Burlington's Emma Maltais drafted to play for Toronto

Emma Maltais waited nervously as the picks in the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s first draft were announced on Monday.

Throughout her hockey career, in junior and college, Maltais was in control of where she would play. Now, her hockey future was in the hands of the league’s six general managers.

It was a small price to pay to be a part of the first women’s professional league that will include all of the best players in the world.

When her former Ohio State teammate Sophie Jacques was selected 10th overall by Boston, it continued a trend that had seen seven blueliners taken to that point.

Then came the moment she had been waiting for: “Toronto is pleased to select Emma Maltais.”

“It was such a whirlwind. There were a lot of emotions,” said Maltais, who graduated as Ohio State’s all- time leading scorer, quite a feat considering there were 10 former Buckeyes selected in the draft.  “I tried not to have any expectations, but I’m lucky I ended up close to home.”

Coming to Toronto reunite Maltais not only with national team coach Troy Ryan and former general manager Gina Kingsbury, but also with seven Canadian teammates, including fellow Burlingtonian Renata Fast, who was one of the team’s first three free-agent signings.

And while playing so close to home will definitely ease the transition, Maltais was happiest for her parents.

“Having them both there to celebrate after everything they’ve done for me, it was a really good moment,” she said. “They travelled to every single home game when I was at Ohio State, so it’s a huge win for them that I’m playing right in their backyard.”

But Maltais said the biggest win may be reserved for women’s hockey. Growing up, she never envisioned a professional league being an option. The national team was the only goal to shoot for.

“For that group right on the cusp (of making a national team), they might get one or two camps to prove themselves. Now they have a league to train regularly. It’s going to be a lot easier develop as a player and I think it’s exciting for the entire sport. International hockey is going to be that much stronger.”

In all, 13 international players from seven countries were selected in the draft.

Maltais, who at 23 already has an Olympic gold medal and two world championship wins under her belt, said she is fortunate to have the PWHL as an option. She recognizes that women’s professional hockey was at times professional in name only.

Now, having seen how the draft was handled, she has no doubt the league will succeed when it begins play in January.

“I lucked out that I was able to come in right out of college,” Maltais said. “There were so many players that sacrificed so much to make this happen. Players from Team Canada who couldn’t even find a time slot to practise so they practised at 10 at night. They sacrificed so much when they knew they deserved
a lot more.

"It took a lot of time and effort to make everyone’s dreams happen.”