Taylor Woods

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Taylor Woods
Personal information
NationalityCanadian
Born (1994-09-26) September 26, 1994 (age 29)
Morden, Manitoba, Canada
EducationCornell University
Height160 cm (5 ft 3 in)
Ice hockey career
Position Forward
Shoots Right
PHF team
Former teams
Brampton Thunder
  • Cornell Big Red
  • Playing career 2012–present
    Sport
    SportStrongwoman
    Weight classUnder-64 kg
    Medal record
    Strongwoman
    Representing  Canada
    Arnold Amateur Strongwoman
    World Championship
    1st 2023 Columbus U64KG
    3rd 2022 Columbus U64KG

    Taylor Cassidy Woods (born September 26, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and strongwoman, currently playing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Toronto Six. A defenceman who has also played as a two-way forward, she is both a Clarkson Cup champion and an Isobel Cup champion.

    Playing career

    Woods began playing in the

    high school freshman with the Notre Dame Hounds of Athol Murray College of Notre Dame. She was the team’s top point scorer in her first season, notching 23 points in 28 games, and was a top-three point scorer on the team in the following two seasons. With the Hounds, Woods won gold at the 2011 Esso Cup, Canada’s national women's midget hockey championship, in addition to setting a tournament record with 12 assists.[1][2]

    During her senior year, 2011–12, she played in the Junior Women's Hockey League (JWHL) with the Balmoral Hall Blazers of Balmoral Hall School and set a team record for assists in a season, with 41 assists in 30 games.

    NCAA

    Woods joined the

    NCAA season. She scored in her first game with the university, finishing her rookie year with 22 points, good for third on the team in goals, including a hat-trick in the ECAC Hockey Tournament Semifinal.[3] For her third year with the university, she switched positions to play as a defenceman, before moving back to forward for her senior season. She finished her time at Cornell with 81 points in 131 games and remains the sixth leading all-time short handed scorer for the team.[4]

    Professional

    Woods was drafted 23rd overall by the

    Brampton Thunder in the 2016 CWHL Draft and signed with the team ahead of the 2016–17 season.[5] The team moved from Brampton to Markham, Ontario and were renamed the Markham Thunder in 2017. Woods stuck with the team through the move and won the Clarkson Cup, the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) championship trophy, with the Thunder in 2018
    .

    The 2018–19 season was her third with the Thunder. Though she didn’t know it at the time, she scored the last regular season goal in league history as the CWHL collapsed in May 2019.

    In May 2019, she joined the newly formed Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), which emerged following the collapse of the CWHL. During the 2019–20 PWHPA Dream Gap Tour, she played for Team Johnston at the Unifor Women's Hockey Showcase in September 2019 and for Team Spooner at the Secret Women's Hockey Showcase in January 2020.[6]

    She opted to part ways with the PWHPA in April 2020 and signed with the

    alternate captain.[7][8] Her first NWHL goal was scored on January 24, 2021 versus the Minnesota Whitecaps and she scored a total of 4 goals in the six game regular season, shorted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

    Woods resigned with the Six for the 2021–22 PHF season and had the most offensively productive season of her professional career, scoring 3 goals and 14 assists for 17 points in twenty games.

    International

    Medal record
    Representing  Canada
    Women's ice hockey
    World U18 Championship
    Gold medal – first place 2012 Czech Republic

    Woods competed as member of Team Canada at the 2012 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship.[10] She joined a roster filled with other future hockey stars, including Cayley Mercer, Laura Stacey, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, and future Toronto Six teammate Elaine Chuli.[11] Woods scored Canada’s opening goal of the tournament, in their match against Switzerland, and was named best player of the game by the team.[12] She finished the tournament with three goals and three assists and her performance helped Team Canada sweep the tournament and win gold that year.[13]

    Strongwoman career

    Woods placed first in the under-64 kg (141 lb) weight category of the 2023 Arnold Amateur Strongwoman World Championship at the Arnold Sports Festival.[14]

    Career statistics

    Regular season and playoffs

       
    Regular season
      Playoffs
    Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
    2008-09 Notre Dame Hounds SFMAAAHL 28 14 9 23 9 1 5 6 4
    2009-10 Notre Dame Hounds SFMAAAHL 28 19 25 44 8 9 9 11 20 8
    2010-11 Notre Dame Hounds SFMAAAHL 28 22 32 54 14 9 11 13 24 12
    2011-12 Balmoral Hall Blazers JWHL 30 21 41 62 2
    2012-13 Cornell Big Red NCAA 33 11 11 22 32
    2013-14 Cornell Big Red NCAA 34 9 13 22 27
    2014 -15 Cornell Big Red NCAA 33 4 16 20 22
    2015-16 Cornell Big Red NCAA 31 9 8 17 16
    2016-17
    Brampton Thunder
    CWHL 20 0 4 4 6
    2017-18 Markham Thunder CWHL 28 4 1 5 18 3 0 0 0 0
    2018-19 Markham Thunder CWHL 26 2 3 5 12 3 0 0 0 0
    2019-20 GTA West PWHPA
    2020-21 Toronto Six NWHL 6 4 1 5 10 1 0 0 0 0
    2021-22 Toronto Six PHF 20 3 14 17 12 1 0 1 1 0
    2022-23 Toronto Six PHF 22 0 3 3 8 4 1 0 1 0
    NCAA totals 131 33 48 81 97
    CWHL totals 74 6 8 14 36 6 0 0 0 0
    PHF totals 48 7 18 25 30 6 1 1 2 0

    International

    Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
    2012 Canada
    WJC
    1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 3 3 6 0

    Awards and honors

    Award Year
    Hockey Canada
    Esso Cup Gold Medal 2011
    International
    World U18
    Gold Medal
    2012
    Cornell Big Red
    ECAC Rookie of the Week November 20, 2012[15]
    ECAC All-Tournament Team 2013
    All-Ivy Second Team 2016[16]
    CWHL
    Clarkson Cup Champion 2018
    PHF
    Isobel Cup Champion 2023

    References

    1. ^ Graves, Wendy (March 30, 2015). "Winning Esso: Notre Dame Hounds (2011)". Hockey Canada. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
    2. ^ "Coupe Esso Cup – 2017 Guide and Record Book / Guide et livre des records 2017" (PDF). Hockey Canada. 2017. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
    3. ^ Kantor, Jack (August 24, 2016). "Cassandra Poudrier '16 and Taylor Woods '16 Selected in CWHL Draft". The Cornell Daily Sun. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
    4. ^ "2015–16 Women's Ice Hockey Roster: #6 Taylor Woods". Cornell University Athletics. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
    5. ^ Staffieri, Mark (December 15, 2017). "Markham Thunder Feature Versatile Talent in Taylor Woods". Women's Hockey Life. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
    6. ^ Staffieri, Mark (December 9, 2019). "PWHPA Spotlight: Dream Gap Tour | Toronto Unifor Showcase Recap". Women's Hockey Life. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
    7. ^ Murphy, Mike (May 22, 2020). "Toronto's offense already looks dangerous". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
    8. ^ Spencer, Donna (August 22, 2020). "NWHL confirms plans to expand into Toronto". Sportsnet. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
    9. ^ "Away Whitecaps vs Home Toronto Jan 24, 2021 at 1:00pm EST at: Herb Brooks Arena - 6 – 5 FINAL SO". March 3, 2021. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
    10. ^ Graves, Wendy (August 24, 2016). "In a league of their own". Hockey Canada. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
    11. ^ Book, Jared (March 7, 2019). "'You take away the gold medal and you have that forever': A look back at Canada's 2012 Women's Under-18 team". Eyes On The Prize. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
    12. ^ "IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship – Best Players per Game" (PDF). stats.iihf.com. International Ice Hockey Association. January 7, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
    13. ^ Lipscombe, Kristen (April 27, 2012). "A Taylor Made Recipe for Success Notre Dame Alumnae Joins Exclusive Group As World and National Champion". Hockey Canada. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
    14. ^ Blechman, Phil (March 7, 2023). "2023 Arnold Amateur Strongman and Strongwoman Championships Results". BarBend. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
    15. ^ "2012–13 ECAC Women's Weekly Awards" (PDF). ECAC Hockey. November 20, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
    16. ^ "Women's Ice Hockey All-Ivy, Postseason Awards Announced". The Ivy League. February 25, 2016. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.

    External links