Sydney Bard couldn’t help but be a little bit star-struck as she looked around the Boston Fleet’s locker room last season.
Sitting just stalls away from the rookie defender were some of the biggest names in women’s hockey — Hilary Knight. Jamie Lee Rattray. Aerin Frankel.
What impressed Bard wasn’t their stickhandling, scoring prowess or ten-bell saves. It was how the veteran stars connected with their teammates.
“You’re in the same locker room as your idols, and seeing how they just want to be a human first, and they put the person before the player, that was really, really special,” she said.
It’s a lesson the 24-year-old Bard is looking to take with her as she heads into her second season in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
This time around, she won’t be in Boston but in Vancouver, playing for one of the league’s two new expansion teams.
The change is a major one for Bard, who’s always called the East Coast home.
Raised in New Hartford, N.Y., she chose nearby Colgate for University, then joined the Fleet to launch her pro career.
Over 27 games, the five-foot-three athlete used her speed and energy to not only defend, but contribute a goal and three assists. Boston’s season ended with a disappointing 8-1 loss to the eventual Walter Cup-winning Minnesota Frost.
“We missed playoffs by a point and it came down to the wire,” Bard said. “The last game wasn’t our best, so that kind of was just a bittersweet feeling, not doing it for the people next to you, even though we were so close and connected.
“It definitely makes me hungrier for this year and wanting to put together a team that we’re so excited every day to be at the rink together.”
Many players around the league finished the season with a sense of anxiety, not knowing how the looming expansion process would impact their future.
New teams in Vancouver and Seattle would have ample opportunity to poach top talent, but who would land where?
“It was kind of shocking for everyone,” Bard said. “We knew that there was going to be a huge change, and every team was kind of shook, I think. But I think it’s so exciting for this league and for the opportunities that girls will have and for these new markets to see women’s hockey come to life, and just kind of reach out in all areas of the country and Canada as well.”
Bard watched June’s expansion draft in her Boston apartment with her puppy, Lucy, a miniature Bernadoodle. As names were called, she texted some Fleet teammates and FaceTimed her girlfriend, who was away on a work trip.
“There’s like, excited nerves, I think, around the whole thing. And just you kind of hold your breath till the end, because you have no idea,” Bard said. “I just knew there was a chance that I could get picked. I didn’t know. And anywhere, I’d just be so excited and grateful for a new chapter.”
When her name was finally called with Vancouver’s seventh and final pick in the draft, the emotion that hit Bard hardest was shock.
“You get anxious, or you just don’t know what to expect. I think the unknown is hard,” she said. “But it only took a little bit for me to be like, ‘This is such an amazing opportunity.’
“I think we can do something really special here in Vancouver, in the inaugural season. And just to be a part of something for the first time ever, you don’t really have that chance in your life.”
Bard joins a Vancouver side stacked with big names, including former Toronto Sceptres forward Sarah Nurse, Montreal Victoire forward Jenn Gardiner and Ottawa Charge goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer.
It’s a group Bard is eager to be a part of, especially as she begins to get to know her new teammates.
“I’m so grateful to be part of this team. I think we have so many amazing players on paper, but I think even more incredible people,” she said. “It just seems like every single person in that locker room cares about the culture first.
“And I think that’s a huge piece. When you have such a long season, you’re trying to achieve something that not a lot of people get to achieve. And I think the culture part is huge. So just being surrounded by good people, I think, is the most important part.”
Moving more than 4,000 kilometres west is sure to bring a variety of changes, though.
Bard and her girlfriend flew to Vancouver this week to scope out some neighbourhoods and get a taste of their new home.
“It’s going to be so different than what I’m used to. I grew up being on the East Coast, around my family and having to support my family and friends,” Bard said at a coffee shop near Kitsilano Beach.
“But I think even if they’re not necessarily there at games, they’re always with me. So I know they’ll be cheering from afar. Even though the games are three hours later, they’ll still be up watching and supporting.”
