The PWHL has hired longtime Princeton women’s hockey coach Cara Gardner Morey as the general manager of its expansion franchise in Vancouver, the league announced Friday afternoon.

Gardner Morey spent the last 14 years at Princeton, including eight as head coach of the Tigers. The decision comes one month after the PWHL announced it would expand to Vancouver for the 2025-26 season.

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The team, which will go by PWHL Vancouver until an official name is revealed, will play at Pacific Coliseum, the former home of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.

“I’m incredibly honored to step into the role of General Manager and lead the PWHL team in Vancouver,” Gardner Morey said in a statement. “It’s a privilege to help bring the best women’s hockey to one of the greatest cities in the world. We’ll build a team that reflects Vancouver’s passionate spirit — one that competes for the Walter Cup and becomes part of the city’s fabric. I can’t wait to get started.”

 

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At Princeton, Gardner Morey recruited and coached some of the PWHL’s top players, such as 2024 first-overall pick Sarah Fillier and Minnesota defender Claire Thompson. Gardner Morey has held coaching roles with Hockey Canada at the U18, development and senior national team levels, and she has served as a development camp coach with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers for the past four years.

“Cara brings exceptional experience at all levels of the game, a deep understanding of player development, and an unwavering passion for advancing women’s sports,” Jayna Hefford, PWHL executive vice president of hockey operations, said. “Her track record at Princeton speaks for itself — instilling a strong culture, recruiting top talent, developing elite athletes, and winning championships. Cara becoming General Manager of PWHL Vancouver is a powerful addition to our league.”

In her new role, Morey will build Vancouver’s roster from scratch, starting in earnest on June 4, when a five-day signing window opens for expansion teams to negotiate with free agents or players who have been left unprotected by their current teams.

With all six current PWHL teams, the two expansion franchises, as well as the league itself, owned by Mark Walter — the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers — and his wife, Kimbra, all front office hirings for the teams are conducted by the league.

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Each of the PWHL’s six existing teams will submit a list of up to three players protected from selection during the signing window and the expansion draft. Those initial lists are due June 3 at noon ET. Once teams lose two players, they will be permitted to protect one additional player, increasing their protected list to four.

The expansion draft will be held on June 9.

At the draft, Vancouver and Seattle, which will also join the league in 2025-26, will each select at least seven players until both teams have reached a 12-player roster. If one team enters the expansion draft with fewer signed players from the signing window, it will be granted additional selections to reach 12. The order in which teams make their selections will be determined later.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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