Élizabeth Giguère was the first native of the province of La Belle to hear her name. She will continue her career in New York. Jade Downie-Landry and Alexandra Labelle, former Montreal Force members, will follow him there. General manager Pascal Daoust knows the last two particularly well, having met when he was an assistant coach at the University of Quebec.

Giguère had never met her new CEO, but is excited about the idea of ​​starting this chapter in her career. After playing in the PHF in Boston last season, she had just moved to Montreal to play with the Force. However, the league was purchased and dissolved to form the LPHF. She therefore has to leave for the USA.

The Quebec native approaches the idea of ​​a second move in a few months with philosophy. Even though it was “a little difficult for morale,” she and her friend were prepared for this eventuality.

“We can’t wait to find our apartment and stay there, but part of my job is moving. It’s part of the job of a professional. And I feel very comfortable with that! », Giguère added with a laugh.

Overjoyed to be in Montreal

Gabrielle David and Maude Poulin-Labelle had also barely returned home after completing their NCAA collegiate careers and were ready to pack their bags again. However, you can skip this and start looking for an apartment in Montreal.

In fact, the two were selected by the Metropolitan team in the ninth and tenth rounds, respectively. “I was ready to go anywhere, but Montreal definitely had a bigger place in my heart,” Gabrielle David confessed. After four years at Clarkson University in upstate New York, it will be a little shorter for her parents, who live in Drummondville, to see her play.

She will also have the opportunity to reconnect with Marie-Philip Poulin and Ann-Renée Desbiens, among others, whom she recently met at the Canadian team selection camp, her first with the senior club. “Not only are they the best players in the world, they are also good people outside of hockey,” said the forward. They will definitely take care of me and push me at the same time. »

David and Poulin-Labelle are among thirty players who will move directly from university to a major professional league for the first time.

“I dreamed about it often, but it was never concrete in my head,” Gabrielle David confessed.

“I have been preparing to play in Sweden for a long time,” added Maude Poulin-Labelle. It’s just incredible to see yourself in such a beautiful and professional design. It was the girls before us who laid the foundation for this. I consider myself lucky. »

The founding of the league itself excites him, that goes without saying. But also what it has to do with it in everyday life.

An offensive defenseman like her will have the chance to start her professional career “under the wing,” as she calls it, of Erin Ambrose, the national team’s quarterback.

“I’ll be able to practice with her every day,” said the talkative Sherbrooke native.

“This will be extraordinary. Really playing with her, not just a week and a half in training camp. I know I’ll learn a lot faster since she’s here. This is how we will be able to develop further. »

Ann-Sophie Bettez, formerly of the Canadiennes and the Force, completed the trio of Quebec selections from Montreal, which thus counts on a strong contingent with the already acquired presence of Poulin and Desbiens in training.

Audrey-Ann Veillette of the Université de Montréal Carabins was the second-to-last player selected in Monday’s draft. The forward, one of the best players in the Canadian league last year, will join the Ottawa team.