PWHL board member Billie Jean King (centre left) and PWHL executive Jayna Hefford prepare to drop pucks between Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull (left) and New York captain Micah Zandee-Hart (right) for the ceremonial faceoff before the inaugural PWHL game in Toronto on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. Zandee-Hart doesn't feel intimidated wearing the captain's 'C' in one of the biggest sports markets in the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Micah Zandee-Hart doesn't feel intimidated wearing the captain's 'C' in one of the biggest sports markets in the world.

The 26-year-old defender from Victoria is the first captain of New York's Professional Women's Hockey League team.

The unnamed club — none of the PWHL's six teams have been assigned names yet — will try to carve out a niche in an area with multiple NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball franchises, as well as Major League Soccer, WNBA and National Women's Soccer League teams.

"You've got to work to build that fan base and build that support, especially in such a big area like New York City when there's so much going on," Zandee-Hart said. "The fact that we have not only other professional sports teams but other very successful professional women's sports franchises, using those connections and trying to build those connections within those different franchises and kind of sharing the fan base and stuff like that, I think is going to be a huge asset to us.

"It might take some time off the hop to build that."

Zandee-Hart won both an Olympic gold medal and a world championship with Canada in 2022, as well as silver medal at the 2023 world championship.

The five-foot-eight, 150-pound defender was among New York general manager Pascal Daoust's first three free-agent signings in September when Zandee-Hart agreed to a three-year contract.

She's among 30 Canadians sprinkled across rosters of the PWHL's three teams in the United States.

Zandee-Hart and alternate captains Alex Carpenter and Ella Shelton were introduced to the public in New York style just before Christmas at glitzy Rockerfeller Plaza with its towering, glittering tree as a backdrop.

"Everyone kept saying it feels like we're in a Hallmark movie," Zandee-Hart recalled. "It kind of gave us all chills to realize the magnitude of being on that ice in New York City and kind of a part of the sporting franchises in the tri-state area."

After blanking host Toronto 4-0 in the PWHL's first-ever game Monday, New York's home-opener Friday is a rematch at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Conn., which is also the site of New York Islanders' American Hockey League affiliate.

The women's practice facility in Stamford, Conn., which is about a 45-minute train ride into New York City's Grand Central Station, is where Zandee-Hart and many of her new teammates have relocated.

"It's been a huge change. I'd been living in Calgary the last few years," she said. "To pick everything up and move to to New York, everything is very new and finding a place and getting a visa is a long process.

"We have a great GM. In that initial signing, he was the only staff member I knew, but I knew our values aligned and I really trusted what he was building."

Former Boston Bruin forward Patrice Bergeron introduced that city's PWHL captain and alternates Tuesday with Hilary Knight handed the 'C" and Megan Keller and Canadian team forward Jamie Rattray her alternates. Minnesota had yet to declare its leadership group as of Tuesday.

Toronto will be led by Blayre Turnbull and alternates Jocelyne Larocque and Renata Fast. Montreal unveiled Marie-Philip Poulin as its captain during a Cirque du Soleil show. Laura Stacey, Erin Ambrose and Kristin O'Neill are Montreal's alternates.

Ottawa's captain is Brianne Jenner and Emily Clark and Jincy Roese are alternates. Zandee-Hart feels ready for her leadership role in a sports mega-market.

"It's a huge responsibility to be a captain, but it's also a privilege," she said. "I take it seriously and I want to do the best that I can for the franchise and also for my teammates. I know that sometimes the responsibility is going to be me kind of being the spokesperson.

"I'm a big believer that when you're the leader of any organization, the title shouldn't change who you are as a person. I'm just going to continue to be me and try and represent my team the best that I can."

MACLEOD CONTINUES DOUBLE DUTY: Carla MacLeod brings her international coaching gig with her to her job as head coach of Ottawa's PWHL team.

MacLeod has coached Czechia's women to back-to-back bronze medals at the women's world championship.

The 41-year-old Calgarian, who won Olympic gold with Canada in 2006 and 2010, intends to stay behind the Czech bench while she guides Ottawa's PWHL team through its first season.

"It's going to be quite hectic and quite busy," MacLeod said. "I'm incredibly fortunate to have both opportunities. I'm just grateful both are trying to make it work for myself."

She'd held two coaching jobs last year with the University of Calgary women's hockey team and the Czechs.

Czechia took bronze at the 2022 summer world championship for its first medal and reached the podium again in Brampton, Ont., in 2023.

Ottawa's PWHL roster includes a pair of women MacLeod coached at the world championship — forward Katerina Mrazova and defender Aneta Tejralova.

"To repeat with Czech was really quite something only because it's one thing to win something once. It's always harder to do a second time," MacLeod said.

"They're starting to see their own potential and that, to me, is when the magic occurs, is when players see how good they can be."

The PWHL schedule will break for the women's world championship April 3-14 in Utica, N.Y.

MacLeod's former Canadian teammate Haley Irwin and Cassea Schols are MacLeod's assistant coaches in Ottawa. Schols is also an assistant for the Czech women.

"I get the chance to do both because I've got great people around me," MacLeod said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024