‘I DESERVED TO BE HERE. I JUST HAD TO ... PROVE IT’
UNDRAFTED COGAN PROVES DOUBTERS WRONG BY LANDING ON TOP LINE WITH PWHL TEAM
PWHL Toronto head coach Troy Ryan expects he’ll spend most of January playing with his lines, looking for the best chemistry among his players.
Even in the midst of their opening game earlier this week, he was tinkering with line combinations looking for that perfect mix.
For the first two periods of the opener against New York, Ryan had captain Blayre Turnbull centring a line between fellow national team member Sarah Nurse and undrafted free agent Samantha Cogan.
Cogan also played internationally for Canada, but not with those two players, though all three did come through the successful NCAA program at Wisconsin.
Cogan was one of the first players Ryan mentioned coming out of the pre-season camp in Utica, N.Y. He liked the way she had performed, filling a role that needed filling.
It’s what got her that first look on the top line with Turnbull and Nurse, no small feat considering the options Ryan had then and still has now.
But the Canadian national team head coach has plenty of experience matching players to bring out the best in them and is in no rush to settle on anything at the moment.
The lone pairing Ryan said he will not mess with is his top defensive unit of Renata Fast and Jocelyne Larocque, arguably the top blue line pairing in women’s hockey today.
For Cogan, it’s all part of the process.
The Ottawa native, who now lives in Calgary and spent some time on the Calgary Dinos’ women’s hockey team coaching staff, said she was a little surprised not to be drafted given her hockey resume. But rather than pout about it, she used that snub to fuel her.
“I just came in with something to prove,” Cogan said. “Honestly, I trained hard all summer and when I got here, I knew I was ready and knew I deserved to be here. I just had to go out there and prove it.
“I could have gone one of two ways with it — really sour and bitter about it, but I was fortunate that I picked the other way and just came in with a little chip on my shoulder and a fire under my butt that I needed. Then it was just, ‘let’s get to work here and show them they made a mistake.’”
Kaitlin Willoughby took a similar path to earn her spot on the Toronto PWHL roster, but she had her own unique approach as well.
She’s been around the national program, like Cogan, but never quite cracked the lineup.
Anyone who has seen Willoughby skate will attest to her blazing speed and effortless stride. It stands out the way Brittany Howard’s shot stands out.
“My speed has always been my strong suit for sure,” she said. “Now, when you get to this level, you realize there are other things you need to also work on. So that’s been my focus here, working on my weaknesses and figuring out how I can use my speed to create offensive chances — handle the puck with confidence, come out of a forecheck and make a play. So just taking that to the next level.”
She honed her skating skills as a child skating countless laps at the arena in her hometown of Canwood, Sask. The last census had Canwood’s population at 314, so when Willoughby says she grew up in a small town, she really does mean small — but there were advantages to that.
“You had access to the rink all the time, so I would go there for hours and just skate laps,” she said.
Her father Jeff and mother Diana were huge hockey advocates, so there was never any question about spending too much time at the rink.
Her advanced speed was a start, but a willingness to fill a necessary role helped Willoughby lock down a spot on this roster.
“You see the roster and you know how skilled players are and you also know that not every single player on the team can be a skilled goal scorer,” Willoughby said. “I came in with the mindset that I was hoping the coaches would like to have a player on their team who can shut down top lines and play on the penalty kill. I knew I fit that role, so I came in with that mindset — I’m going to do what I’m good at and hope the coaches see that.”
That role, like Cogan’s linemates, could flip, but regardless what they end up playing, both women have already won by just securing a place for themselves in the PWHL.