worst goal differential (-8), with the second-fewest goals for (19) and the second-most goals against (27).

“I think the hardest thing to do in hockey, for sure, is to score,” said forward Hannah Miller, who has one goal and four assists on the season. “And I think, as a new team, new players, it’s just kind of finding that chemistry, giving things a chance and some time.”

As the league’s first two expansion teams, Vancouver and the Seattle Torrent are the unique position of bringing together entirely new rosters for the 2025-26 campaign.

Both teams have players that played together in other markets, but both are still working out the kinks that come with a whole raft of new personnel.

“We’re very talented players,” said Michelle Karvinen, a 35-year-old Finnish forward playing her first season in the PWHL following a long career in Europe.

“I don’t like to make excuses, but obviously, we’re a new team, and a lot of other teams already had chemistry, had systems in place. So I think for us, we just needed to get caught up a little bit. But I think also, the struggle might be something that will be our strength in the end of the season.”

Some things the Goldeneyes need to do a better job of on offence include getting to the interior of the ice and getting inside opponents, said Miller, who had 10 goals and 14 assists for the Toronto Sceptres last season.

“You can’t stay on the perimeter in this league,” she said. “That’s not where goals are scored.”

The team also needs to get better starts and play their top game across all three periods, said goalie Emerance Maschmeyer.

“We’re growing, we’re evolving, I think, our last few games,” she said. “We haven’t strung together 60 minutes yet but we’re getting closer and closer.”

There’s still ample work to be done in managing pucks, making simple plays and finding consistency, said Goldeneyes head coach Brian Idalski.

He does see the team’s growth, though.

“Those are things that I’m encouraged we’re improving,” he said.

Getting star forward Sarah Nurse back into the lineup could help.

The 31-year-old Canadian has been out since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s season opener on Nov. 21.

Nurse remains on the long-term injured reserve list, but has been skating without her teammates, and will be re-evaluated in “a couple of weeks,” Idalski said.

It’s not just the Goldeneyes who are eager to see Nurse back in the lineup, the coach added.

“I’m sure Hockey Canada would like to see her in a few games before the Olympics and we’re eager to get her back as soon as possible,” he said. “But we want to make sure we’re doing right by her and that she’s not yo-yoing, dealing with something for the full season, that we get it taken care of now.”

For now, Vancouver will continue to rely on array of players for scoring, starting Friday when they visit the Ottawa Charge.

Defender Claire Thompson leads the group in scoring with three goals and four assists, but 15 players have registered at least one point over the first 10 games of the season.

“I think it’s been a learning curve, and we’re definitely not satisfied with where we’re at at all,” Miller said. “But I think that’s the exciting part about being on a team is continuing to work and not being satisfied.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2026.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press