Cara Gardner Morey knows her life is about to get very busy.
As the first general manager of Vancouver’s new Professional Women’s Hockey League team, her schedule for the upcoming weeks rapidly filled as the league announced plans for its two expansion teams to build out their rosters.
On Tuesday, an exclusive signing window will open. Then there’s the expansion draft, followed by a league-wide entry draft at the end of June.
Gardner Morey isn’t daunted — she’s excited.
“It’s such a cool opportunity,” she said Friday. “And I’m kind of chomping at the bit for June 4 when I can start making these calls and kind of talking to the players we’re interested in bringing to our franchise.”
Building a professional women’s hockey team is something Gardner Morey dreamt about when she was a player, first at Brown University, then in the National Women’s Hockey League where she played with Jayna Hefford, now the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations.
“We were just excited to be part of something where we didn’t have to pay for hockey,” Gardner Morey said. “And we’ve watched it over the years, and we’ve watched kind of professional hockey for women come and go and waiver.
“Then when this league started, just the way that it was structured, the business model, the leadership in place, you could see very quickly that this was going to be a success. And I knew it was something I really wanted to be a part of. I just feel so grateful that I can help be a part of this growth. It’s awesome.”
More than 200 people applied to be the new general manager in Vancouver, Hefford said. Another 200 vied for the same job in Seattle, home of the league’s other expansion franchise.
WATCH | How the PWHL’s expansion draft will work:
For a second time in franchise history, the Minnesota Frost hoisted the Walter Cup as they defeated Ottawa Charge 2-1 in overtime Monday night in game four.
Proven herself
Gardner Morey was picked because she’s proven herself during the 14 years she spent with Princeton’s women’s hockey team, Hefford added.
During her eight years as head coach, Princeton won an Ivy League championship, qualified for two NCAA quarterfinals and set a single-season record for wins (26).
She’s also worked as an assistant coach for the Canadian women’s U-18 team in 2016-17, and for Canada during the Rivalry series against the United States in February 2019.
“She has built a program (at Princeton) that has competed at the highest level, proven herself to be a great recruiter in terms of some of the players she was able to bring into that program and the success they’ve had both there and coming out of that program,” Hefford said. “And Cara just comes with such a passion and an energy for the game and the sport.”
While at Princeton, Gardner Morey coached both current Minnesota Frost defender Claire Thompson, a finalist for this year’s PWHL’s top defender award, and New York Sirens forward Sarah Fillier, who’s up for the top forward and rookie of the year awards.
The decision to move from behind the bench to a front office was spurred by the 46-year-old Gardner Morey’s passion for leadership and the feeling that the move made sense as the next step in her career.
“I did have to think about it, because I’m leaving the coaching realm,” she said. “But on some level, I think it’s going to be nice to be able to watch the games from up top and not necessarily feel the stress of it on the bench in the moment. So it’s something I’m really looking forward to.”
Now tasked with building a team from scratch, Gardner Morey is working to find players and staff who’ll fit her vision for a speedy, skilled, physical team that has an amazing, competitive culture.
There are ample candidates for the coaching staff, she said, and her mind long ago turned to plotting the perfect roster.
“That’s what’s exciting about this position, right? Building your own team and this fantasy that you could almost choose anybody you want, which we know that’s not quite the way it goes,” Gardner Morey said.
“But I started thinking about it as soon as I started exploring this position and was watching all the games. You’re just watching like, `Ooh, who would be great in this spot?’ And building rosters and building puzzle pieces and creating the culture is something I’m really, really excited about.”