Vancouver GM Cara Gardner Morey’s aggressive mindset has created PWHL championship contender
When an average person takes on a new position, it’s common practice to ease into the job and get a feel for things before making a big splash.
However, there’s nothing common, nor average, about Cara Gardner Morey.
Gardner Morey was named PWHL Vancouver’s first general manager back in May, one of the league’s two newest executives as the PWHL expanded to the Pacific Northwest, giving the league a coast-to-coast footprint. She made the move to British Columbia after establishing herself as one of the better coaches in the college ranks, serving seven seasons as the bench boss at Princeton University.
The Hensall, Ont. native admits it wasn’t an easy decision to leave the program.
“I definitely wasn’t looking to leave,” Gardner Morey said in an exclusive interview with Daily Faceoff. “I wasn’t putting my name out there or anything when [the PWHL] called me….it was like exciting, but I wasn’t looking to leave Princeton. … It was extremely difficult to think about. I had to kind of put that aside and look, basically, what it came down to was the opportunity to help grow this game at the next level.”
During her time at Princeton, Gardner Morey guided the Tigers to the ECAC Championship in 2019-20, and had the pleasure of coaching the likes of current PWHLers Claire Thompson, Maggie Connors (Toronto Sceptres), Mariah Keopple (Seattle) and reigning rookie of the year Sarah Fillier (New York Sirens).
Going from coaching to managing will be a change of pace, Gardner Morey says, but there will be certain aspects of her old role she’ll continue to use in Vancouver.
“The way I manage might be different than others. I do plan on having my face around a lot more just because I think that’s the best part of being a coach. What I loved in my role was the relationships…that’s something that I’m not willing to give up. … The interaction on the ice, that might be tough to give up at first, during the games.”
In her first order of business in Vancouver, Gardner Morey put together a team that could be competitive in its inaugural season. While the roster expansion process rules played in favor of Vancouver and Seattle, Gardner Morey took no prisoners, immediately signing former Minnesota Frost defenders Sophie Jaques and former Princeton star Claire Thompson during the team’s exclusive signing period. Gardner Morey then signed Jenn Gardiner and superstar Sarah Nurse, along with goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer. All of which was accomplished hours after the signing period began.
Coming from the college game, she had experience in recruiting talent, giving her the tools to build a winning team.
“I think people were very surprised by what we did, but it was just that was what I brought from college. Everything happened very quickly, and that’s how we recruit in college. I think when they took five days (in the exclusive signing period) and I was done at noon on the first day, I think they were like, ‘What’s happening?’ To me, it was so familiar.”
Building the right culture for a new franchise is crucial not just for immediate success but also for the team to meet long-term goals. Gardner Morey’s confident she did just that with the core signings.
“Those first five signings for me were culture people. My first priority was, ‘This is a brand new team, a brand new franchise. I need to set the tone and set the culture of what I want to represent Vancouver with.’ We brought in some of the best character people. Those first five players, when you meet them as human beings and you ignore their hockey resume, you’re gonna be like, ‘Wow, these are incredible women.’ They just happen to be some of the best hockey players in the world.”
The big swings didn’t stop there. After the expansion draft, which saw Vancouver pick notable names like Ashton Bell, Abby Boreen and Denisa Křížová, Gardner Morey signed Ottawa Charge leading scorer Tereza Vanisova, bolstering an already stacked forward group. Vancouver then acquired goaltender Kristen Campbell from the Toronto Sceptres on the night of the PWHL Draft, ensuring experienced talent between the pipes.
The aggressive approach Gardner Morey has had, less than two months into her tenure with the league, is unlike what we’ve seen from other GMs around the PWHL. Granted, there has been hesitancy with teams due to evolving rules with trading players, draft picks, and the unknown that was expansion heading into last year’s deadline.
Vancouver’s boss states that her persistence is part of her nature.
“That’s how I would operate in Princeton, also. You know the players you want to bring in, and you talk to them and you talk about your vision, and you get it done. … I feel like learning how to recruit at Princeton over the last 15 years, I’ve done it so many different ways from the beginning towards the end and figuring out what works the best was doing a lot of research beforehand and figuring out like which players we really want.”
Gardner Morey stated that it was an easy pitch to the Canadian talent, having the chance to grow the league in one of the country’s biggest markets. However, she wanted to make sure that she brought in talent that was buying into the team’s goals, on and off the ice.
“I think the big draw for them was being able to put their stamp on a brand new franchise in their home country and be a part of this expansion in Canada,” Gardner Morey relayed. “We still had a lot of conversations and talked about the vision and what kind of role they could play. It’s not really selling, it’s like matching. If they line up with what you want to create in Vancouver and they’re the right players and they’re excited about your vision, then it’s not hard.”
In order to have a full team, you need a coach. Vancouver has that in former St. Cloud State women’s head coach Brian Idalski. Gardner Morey recognizes that there’s a desire to have more female coaches in the game, but with someone with Idalski’s resume, he was the right person for the job.
“Of course, we would like more female coaches. I agree. I would too. I also think that these players deserve the best fit for them as possible. If you can find a woman that’s the best fit, that would be incredible. But as we did the search, Brian emerged as the top candidate for several reasons. He not only understands the game, but he has coached a lot of these players, both in college and at the professional level. … At some point, you have to put gender aside when you’re picking the best (coach), because on the other hand, for equality, we deserve the best coaches and if it happens to be a man, we don’t want to deny them just because he’s male.”
Many believe that, of the eight teams in the PWHL, Vancouver has “won the offseason.” With signing numerous big names and drafting some excellent talent as well, Gardner Morey has put together a team that, on paper, should be contending for the Walter Cup next spring.
Gardner Morey admits it’s a different feeling being considered a favorite, as she much prefers playing the role of a dark horse.
“I wish we weren’t ranked (high). I would prefer being an underdog, and I thought after the original expansion, we were quite considered kind of underdogs. … It was really after the rest of the players decided to sign that it took our program into the spotlight. So, it’s going to be hard to play with that amount of pressure.”
Heading into an already hockey-crazed market in Vancity, Gardner Morey says her group is ready to make an impact in town and become one of the city’s beloved franchises.
“We’re just really excited and ready to put on a great product. The big thing about our team is we really want to become a fabric of the city of Vancouver. That means our players being really intertwined with the city and the city being really connected to us. That’s what you’re going to see.”