London, Ont., native Nicole Gosling is celebrating a remarkable rookie season. The 24-year-old defender helped her team, the Montreal Victoire, clinch the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) championship by defeating the Ottawa Charge 4-0 in Game 4 of the Walter Cup finals on May 20. This victory marks the first time a Canadian team has won the title in the league\u2019s three-season history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just an experience that is one of its own to win that Walter Cup,\u201d Gosling said. \u201cIf every year\u2019s like this, then sign me up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gosling\u2019s impressive debut season earned her a spot as a finalist for PWHL Rookie of the Year, along with Casey O\u2019Brien of the New York Sirens and Haley Winn of the Boston Fleet. She tied for second in rookie scoring with 19 points in 30 games.<\/p>\n
Her key to success? Confidence. \u201cI think just being confident [and] gaining confidence throughout the season,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
Gosling emphasized that the award is a reflection of her team\u2019s support. \u201cHonestly, if I didn\u2019t have my teammates, I wouldn\u2019t be up for that. They supported me all year. They helped me get to where I was playing by the end of the year, which I\u2019m very thankful for. First year as a pro, you never know how you\u2019re gonna translate out of college.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the season, Gosling\u2019s strong support network, including family, teammates, coaches, and staff, helped her feel confident and comfortable. \u201cI think that\u2019s just what helped me thrive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Walter Cup win felt even more special knowing the team remained intact all year without any trades. \u201cWe were all together in this, and just being able to throw those gloves up and celebrate with each other was surreal,\u201d Gosling reflected.<\/p>\n
As the PWHL\u2019s new expansion teams in Hamilton, Detroit, San Jose, and Las Vegas begin signing players, Gosling is taking things day by day. Though she hopes to stay in Montreal, she recognizes that her future is uncertain. Gosling is not one of the three protected players on the Montreal roster, so she could be moving to a new city next season.<\/p>\n
Montreal remains a \u201cgreat hockey city,\u201d she said, praising the fans for their unwavering energy. \u201cThey bring us so much momentum. They cheer for everything, no matter if it\u2019s just a chance, starting up, heading down the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a memorable championship run already under her belt, Nicole Gosling is poised for an exciting future in professional hockey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London, Ont., native Nicole Gosling is celebrating a remarkable rookie season. The 24-year-old defender helped her team, the Montreal Victoire, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","description":"","custom_seo_keywords":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ice-hockey"],"yoast_head":"\n