Jenn Gardiner, Sophie Jaques, and Hannah Miller erupted into a fit of laughter after giving their answer on what they saw from the defender’s 4–3 overtime winner to round out the Vancouver Goldeneyes’ inaugural season. “Honestly, I was just thinking, ‘this has to go in the net, because we can’t back check again’,” Jaques said of her seeing-eye shot that beat Minnesota Frost goaltender Marlène Boissonnault to end the game. It was a fitting ending to a season that has thrown a lot at the Goldeneyes: allowing the opening goal, climbing up to a 3–1 lead, surrendering a couple more in the third period to force overtime… It’s a headline that Vancouver has unfortunately read often throughout their first 30 games in the PWHL. But, at the end of the day, the emphasis falls on how much fun this team seems to have with one-another. Lofty expectations as a super-powered expansion franchise sank quickly after Vancouver dropped to the bottom of the PWHL’s standings and never quite managed to float back up. Yet, with Gold Plan points on the line, the Goldeneyes closed out their inaugural season in the exact same way that they opened it — with a 4–3 overtime win in front of a crowd that has had their backs through thick and thin. “Getting to play in this building, at least I can speak for myself, being from here, probably for Miller as well, but just getting to skate out onto the ice here in the Coliseum, and seeing the thousands of fans that show up for us every night — there’s really no words to describe that feeling," Gardiner said after her team's season-ending win. "Just seeing ‘Vancouver’ across everybody’s chest and the merch that’s out there in the city, it doesn’t really feel real still. And the fact that season one is already over is just mind-blowing to me.” Credit @ PWHL [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/8e869b2e-f701-47df-9390-fb1f4628f79b.jpeg] Credit @ PWHL "Coming in as expansion team, you're developing that [culture], you're having conversations, you're going through hardships in the season," Goldeneyes Head Coach Brian Idalski added. "That's how your culture evolves." If you look strictly at the scoresheets from November 21 against the Seattle Torrent and April 25 against the Frost, you’ll see some similarities. The score itself. A goal by Sarah Nurse. A spectacular effort from Emerance Maschmeyer. But look deeper into how this season has gone for the Goldeneyes and you’ll see some big changes that have ultimately helped shape this team and what they’ve helped bring to the west coast. Rubber ducks thrown onto the ice to celebrate an overtime win. The ‘flying V’ celebration spearheaded by Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell. Post-game win flicks with rubber ducks and gold eggs. This team came into the PWHL with a name, a logo, and an idea of an identity. That identity, as the thousands of fans who have flocked to the Coliseum have experienced over the course of the past few months, has since blossomed into something much bigger. “Something that we kind of talked about is, as a start-up program, there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, a lot of things, a lot of unknowns and things that you just can’t control coming into a city that’s hosting a new pro sport and a new pro league,” Gardiner explained. “The group of girls that we had and the staff that we had, just trying to do everything that we can in our control to make the best experience and show up every single day for each other. There are definitely hiccups along the way. Not everything is perfect, and we’re just continuing to grow here as an organization.” The growth will continue for the Goldeneyes heading into the 2026-27 season. With the Seattle Torrent losing 2-1 to the Montréal Victoire in a shootout, Vancouver has officially finished the season with the most draft order points, meaning they'll be awarded the first-overall pick [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/vancouver-goldeneyes-will-pick-first-overall-in-2026-pwhl-draft-with-chance-to-select-caroline-harvey] in the 2026 PWHL Entry Draft. Names like Olympic Gold medallist and MVP Caroline Harvey, high-flying scorer Abbey Murphy, and Olympic All-Star defender Laila Edwards will all be on the table for Vancouver to select come draft day. With their inaugural season now wrapped, and the future shining bright-gold, Vancouver fans will have lots to look forward to as an experienced PWHL franchise.
