After being away from the game for two years, Kendra Woodland entered the game on March 18 at Grand Casino Arena in Minnesota with the confidence to know that she belonged.
"I knew I could get there. I just needed to stay resilient in the process and really trust that journey."
On March 18 at Grand Casino Arena in Minnesota, Kendra Woodland didn’t know she was about to play in her first professional game. But she believed she would be ready when called upon.
"I think initially my arms kind of went numb," Woodland recalled. "I think it was the most people I've played in front of in my whole life. So that was really cool. I've just kind of been waiting for this moment for a long time, and to get that moment was really cool."
The appearance marked Woodland's first game since graduating from the University of New Brunswick in 2023-24, where she established herself as one of U SPORTS' top goaltenders, winning the Broderick Trophy as the U Sports Player of the Year, and becoming the winningest goalie in program history.
And while it took time before an opportunity at the PWHL level arrived, Woodland hasn't taken it for granted.
"I think it's meant the world," she said. "Just being able to get this opportunity and the organization showing the trust that they have in me, and seeing that it might be a little bit of a diamond in the rough in some sense. Taking in a player that hasn't played in a year and a half and putting in a goalie that hasn't played in 2 years, I think, is huge."
Those two years away from the game gave Kendra Woodland a clearer understanding of who she is, both as a player and as a person, and of just how much that determination would carry her to this opportunity.
"I learned how much resilience I had in me. I just love the game of hockey, and I wanted to play at any cost. I knew I could get there."