THUNDER BAY – Haley Irwin experienced a lot in her hockey career - from winning a pair of gold medals with Canada at the Winter Olympics to capturing a NCAA title with the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.
She got to achieve another goal earlier this month, only this time she was behind the bench for it.
Irwin is an assistant coach for Ottawa’s team in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which began its inaugural season on New Year’s Day.
Ottawa kicked off their campaign at home on Jan. 2, dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Montreal in front of a crowd of 8,318 at TD Place Arena.
“It’s exciting to be part of this and it’s something that I dreamed about as a player,” Irwin said.
“I have a little daughter (Shay) at home and I think it’s great that one of the things she dreams about doing she can actually see now.”
Irwin had spent the last four seasons coaching with the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold program in U Sports when she got a call from Ottawa last fall.
“It all happened super fast,” Irwin said. “I knew that some things were in the works when it came to the new league … but was happy with how things were going at TMU and focused on things there.
“Then I got a call from (head coach) Carla MacLeod and (general manager) Mike Hirshfeld and my mind started to change a bit. From saying yes to the job and getting started here was about a four-to-six week period, but I’m coaching hockey and there’s nothing more fun than that.”
Irwin, who works mainly with the forwards on Ottawa’s roster, said that the atmosphere and the buzz around the league has been tremendous.
“I think it was a moment that a lot of people have been waiting for,” Irwin said. “Our players really fed off the energy from the stands in that first game at home and it was easily the biggest crowd that I’ve ever coached in front of.
“There’s a tremendous viewership already and there’s a lot of people watching our games. It definitely shows that women’s pro hockey is here to stay.”
Irwin isn’t the only Thunder Bay product involved in the league.
Michela Cava plays for Minnesota, Sam Isbell is on the reserve roster for Boston and Hannah Armstrong is Ottawa’s operations coordinator.
“It’s such a small world,” Irwin said of the Thunder Bay connections in the league.
“I got to run into Michela and Sam during the training camps in Utica (New York) and I’m proud to see them still playing. To have a couple of players for the young boys and girls in Thunder Bay to look up to is great for our city.”
