Chan, who scored her first ever PWHL goal on Tuesday night, is shaping up to be one of the league's most impressive new forwards.
When you first watch her play, you probably wouldn’t guess that Katie Chan is a PWHL rookie. The Vancouver Goldeneyes forward plays the game with a type of confidence and comfort that you likely wouldn’t get from a player who’s only six games into their PWHL career. Still, Chan has been making her mark in an impressive way as one of the newest members of the PWHL, whether that’s from scoring her first PWHL goal or flashing her quick speed to beat the opposition heading up the ice.
Chan’s journey to the PWHL started long before she made the team. Before training camp, even. The forward’s 2025–26 season began long before the PWHL’s, as she spent 17 games with Fårjestad BK in the SDHL. By the time Vancouver’s training camp had opened, Chan had already gotten off to a flying start.
“I felt really confident coming in, especially because I was in mid-season shape, so I wasn't worried about my conditioning, and I wasn't worried about being rusty, because I had so much playing time over there,” Chan told The Hockey News last week. “I really felt like I hit the ground running here.”
When most players were coming into training camp having not played since the end of the 2024–25 season, Chan was doing the opposite. While her time in Sweden was short, she did put up six goals and 10 assists throughout those 17 games. The most important thing she learned over there, she said, was her confidence.
“I think the biggest takeaway I had was more of my mental game rather than my physical game. I think that I got a lot of confidence playing in Sweden, especially in a professional league, and so getting to experience that before coming here to PWHL really helped me.”
Katie Chan Is Bringing Persistence And Detail To PWHL Vancouver’s Training Camp
The 2025–26 regular season is still a ways away, but PWHL fans and players alike still have lots to be excited about. For some fans, it’s the energy around a league entering its third season with two brand-new teams. For some players, it’s the chance to prove themselves and leave a good impression on what could be their next team.
This confident playing style that emits from Chan’s game is something that hasn’t gone unnoticed. The forward plays hard, gives 110% on every shift, and works her way into areas that allow for optimal scoring chances. These factors are only some of many that contributed to her scoring her first-ever PWHL goal on Tuesday night against the Ottawa Charge.
“Katie’s all-around game is super dependable, super reliable. Using her speed as F1, fore-check, making smart, simple decisions all over the ice,” Goldeneyes Head Coach Brian Idalski said of Chan after Tuesday’s game. “Puck needs to get deep, she gets it deep. There’s a board battle and we need to get to the next level, she gets to the next level. She’s someone who’s earned my trust quickly, just because she’s such a smart player all over the ice, and plays a good 200-foot game for us. Super excited for her, obviously, to get her first one, and [to] do it at home in front of family and friends is pretty special.”
“I think I blacked out because the fans went crazy,” Chan said with a chuckle post-game. “It was a really surreal moment to be able to score my first goal here at home.”
This season has been a special one for Chan. Playing in her first ever PWHL season is one thing, but the fact that she’s playing for her hometown team during their inaugural season makes it that much more surreal.
“I can’t even describe it. I think that that moment, being able to step out onto the ice in front of a sold-out crowd in Vancouver is a dream come true, and makes everything that I’ve gone through in my playing career worth it,” she explained to THN, referencing the Goldeneyes’ historic home-opener back on November 21.
Whether it’s because of her early start in Sweden or her confident style of play, one thing is certain about Katie Chan’s journey to the PWHL — that she’s been fitting in perfectly fine as a member of the Goldeneyes.