Cayla Barnes, an Ohio State grad and Team USA star says she is grateful to the women who came before her, those who founded the PWHL, and the opportunity to be drafted.
Cayla Barnes, an Ohio State grad and Team USA star says she is grateful to the women who came before her, those who founded the PWHL, and the opportunity to be drafted.
Cayla Barnes is one of the top, if not the top defensive prospects entering the 2024 PWHL Draft. She's also extremely grateful to be entering the league, for those who worked to make the league a possibility, and for the opportunity to continue her career in hockey.
"Really looking forward to this draft, this is something we all dream of and now that we have the opportunity to be in this position, I think we're all really grateful," Barnes said in a pre-draft media conference.
The word 'grateful' was one Barnes used several times in her responses. She's one of the lucky players in her generation who don't have to question what's next. As an elite defender and long time member of USA's national team, who also won an NCAA national title this season anchoring Ohio State's blueline, Barnes will step immediately from college hockey to professional hockey.
Projected to go in the first round, it's an opportunity for Barnes, and other top prospects like Princeton's Sarah Fillier to begin what could become long careers in the burgeoning league.
"One word just like comes to mind, just grateful, for this opportunity, for the work people have put in to create stability in this league and to give younger players like me and Sarah (Fillier) this opportunity," Barnes said.
"It's a huge honor and privilege to be here...it doesn't go unnoticed the amount of work that people before us have put in and it's important to give credit where credit is due," she continued. "I'm here because of what they did and I have this opportunity because of those founders so to say, just super grateful for that. Now girls have a dream to look to and actually see physically where as when we were younger that was just a shot in the dark, a hope for one day, so that's just really exciting for the younger generations."