Concordia Stingers captain Emmy Fecteau is the top ranked French Canadian in the PWHL Draft, and has earned high praise from a Hockey Hall of Famer. She checks all the boxes and will be a sought after prospect, including by PWHL Montreal.

End of Summer, 2023.

The newly appointed captain of the Concordia Stingers, Emmy Fecteau, meets for coffee with every single rookie on the team. A few months prior, Concordia had lost, in overtime in the U Sports national championship in Montreal. A bitter loss for the defending champions who were looking for a repeat at home.

Assistant to the captain the season before, it was now Fecteau’s team and she wanted to make sure her teammates wouldn't experience the taste of defeat for a very long time. To help with that, she wanted to connect with every newcomer, and make them understand what it means to be a Stinger.

Fast forward to the present time, Fecteau succeeded.

It actually took 26 games before her team tasted what it felt like to lose a hockey game. Including the provincial playoffs and the nationals, the Stingers went 32-2 in 2023-24 and brought back the U Sports championship trophy to Montreal.

Not only was Fecteau an important part of the team on the ice, but with things like what she did at the beginning of the season, she became an important part of the team off the ice as well.

And that’s why PWHL Montreal needs to pick her as soon as they possibly can, before another team scoops the Concordia Stingers captain.

Fecteau, 25, is the type of player every coach dreams to have. A center who can score, win face-offs, and play on both sides of the ice; a person who leads by example, in and out of the arena.

She started the season by being named the Stingers’ 2023 Female Athlete of the Year and recipient of the Denise Beaudet Award in recognition of her academic, athletic and community service. Fecteau's 25 points in as many games in the regular season was good for 8th in the RSEQ, but when it counted the most, in the playoffs, especially since the team lost their first two games of the season, she delivered even more. Fecteau finished with a league-leading 13 points in only six playoff games.

High praise from Hall of Famer

The forward was named to the Second All-Star team in the RSEQ, also winning the leadership and social engagement award. She then won U Sports’ Marion Hilliard Award given to the player who excelled in hockey, academics and community involvement. On top of her own performance, Fecteau also coached girls’ hockey and was the lead instructor at the Stingers hockey school.

"Emmy Fecteau is our leader," Concordia’s assistant-coach and Hockey Hall Of Fame member Caroline Ouellette said after winning the RSEQ championship. “Of all the girls I've played with, played against, and coached, she's the girl with the most guts I know. She’s a leader who leads with so much passion, with so much love for others. She's a real warrior, she's going to block shots, she can play both defensively and offensively, she's as much a scorer as she is a passer. She always puts the team first. She's a player who is impossible to replace, who is going to be one of the greatest players that I'm going to have the chance to coach and she's really going to remain someone super special to me.”

What more can be said?

The only French-Canadian in the top 42

On The Hockey News draft rankings, Fecteau is ranked 35th, which would make her a 6th round pick. In its mock draft, PWHL Report puts her in the 5th round, 28th going to Boston. Who has pick number 29? Montreal.

That’s why it will be important for Daniele Sauvageau and her team to draft Fecteau as soon as possible if they don’t want to miss on her. One could say third round would be a little high, but having only one French-Canadian ranked in the top 42 players, in a market where it's so significant, makes Fecteau even more important to Montreal. They have to do everything they can to draft Fecteau before another team does, perhaps even trading up. And it’s not like she’s a secret. Other teams have also been noticing her.

Having a center, who’s ready to play and have an impact, a leader who speaks French, would be huge for Montreal. Not too many players can check all those boxes. Actually, only one: Emmy Fecteau.