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Tyler Way will join the squad after playing for the Bluewater Junior Hawks in Ontario’s Provincial Women’s Hockey League the last two seasons. The London, Ont., native visited UPEI with her family last summer.
“Although UPEI is far from home, the minute I stepped foot on campus, it felt like home to me,” said Way. “UPEI is the perfect mix of athletics and academics, making it the ideal place to enjoy my love for hockey and the sciences. I am very excited to start my journey as a Panther.”
The five-foot-seven, 150-pound forward had four goals and four assists for eight points in 32 games last season as the Hawks finished 10th in the 20-team circuit.
“She’s very quick and strong on the puck,’’ UPEI head coach Bruce Donaldson said. “She’s going to certainly add some speed and strength and her defensive game is very sound.”
He saw her play in Stoney Creek, Ont., in September and again at the end of the season in Mississauga, Ont. Donaldson said he saw a difference in her offensive game from the beginning of the year to the end.
“She sees the ice well, moves the puck well and doesn't might playing on the off-wing.”
Way has played both on the power play and penalty-killing unit and Donaldson said with her speed and compete level she could step right into the lineup.
Way was eight years old when she joined the London Devilettes hockey association. She played eight seasons there, winning multiple provincial and Lower Lakes titles.
She was also captain of the St. Thomas Aquinas High School varsity hockey team.
Way is the third new player the Panthers have announced for the 2017-18 season. Camille Scherger, a goalie from Lloydminster, Alta., and Shelby Foran, a forward from Miramichi, N.B., were the first two. Donaldson said he has other players committed who will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Panthers (14-9-1) finished fourth in the Atlantic University Sport regular season in 2016-17. They lost 2-0 to Moncton in the best-of-three first-round series with both games decided by a goal.
Goalie Marie Soleil Deschenes, captain Kiana Strand, Teagan Pringle and Cornelia Geib all played their final season with the Panthers while defenceman Emma Martin is returning for her fifth year and will be the team’s captain.
