{"id":356927,"date":"2026-06-11T23:02:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/356927\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T23:02:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:02:37","slug":"expansion-san-jose-womens-pro-hockey-team-quickly-putting-its-team-together-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/356927\/","title":{"rendered":"Expansion San Jose women’s pro hockey team quickly putting its team together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just under a month after being announced as a franchise<\/a>, San Jose\u2019s professional women\u2019s hockey expansion team has its foundation.<\/p>\n

General manager and head coach Troy Ryan<\/a> signed five players over the weekend in the second phase of the Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League\u2019s expansion team-building process<\/a>. Next up is free agency, when each of the four PWHL expansion clubs can sign up to three more players.<\/p>\n

In phase two, Ryan started from the net out with veteran goalie Corinne Schroeder<\/a>, defender Rory Guilday and forwards Maddi Wheeler, Kristin O\u2019Neill and Anne Cherkowski.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo get Schroeder at this point was really really important,\u201d Ryan said in a call with reporters on Tuesday. \u201cShe\u2019s had a successful career and been a number one goalie on two teams. We\u2019re confident we can surround her with a team that gives her a career year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Canada<\/a>Canada head coach Troy Ryan, top center, watches a replay during the second period of a women\u2019s ice hockey semifinal match against Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Carolyn Kaster)<\/p>\n

The league\u2019s 2026-27 schedule is yet to be announced but is expected to begin in December, with a training camp taking place in November. Teams can have 23 total players on their rosters.<\/p>\n

Ryan said he has\u00a0 \u201cenjoyed\u201d the process that was \u201cdifferent\u201d from any experience he has had building teams in the past.<\/p>\n

Ryan is known as a defensive-minded coach from his previous PWHL club in Toronto and with the Canadian women\u2019s national team. He appears to have kept to form with some of San Jose\u2019s initial signees, but also is on the lookout for some potential star power for the new fanbase.<\/p>\n

.\u201cThis is something where you could set someone up for the opportunity to be the face of a franchise, or give the opportunity to see what unfolds,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have some really good athletes and players and I am curious to see who rises above to make a quick connection with the Bay Area.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bay Area has one of the smallest hockey markets of any of the other teams that have joined the PWHL with no college hockey teams and no history of pro women\u2019s hockey. But players were encouraged by how the audience has embraced local women\u2019s sports teams.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the support of the WNBA\u2019s Golden State Valkyries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to represent the Bay Area,\u201d O\u2019Nelil said. \u201cThe appetite is real in the area and it\u2019s exciting to grow hockey in this area. The people and area deserves this and women\u2019s sports are growing exponentially and I\u2019m looking forward to representing these fans in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan has a history with some of the recent additions. He coached the 28-year-old O\u2019Neill with Team Canada, where she scored three goals in the Milan Olympics. He coached against Guilday when Canada faced the U.S. national team, and says he\u2019s eager to give the young defender an expanded role.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my conversations with Troy early on emphasized building a good culture for the team,\u201d said Wheeler, who played for Ryan on Team Canada.. \u201cSomebody like Kristin getting an (expansion offer) from Troy shows the kind of culture he wants to build. I really respect her a ton as a leader and player. Knowing how much Troy values leadership, the discussions of what we want San Jose to represent, that was comforting to know that was the direction Troy wanted for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

All five players have experience either with their PWHL, college or national teams as a role player. Ryan believed each of them could contribute more with more ice time.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill is one of the best two-way players in the game but might need to contribute more offensively for a team that is yet to lock in any true firepower. Wheeler, a two-way forward picked from the New York Sirens\u2019 roster, is also primed for a breakout offensive campaign.<\/p>\n

Cherkowski, 23, a teammate with Wheeler and O\u2019Neill with the Sirens, could get a chance to excel with more playing time. She averaged 18:41 of ice time last season and scored just two goals after a prolific collegiate career at Clarkson University in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn expansion you get players who can play a more meaningful role, but with expansion the opportunity is to play more,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to predict what that looks like and take the best talent you can with their given opportunity, do you believe the ceiling is high? We believed it was with these players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan said the connecting thread between the signings was \u201ctheir desire to be in San Jose\u201d and be ready to contribute now. He probably needs some more scoring and another strong defender alongside Guilday, but the foundation is in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to build a successful team,\u201d he said. \u201cAll the players we brought in want in on that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just under a month after being announced as a franchise, San Jose\u2019s professional women\u2019s hockey expansion team has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[7,1471,404,266,88,90,89,98,198,127],"class_list":["post-356927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-california","tag-central-coast","tag-nhl","tag-northern-california","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}