Credit to The Ice Garden for the header image. Source. Michela Cava
Firstly, as indicated in the title, one of their 9 all-stars,
Michela Cava, departs the team due to contractual obligations to the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays of the 10-team Zhenskaya Hockey League in Russia, or Women’s Hockey League. The Vanke Rays are based in China, and were formerly a part of Canada’s CWHL, before that league folded in 2019. The ZhHL was formed in 2015, in partnership with the KHL and the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia (FHR), which oversees all hockey operations in Russia.
Now, halfway through the ZhHL season, the Vanke Rays have made the decision to call Cava back to China to compete. Shenzhen currently sit fourth in the ZhHL and in a playoff spot.
Head Coach Mark Joslin had this to say about the team’s misfortune, losing Cava:
“Michela Cava is an incredible person, a great teammate, well loved by everybody, coaches and teammates,” said Head Coach Mark Joslin. “We know 100 percent as coaches we will not replace Cava and what she brings to the T6 franchise and to our team, but we’re happy to see her do what she wants to do and live her dream, going to play for the KRS Vanke Rays again in Russia. Like I said, it’s sad when it happens, I can’t be happy about it, but I’m happy for her and we knew what to expect when we signed her.”
Courtney Gardiner
In addition to bringing in Marcuzzi, the Six have added another forward to the roster in order to try to address the loss of Cava.
The team announced that
Courtney Gardiner, currently a senior with York University’s women’s team, will join the team on a professional try-out (PTO) agreement. The Lions’ games for the next two weeks have been postponed, giving Gardiner the opportunity to join the Six on a try-out.
Gardiner has 4 points in 8 games so far this season for the Lions.
Her PTO lasts only until Jan 16, so she’s most likely joining the team as an emergency forward as the team travels to Buffalo for the weekend’s games today and tomorrow.
Sam Ridgewell
She was Toronto’s backup last year in Season 6, getting one start in the regular season and coming in once in relief for
Elaine Chuli in the Isobel Cup semifinal against the Boston Pride. This year, Ridgewell started two games in one weekend as the Six faced the Pride again, getting a solid 2-1 win on the Saturday, but then getting allowing 5 goals in an 8-2 loss in the second game.
Apparently, Ridgewell will slot in as HV71’s starter, after sharing the backup goaltender role with
Tera Hoffman this year. If that’s the case, then the move is an obvious one for Ridgewell.
Hofmann has only played once this year, allowing the other 3 goals in that Boston Pride shellacking mentioned above. But, given her feelings on pineapple on pizza, I’ve got a good feeling about Hofmann’s future with the Six.
Final Thoughts
This altered Six roster will make its debut at 2pm today in the first of two games this weekend against the Buffalo Beauts. They look to continue on their impressive success this season, with a 7-1-1 record and leading the PHF standings.
Tomorrow’s game is also at 2pm. Both games are at home, but fans are not allowed in the building.
You can watch todays game on
ESPN+,
TSN Direct, or on cable on TSN4. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that a Toronto Six game will be aired live on cable in Canada. Last year’s Isobel Cup semi final was aired on NBC Sports in the US.