Sandra Abstreiter only became a goaltender in her mid-teens. Now she's one of the best goalies on the planet, and is enjoying her first season with PWHL Ottawa.
Sandra Abstreiter only became a goaltender in her mid-teens. Now she's one of the best goalies on the planet, and is enjoying her first season with PWHL Ottawa.
Sandra Abstreiter fondly remembers her childhood, growing up in a small town just outside of Freising, Germany.
“In my neighbourhood,” Abstreiter began, “there were literally two streets. The one street had all the older kids who were two or so years older, and then on my street, we were all about the same age. Once a year, we had this street party where the parents would all be chatting and the kids would run off and play soccer.”
Her passion for hockey started around the age of five and a half, after her parents found a flier inviting people to try out for the local hockey team. Although Abstreiter’s parents initially expected this to be the sport their son would play, she tagged along and once she saw her brother lace up his skates and hit the ice, she knew that was what she wanted to do as well.
“I literally watched one practice and said that’s what I’m going to do, too.”
Initially playing as a defender, where she stayed until she was about 15 or 16 when her manager at the time, as a result of many of the team’s goaltenders being called up to other teams, approached her, jokingly, and asked whether she would like to go in net. Abstreiter’s response? “Sure!” and she ended up playing the rest of the year as both a goaltender and a defender. It didn’t take her long, though, to decide to focus all of her attention on becoming a goaltender as after the season, she switched full time.
The Providence College graduate played in 105 games for the Friars, averaged a 1.88 GAA, a .931 SV% and had a record of 53-39-11. In 2021-22, Abstreiter was named to the All-Hockey East Second All-star Team, finishing the year ranked fifth all-time at Providence in games played (72) and total saves (1,848) all while also playing for Germany at the 2022 and later the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championships.
Despite all of her accomplishments both on and off the ice, Abstreiter isn’t one to focus so much on the stats.
“I don’t like to look into it too much," she said. "Obviously here and there, you compare yourself to others but it’s always a different situation.”
During her collegiate career Abstreiter, who served as a backup early on, learned to treat every practice as a game to ensure she stayed strong mentally and was ready to play whenever that opportunity arose.
“Get better every practice,” she said, “be there 100% every single practice. Learning how not to get in your own head and just trusting yourself, your coaches and your own abilities. I always tell myself that I’m here for a reason and that I know how to do this.”
Drafted 68th overall by PWHL Ottawa, Abstreiter was excited to be joining the organization, especially after hearing that GM Mike Hirshfeld wanted to draft her. She believes, as many now do, that Ottawa is a special place to play.
“I was actually on the phone with Mike beforehand and he told me just a little bit about Ottawa in general, as well as how motivated he and the coaches are,” Abstreiter said.
The atmosphere and incredible passion from the fans at each home game is something that has really stood out to Abstreiter.
“Honestly, I don’t think I could find the right words,” she said, “because it was such an amazing feeling going out there and so many people were there, even for warmups. Every little kid made a sign. I handed a puck to a little girl and she was bouncing up and down the stairs."
This moment for women’s hockey isn’t lost on Abstreiter.
“I’m really grateful for all the hard work that these players and people behind the scenes and I’m so happy that it’s paying off now. The biggest part is seeing those little girls being so excited that in their future, there will be something that they can work towards. They can actually say ‘I can become them.’”
From deciding to tag along to a hockey try out with her brother at five-years-old back in Germany, to a very successful career at Providence College and now to the Nation's Capital, playing in the newly formed PWHL, Sandra Abstreiter showed that no matter what you do, when you put all of your energy and focus into it, you can achieve incredible things.