About two months after her dramatic goal helped Team Canada secure a gold medal at the women’s world hockey championship, Danielle Serdachny has fulfilled another goal: being drafted by a Professional Women’s Hockey League club.
The 23-year-old forward from Edmonton was selected by Ottawa with that club’s second overall pick at the PWHL Draft in St. Paul, Minn., on Monday.
“Grateful and so excited for the opportunity!” Serdachny posted on social media after the selection was made. “Thank you.”
Serdachny was one of three Canadian players selected with the first three picks in the draft: Ontario’s Sarah Fillier and Claire Thompson were taken first overall and third overall.
Serdachny had been playing hockey at Colgate University in New York. The Canadian team she was a part of at the world hockey championship in the spring saw her win her first gold medal with the country’s senior national team.
In an interview with Global News a few days after the gold medal game, Serdachny spoke about her professional hockey ambitions and her desire to play in the PWHL, a league that saw its first-ever game be played just months ago and which has received significant attention for the level of play it features and for how many fans it has been able to attract to its hockey games.
“How they’ve been able to inspire and grow is just so special,” Serdachny said in April.
“If I was able to hear my name called and potentially play in that league, I think that would be a great opportunity and something I’d really look forward to.”
Ottawa narrowly missed the playoffs in the inaugural PWHL season.