The Portland Winterhawks on Thursday made Morgan Stickney the first American to be drafted into the Western Junior Hockey League (WHL).
The Oregon State team selected the 15-year-old goaltender in the 10th round of the WHL Entry Draft. She was selected in the 215th season.
In 2022-23, Stickney, who hails from Manhattan Beach, California, played with the Shattuck St. Mary’s women’s under-16 team. She impressed the Winterhawks with her impressive record of 23-0-3, a .928 save percentage and 1.52 goals against average.
Despite her young age, she is already 1.75 meters tall.
It’s the second time in as many years that a girl has been drafted into Connor Bedard’s league. Last year defenseman Chloe Primerano made history when the Vancouver Giants targeted her for the 268th pick in the auction.
Brothers of Angels
The Winterhawks were also in talks for an earlier selection.
With their first-round pick, they chose Saskatchewan defenseman Griffin Darby.
His older brother Hudson, a 16-year-old forward, was selected by the Portland team in the 2022 draft.
The Darby family got together for the design and the reaction from the two brothers when they found out they would be wearing the same uniform will put a smile on your face.