The Minnesota Frost have selected Sara Swiderski of Langley, British Columbia with their first round pick in the Professional Women’s Hockey League Draft on Wednesday according to Lydia Taylor of Spectrum News 1. What could be considered as most surprising is the fact that Swiderski was the only Canadian selected in the first round. Of the 12 players selected, there were nine Americans and two players from Finland.
Swiderski is a defender who played this past season with the Ohio State Buckeyes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. She had eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points.
Overall, Swiderski played four seasons in the NCAA. She spent two seasons with Clarkson University from 2022 to 2024, and the last two seasons with the Buckeyes. In 148 games of American university hockey, Swiderski had 13 goals and 45 assists for 58 points.
Within the province of British Columbia, Swiderski played two seasons with the Fraser Valley Rush from 2017 to 2019, one season with the Greater Vancouver Comets from 2019 to 2020, and two seasons with the Kelowna U18 Prep Team from 2020 to 2022.
Internationally, Swiderski won a gold medal for Canada at the 2022 Women’s U18 World Hockey Championship in Madison, Wisconsin. Swiderski had two assists in six games, including an assist in Canada’s 3-2 win over the United States in the gold medal game.
