Goldeneyes forward Izzy Daniel chats playing with confidence, facing her former team, and the success of her sourdough starter.
Izzy Daniel is a chef both on and off-the-ice.
On the ice, the Vancouver Goldeneyes forward has been one of the team’s hottest forwards as of late, serving up an impressive three goals in her past four games dating back to before the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Off the ice, she’s been busy whipping something completely different up.
“I’ve started making bagels. Jalapeno cheddar and cinnamon sugar are my forte,” Daniel told The Hockey News after a practice earlier this week. “I’ve made sourdough pancakes, and just like your regular loaf. I’ve made cinnamon rolls — sourdough cinnamon rolls — bagels … My starter needs some work right now, though, so I’ve gotta get back at it.”
Back in December, Daniel named learning how to make sourdough as one of her 2025 accomplishments in a post on the Goldeneyes’ social media. Though, as the new year has progressed, she’s been able to build on more than just her starter.
The 2025–26 season didn’t quite start the way many would have anticipated it would for both Daniel and the Goldeneyes. The forward didn’t record her first point with Vancouver until December 27, when she scored the Goldeneyes’ lone goal in a 2–1 overtime loss to the Minnesota Frost. Since then, she’s been able to round out her role a little more and get a better sense of her place in Vancouver’s lineup.
“I think as a young player coming into this league, I think it’s really hard to find success right away. You’re kind of trying to figure everything out about being a pro, and I think it was my feeling out process [...] when I was playing with the Sceptres last year, and then obviously coming to a new team, you’ve got to start over, so I think the first half of the season was just trying to figure out where I fit, find my role. But at the end of the day, I just want to try to be myself and continue to play my game and show what I can do.”
The bulk of this success, Daniel says, comes from playing with confidence.
“I have a lot of confidence and I’m playing with confidence, kind of just playing free, so when I’m playing hockey that way, it’s really fun — and it’s supposed to be fun, right? I know we get paid to do this, but that’s the reason why I play, is because I love it. I think it’s just about playing with confidence.”
Part of what has helped Daniel with the confidence aspect has been gaining more familiarity with her teammates. While Sarah Nurse and Kristen Campbell were also her teammates on the Toronto Sceptres the year prior, Daniel notes playing with fellow ex-Sceptre Hannah Miller has also helped her out with her game.
“I think more-so just off the ice, I think I’ve found in my career the closer I am with people off the ice I think it kind of translates to on the ice, because we kind of have that mutual understanding and that relationship where we can hold each other accountable and are comfortable with talking about different things, where if she needs more from me she feels comfortable talking to me about that and I’m not going to take it personally,” she explained. “I think that’s the biggest thing, just being able to be honest with my teammates or my linemates and talk through plays, even though it might be uncomfortable at times, but I think that’s really important in order to just get better as a line, try to help the team as much as we can.”
Credit @ PWHLDaniel’s connections to the Sceptres, as great as they’ve been for her progression in Vancouver, notably made things a little bittersweet for her when the Goldeneyes took part in the Battle on Bay Street on January 17. This was the first time the forward had returned to Toronto after being selected in the PWHL Expansion Draft back in June. Needless to say, it was an emotional night.
“I still have a lot of really good friends on that team and I think whenever I see them, it’s a little sad to see them on the other side,” she admitted. “But the Scotiabank game is one of their biggest games of the year, and that’s something they talk about all year and something that is just unbelievable to play in no matter if I’m on the visiting team’s side. The energy in there was amazing. But it was definitely a really weird feeling. I think I was really gripping my stick pretty tight in the first period for sure, so it was nice to get the first one out of the way.”
The fact that she’s still friends with a lot of the Sceptres doesn’t mean she’s shied away from throwing the extra hit.
“Seeing my buddies on the other side, playing against them, kind of gives me a little extra motivation, maybe, to hit them or something like that.”
When it comes to Vancouver, on the other hand, team-building and bond-strengthening got a bit of a boost thanks to the Olympic break. With a little time on their hands to engage in off-ice connection, Daniel and the Goldeneyes got to partake in some friendly competition. Aside from some golf and a Super Bowl watch party, Vancouver also put together a pickleball tournament, during which Daniel and teammate Anna Mexiner lost to Head Coach Brian Idalski and Goaltending Coach Joey Ali in the finals.
“We’re looking for some redemption,” she joked regarding the tournament’s result.
As for her familiarity with the city itself, it appears Daniel has already accustomed herself to the oceanside chill and mountainside charm that comes with living on the west coast. Living directly next to the water has had its benefits, she’s noted, though Daniel admits she could still use some tips when it comes to how to go about certain things.
“Where I live, too, we have a crab trap. We’ve been trying to crab, and we haven’t gotten one yet. So if anyone has any tips, we would like to know.”
Confidence, familiarity, and sourdough. Call that a recipe for success in Daniel’s first season in Vancouver.