From June 2 to July 29, the Fraser Valley Super League Women’s Elite Division became the latest gathering place for BC’s premier women’s hockey talent during the off-season.
For nine Wednesdays in June and July, North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex became the place for women’s hockey fans in BC to visit.
From June 2 to July 29, the Fraser Valley Super League Women’s Elite Division became the latest gathering place for BC’s premier women’s hockey talent during the off-season. Taking place at the three-sheet ice complex in Surrey, stars from across the PWHL, USports, NCAA, and beyond flocked to the league’s Wednesday summer games throughout its nine-week off-season run.
This was the FVSL’s first season running their women’s division through the summer. While they’ve since wrapped up competition for the time being, throughout their nine weeks of in-game play, a grand total of 65 players skated in one or more matches. With admission free, and games starting after 8:30 pm, the league provided fans with a prime opportunity to check out some local talent in a casual setting.
65 Players, Seven PWHLers Participated In FVSL Games
According to data fetched from the FVSL's roster lists, 65 women’s hockey players from the PWHL, NCAA, USports, and beyond laced their skates up for games in June and July. Of these 65, seven players spent the 2025–26 season under contract with a PWHL team. 11 total players were either under contract with a PWHL team or drafted by one in 2026.
As expected, the Vancouver Goldeneyes were the most-represented PWHL team at the FVSL games, with Jenn Gardiner, Katie Chan, Malia Schneider (UFA), and Kim Newell (UFA) all taking part in at least one game.
Two current members of the Ottawa Charge were also in attendance at the FVSL games. Newly-acquired forward Jenna Buglioni, who is from Port Moody, and Richmond’s Kathryn Reilly both participated in games through June and July. Current Montréal Victoire goaltender Sandra Abstreiter and former Victoire forward Leah Lum also played in some matches.
Four 2026 PWHL draftees also took part in the league’s summer games. Sara Swiderski and Tova Henderson (Minnesota Frost), Grace Elliott (Seattle Torrent), and Hailey McLeod (Montréal Victoire) all skated in the FVSL’s final game of July.
Of all leagues represented in the FVSL Women’s Elite Division, the PWHL actually only came in fourth, ahead of European and international leagues as well as the ACHA. With 27 players skating in this league during the 2025–26 season, USports had the highest rate of representation at the FVSL’s Wednesday games. This included six players that skated for the UBC Thunderbirds this past season.
Two leagues were tied for second regarding league representation at the FVSL games. 11 participants spent the 2025–26 season in the NCAA, with the schools represented ranging from the University of Minnesota-Duluth to Rochester Institute of Technology. Also tied for second with 11, surprisingly, was the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) — a league home to high-school players 18 and under.
Young League, Young Participants
With the CSSHL’s intriguingly high representation rate at FVSL games comes a very low average age of the 65 players in attendance — 20.87 years old. Of those who played in at least one of the nine games through June and July, a whopping 59 were aged 25 or under at the time of the final game on July 29.
17 of the 65 participants were 18 or younger, with five players under 18 — Cameryn Shiels (17), Myra Connor (17), Arlie Sangha (16), Adie Schneider (16), and Emma Biros (15) — taking part in the competition. The youngest player that skated in these games was Biros of Coquitlam, a forward out of Delta Hockey Academy who turns 16 in December.
On the flip side, the oldest players were forward Lum and goaltender Newell, both of whom are currently 30 years old. Six participants were aged 26 or above by the time of the league’s final game, with those players being Kate Stuart (26), Malia Schneider (27), Whitney Dove (28), Abstreiter (28), Newell (30), and Lum (30).
The age demographic represented most at the FVSL games was those aged 19 to 21, with a total of 25 players fitting in this category. 17 of the participants were aged 22 to 25.
Full-Marks For Attendance
Three of the 65 players that took part in the FVSL’s games skated in all nine matches — Rowan Hu of the University of Windsor, Emma Hall of Lakers Kärnten in the EWHL, and Hayley Chang of the VSV Lady Hawks in the EWHL. Four more players took part in eight games, including two Canada National Development Team Selection Camp invitees in Jordan Baxter (Ohio State University) and Jaylyn Morris (UBC Thunderbirds).
Of the PWHLers that took part in the FVSL games, Gardiner and Schneider of the Goldeneyes skated in the most games with six recorded each. Frost draftee Henderson also logged six games played, while Torrent forward Elliott and Charge forward Buglioni each had five. Both goaltenders under contract with PWHL teams in 2025–26, Newell and Abstreiter, each played in three.
While there was a wide variety in the number of games played by the 65 participants, a total of 20 players skated in only one game. The second-highest number was the nine players that played in six FVSL games. Eight more players skated in two games, with eight also playing in three.
What Do The Players Have To Say?
Top Canadian defensive prospect Chloe Primerano was one of the 65 players that took part in the FVSL’s games this summer. The North Vancouver local, who will enter her third season with the University of Minnesota in 2026–27, skated in two of the league’s nine games.
“It’s fun,” she told The Hockey News. “Nice to play some games in the summer and see a lot of the girls that you don’t see all year. So it’s fun to catch up and play some fun games.”
Frost draftee Swiderski, from Langley, only ended up skating in one game, but shared her biggest impression from the slate of games — how many fans showed up even during the depths of the off-season.
“It was great. They had so many fans, which was super cool,” she noted. “Really good turnout. It was really cool, just how many people came out to support those games, and just shows how much the community is growing within hockey.”
For younger players like 16-year-old Adie Schneider, who spent the 2025–26 season in the CSSHL, the slate of summer games served as a small taste of what to expect from the future of women’s hockey.
“I think it’s huge. There’s fans out there for a couple [PWHL] girls and, just kind of being younger there, and just seeing that, it’s like, ‘I want to be there one day,’ and it’s obviously great development [in] summer.”
