TORONTO — Displaying her knack for shooting to go alongside her defensive game, the Toronto Six have re-signed defender Taylor Woods to a Premier Hockey Federation contract for the 2022-23 season, her third with the franchise.
“I’ve lived in the GTA for 6-7 years and it’s became a home to me,” the defender said. “The Toronto Six has some unfinished business, and I believe we still have more to prove as a team. I feel like I can make the most impact as an athlete and within the hockey sphere being a member of the T6.”
Toronto 6ix Utility, Taylor Woods
Serving as an alternate captain through the regular season, Woods finished Season 7 outputting career-high numbers, registering 17 points on three goals and 14 assists. Those 17 points saw her slot in atop the leaderboard among all PHF defenders during the 2021-22 campaign.
*Check out our interview with Taylor Woods*
Trailing just Mikyla Grant-Mentis for the team lead in assists, she was named as a PHF All-Star
alongside the likes of six other Toronto Six invitees. She also finished as the team’s fourth-highest point leader, while playing on the team’s second pairing with the likes of Saroya Tinker. Adding to her growing list of achievements, which includes back-to-back Isobel Cup playoff runs in the club’s first two years, Woods, across 28 PHF contests, has tallied 23 points, recording seven goals while adding 15 assists.
Woods was among 12 players to sign with the Six from the team’s inaugural 2020-21 roster.
Joined by Elaine Chuli, Shiann Darkangelo, Emma Woods, Brooke Boquist, Breanne Wilson-Bennett, Amy Curlew, Natalie Marcuzzi, Lindsay Eastwood, Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Samantha Ridgewell, and Sarah Steele, the group reached the Isobel Cup Semifinals in Wesley Chapel, where the Six fell 5-1 at the hands of the Boston Pride.
A chippy defender with an eye for the net, Woods embarked on her path to the pro stage after four years of college at Cornell University. In her Senior year, she was named as an alternate after tallying a career high in goals in 2014-15. She also finished the season as the program’s second-highest leading goal scorer. A competitive weightlifter by day, and professional hockey player by night, Woods, through 131 games, compiled 81 points, registering 33 goals, while adding 48 assists.
A seasoned veteran of five professional seasons, the 27-year-old, with the likes of Darkangelo and Chuli, played in the CWHL, where she competed with the Markham Thunder. In her second year with the team, she helped them to a Clarkson Cup championship, defeating the Kunlun Red Star to hoist the coveted Clarkson Cup.
The Morden, MB native adds past experience from the Under-18 Canadian National Women’s Team, where she secured a gold medal at the 2012 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship. With her sights already set on a monumental new chapter for the sport, Woods is excited to lace up her skates again and continue to grow as a player and leading member of the franchise.
“Playing, playing more hockey, practicing, working on skills, and being back with the team,”
she said. “I just want to play. Let’s see the ice again, have some good competition, and just get
to work. That’s what I’m excited for.”
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