Woods a two sport titan

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This article was published 30/03/2023 (1163 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Toronto Six was trailing 3-2 midway through the third period of last Sunday’s Premier Hockey Federation championship game in Tempe, Ariz., and Taylor Woods knew her moment had come.

Her reaction was perfect.

Woods’ Toronto teammate, Michela Cava, had just intercepted a pass just inside the Minnesota zone and bolted to the middle of the ice, backhanding a shot at the Whitecaps net. A rebound squirted out and Woods, a 28-year-old blue-liner from Morden, pounced on the opportunity and jammed the puck past goaltender Amanda Leveille.

“As soon as Cava turned over the puck, I knew, ‘OK, I’ve gotta get back door because there’s going to be some sort of rebound coming out of this,’” said Woods on Thursday, explaining her decision to crash the net. “Obviously, goalies kick out rebounds to that far side and I’ve just gotta make sure that I’m patient coming through on the backside and it worked out and it went in.”

Woods’ marker forced overtime, setting the stage for teammate Tereza Vanišová’s game-winner.

It wasn’t the first title for Woods, who played for the Esso Cup U18 champions at Notre Dame in 2011, Canada’s U18 world champs in 2012 and a Clarkson Cup winner with the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s Markham Thunder in 2018.

While her exploits on the ice are more well known, Woods’ career as a dual-sport athlete is just getting started.

Earlier this month, she earned a gold medal in the under-64 kilogram division at the Arnold Amateur Strongwoman World Championships in Columbus, Ohio.

A year earlier, she finished third at the AASWC, a seven-discipline competition. At the most recent event, Woods registered a farmer’s walk of 26.03 seconds, 17 viking press reps, 18.46 seconds on the arm-over-arm pulls, five in 37.99 seconds during the loading race, a 48-kilogram dumbbell press, 16 Ukrainian deadlift reps and 52.95 seconds on the power stairs.

In 2021, just months after taking up the sport during the pandemic shutdown, Woods won a national strongwoman championship in her weight class.

Woods, who acts as her own strength coach, said the benefits of her gym workouts are adaptable to hockey.

“I’ve found even over the last two years, my power output, power capacity and overall stability — for example, just being sturdy in the corner, sturdy with the puck, being just a menace in front of the net — have all improved because of the additions of strongman training,” she said.

“My shot has improved a lot in terms of power. I’ll be working a little more on getting more speed and quickness. I’ve noticed (improvement in) my capacity to increase neurological functioning… and being able to make decisions quicker.”

Kati Tabin, a Toronto teammate for the first time in 2022-23, said the 5-3 Woods’ physical presence is remarkable.

“She’s an absolute beast out there,” said Tabin, a Winnipegger. “There’s no one that’s gonna knock her over unless she just catches an edge by accident. And she’s so quick and her shot’s unreal.”

However, for a woman in pro hockey and a strongwoman competitor (Woods has also reached professional status in the latter), it’s not yet a lucrative career combination.

Players in the PHF make between US$13,500 and US$80,000 per season, so Woods, like most of her teammates, must diversify their income streams. Between on-ice tutoring sessions for individuals and groups, serving as a hockey analyst on the Fired Up online network and supervising gym workouts for strongman/strongwoman athletes, the Burlington, Ont.,-based Woods is able to make ends meet while also completing online studies for a Masters of Science degree.

“This year, I was very grateful that I was able to do two sports and make the connections that I could, but right now quote-unquote professionalism and being a strongwoman, it’s more like you’re just going to competitions, you represent, you support the community, you provide training to athletes, you provide tips to athletes and you do seminars,” said Woods, who has a B.Sc. in Science from Cornell University, the Ivy League school where she played hockey for four years.

“I still want to play hockey and for me competing at a pro show means I’m up against people that were at least at 80 pounds heavier than I was. I’m very athletic at this body type right now, doing just the different athletic endeavors I’m doing, especially like with hockey. So, I like sort of being where I’m at.”

Woods played forward for much of her college career but seventually transitioned to defence. Her role as a pro has been as a stay-at-home defender; Woods’ only goal in 26 games came in Sunday’s final.

“I think she had pretty good (scoring) chances but honestly, it’s a tough game out there. especially being a D,” said Tabin. “But I mean, she scored the biggest goal of our season this year, so that’s all that matters.”

Woods, who was on a one-year pro contract, is a pending free agent. Toronto has the right to make first contact during negotiations beginning April 3. The league’s other six clubs can reach out to unsigned players starting on April 11.

Woods expects the growth of the women’s pro game in the last year will continue, particularly with the rival Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association expected to ramp up its operations this fall.

“I think the PWHPA is going to announce that they’re going to form a league this year and their site cities, whether that’s going to be four or six (teams) — four is going to be too small so I think it’s going to be six,” said Woods. “I’m also anticipating seven out of the PHF — I know they were wanting an eighth team — so I’m not sure how that’s going but let’s just say there’s going to be 13 to 14 teams of at least 20 players on it.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca