Cloverdale's Jenn Gardiner is coming home.
A Rookie of the Year award finalist with the Montreal Victoire, Gardiner signed a one-year contract June 5 with Vancouver’s PWHL expansion franchise.
“Simply put, it's a dream come true,” Gardiner said in a press release posted to thepwhl.com. “Ever since I was a little girl on the Surrey Falcons and Greater Vancouver Comets, I have wanted to play professional hockey for my hometown team.”
She’ll skate out for the as-yet-unnamed franchise this fall when play begins for the 2025-2026 PWHL season. The team will play out of the Pacific Coliseum at the PNE.
Gardiner said she was “excited” to help the expansion franchise grow and to “help build a legacy” to inspire other young hockey-playing girls to have big dreams.
“I am thrilled to play in front of my friends and family again,” she added. “The Takeover Tour proved that Vancouver's fans are passionate and loud, but I already knew that. I cannot wait to make them proud. Happy to say I’m coming home.”
Gardiner joins Sarah Nurse, Sophie Jaques, Claire Thompson, and Emerance Maschmeyer as the first five players in team history.
Gardiner, 23, grew up in Cloverdale and went to Lord Tweedsmuir before attending Ohio State University. At OSU she won two national championships, captaining the 2023-24 squad to their second title in three years.
When she signed with Vancouver, she told the Cloverdale Reporter it was "nearly impossible" to contain her excitement.
"Getting to play a game in Rogers Arena on Jan. 8 this past season was a dream come true, but I never would have expected that dream of playing at home to become a reality," she said. "During that game, the entire hockey world was shown how many passionate Canadian West Coast hockey fans there are."
Gardiner added she was "incredibly grateful" to all those who supported her on her hockey journey. She said she was looking forward to sharing her hometown professional experience with all her friends and family members.
"It is so amazing to know that girls from the West Coast can now grow up dreaming to be the PWHL player that they get to watch," she noted. "It's such an honour, as a hometown player from Cloverdale, that I will get to wear the PWHL Vancouver jersey and represent our home province with so much pride. I can’t wait to move back home and get started on our hunt to the Walter Cup next season."
During this past season, Gardiner made her international debut with Canada’s senior team at the Women’s World Hockey Championships held in Czechia, winning a silver there. At world’s, she racked up 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists), which was good for second in tournament scoring behind Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin (12). But Gardiner was the tournament's leading goal scorer, which included a crucial goal to knot the final against the U.S. 2-2. (Team Canada ultimately lost that match in OT 4-3.)
"Although it was not the outcome we had hoped for, and right now I am feeling extremely disappointed, I think that every player in our locker room can confidently say that we gave it everything we had,” she told the Cloverdale Reporter after the loss. “You know a gold medal game against your biggest rival is going to be tight.”
Gardiner said wearing the maple leaf for her country always “sparks something special” in her.
“It reminds you of the little girl inside of yourself who thought playing for Team Canada was only a dream that might never come true,” she explained. “To look around the locker room and know that you are one of twenty-five girls selected for the roster to compete at the world championships is a surreal feeling.”
She said during the tournament she took time to reflect on her hockey journey and how she got to where she is now—success at Ohio State, a member of Team Canada, and a player on Montreal’s PWHL team, the Victoire. She said it took a village to get her there and she’s thankful to every person who was a part of it.
“It’s my first world championship and being one of the youngest on the team, I went into the tournament with the mentality of bringing everything I had to the table and also trying to be a sponge to learn everything I could from the experience,” Gardiner explained. “Honestly, throughout the entire gold medal game, the bench and the building were one of the loudest I have ever heard. We went down by two but it didn’t matter to us because no one lost confidence.”
Gardiner plans to be back in Cloverdale in July and August to see family and friends and to pass on some of her hockey knowledge to younger generations of players.
“I’ll be coaching at various camps in B.C. and trying to enjoy summer as much as I can, going on a few hikes and getting up to my cabin as well,” she noted. “I am not the type to want a big offseason. So, I am sure when the season does come to a close, I'll be back on my skates pretty quickly afterwards to start preparing for the year ahead.”
That year ahead now includes a fresh start on her newly minted hometown team.
Visit thepwhl.com for more info on the upcoming season and the new Vancouver franchise.
