VANCOUVER – UBC Thunderbirds Women's Hockey alumna and former captain
Rylind MacKinnon has made history, earning a spot on the final roster of the Toronto Sceptres. The first Thunderbird to make the opening day roster of a PWHL program, MacKinnon is set to officially begin her professional hockey career as early as this weekend when the Sceptres host the Boston Fleet for their 2024-25 regular season opener.
"There's still some paperwork to come and all that, but it's definitely a big relief," said MacKinnon who has earned her place after a training camp invite. "I'm excited to get moving and to look ahead to the home opener on Saturday."
One of the most impactful athletes in UBC women's hockey history, the Cranbrook, B.C. native helped lead her team to three consecutive Canada West Championships and a U SPORTS bronze medal in 2023.
Twice leading conference scoring by a defender, she closed her career as the team's all-time points leader by a blue liner with 34 goals and 47 assists. A three-time Canada West All-Star and a two-time All-Canadian, she was named the conference's Defender of the Year in 2022. A multiple Academic All-Canadian, MacKinnon served as team captain for her final two seasons.
"On the one hand, I didn't have any doubt because of how dedicated she's been and how hard she's worked over the years and how much of a great teammate, person and athlete she is," said UBC head coach,
Graham Thomas who first recruited MacKinnon to the T-Birds for the 2018-19 season. "I was very confident she was going to make it but you never know. A lot of factors play into these things but when I got the news I was just really excited for her and her family and all the work she's put in and the sacrifices she's made. The fact she was still able to practice with us and train at the start of this season, we feel she's still kind of a part of this team and we're all just really ecstatic for her."
Recognized for her outstanding talent, she was named to the U SPORTS All-Star team competing at Hockey Canada's Development Camp last year and was invited back to the national U-22 summer camp, both of which helped secure her spot on the PWHL's radar.
Overlooked at last year's PWHL draft, MacKinnon was invited to the Sceptres training camp, appearing in both of the team's two pre-season contests. In Toronto's final tune-up game against New York last Friday, MacKinnon had a team-high 23:04 of ice time and added an assist.
"I was obviously hopeful I would get picked and I didn't, but that left everything open and I had more freedom essentially to choose after that," MacKinnon said. "But I had great conversations with Toronto throughout the whole process and I knew if they invited me to their training camp I for sure wanted to attend. I've really enjoyed our communication and what the team stands for. It's worked out well for sure."
The PWHL's second season gets underway this Saturday, November 30 and runs through to the first week of May. The opportunity MacKinnon now has in front of her to forge a path not only for herself but hopefully for many others isn't lost on the UBC graduate.
"It's really special just to know there is a pro women's hockey league now. At the beginning of my university career it was never something to look forward to or to have the ambition of because it didn't exist. It's just really exciting there's just a next level now, that professional level. I'm really excited for the opportunity for myself but also for many players and hopefully generations to come."
"What a great person to be an advocate for U SPORTS, for Canada West and for UBC," Thomas added. "She's set a lot of records here and done a lot of incredible things, so for her to be a pioneer and a trailblazer in this new professional world for women, it's amazing and there couldn't be a better person to do that. It also gives hope to our current players that if Rylind can do it, it sets a path. There's only a handful of U SPORTS players that have played in the league but it's a great motivator for our current team that if she can go and make it at this level and we can watch her on TV, that's encouraging for a lot of our players."
