All of these individual stories are part of a bigger project highlighting Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey alumnae in the PWHL. For information about the individual teams click here. The articles reflect the 2025-26 season rosters.
MONTREAL VICTOIRE
Montreal Victoire is one of the six inaugural PWHL teams, based in Laval, Quebec. The Victoire won the regular season championship last season, but ultimately fell to the Ottawa Charge in the postseason.
Three former Bobcats play for Montreal right now: defender Kati Tabin ‘20, forward Shiann Darkangelo ‘15 and forward Maya Labad ‘25.
Tabin was the first Bobcat to ever be drafted into the PWHL, as the 30th overall pick by Montreal.
“First of all I didn’t even know that,” Tabin laughed. “That’s pretty cool. I was just praying that I got selected and I had somewhere to play. I didn’t end up going to the draft because I didn’t really know if I was going to get taken and I didn’t want to be embarrassed and get my hopes up. I sat on the couch, watched it on the TV, ordered some Uber Eats. Then my name was picked, my mom was upstairs at the time and I was like, ‘Holy shit, they just called my name!’”
In her four years with the Bobcats, Tabin recorded 161 blocked shots and 62 points, serving as captain during her senior year.
“She is such a wonderful skater, so explosive and she could create time and space for herself,” Quinnipiac ice hockey’s head coach Cass Turner said. “As she progressed through her career, she really found her footing in terms of herself as a leader. We’re incredibly proud of her and she made a really big impact in our program.”
The Winnipeg, Manitoba native is also the first Quinnipiac player to appear in the Rivalry Series, representing Team Canada.
While not the only reason, Tabin credits Turner in her decision to choose Quinnipiac for her collegiate career, as she never felt that her other coaches challenged her enough until she met Turner. And also, “the view from the rink was super cool.”
Tabin was a great addition to the team not only on the ice but also as a part of the team. Under her leadership, the team won its first Nutmeg Classic in its following four-win run.
“If there was fun, Kati was there and she was making sure it was happening,” Turner laughed. “She was definitely somebody who was always involved in making sure that the team is doing well and having fun together.”
When Tabin graduated, the PWHL was still three years out, but that did not stop her from pursuing the professional route. She suited up for the Connecticut Whale in the Premier Hockey Federation before playing for the Toronto Six, in its final season, alongside three other former Bobcats.
Since the inaugural draft, Tabin has been an integral part of the Victoire, playing in 52 games in the past two seasons, with five goals and nine assists.
In Montreal’s 4-0 home opening win against the New York Sirens on Nov. 25, Tabin posted two assists.
While she did not have the chance to play with the former Bobcats that share the ice with her this season, Tabin was excited to meet them.
“Talking with different Bobcats around the league, I think we just understand the game a little different based on our experience at Quinnipiac,” Tabin said. “We just want more, we just want to continue to get better and know that we have kind of more to give.”
Tabin has a goal and four assists to her name as of Jan. 20. She was also selected to be a part of Team Canada’s Olympics roster in the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina.
Joining her as part of the offensive line-up is Darkangelo, who is in her first season with the Victorie after playing for the Boston Fleet and the Ottawa Charge the past two seasons, respectively.
Before becoming a Bobcat, Darkangelo spent two years at Syracuse University, citing Quinnipiac’s attention to details and systems as one of the reasons behind her decision to transfer.
“I would say that’s something that’s stuck with me throughout my career and people have said that they appreciate that about my game,” Darkangelo said.
When she first committed, she was supposed to join the women’s lacrosse team as well, as she played multiple sports since childhood, being inspired by her five siblings.
“When you’re an athlete, it’s fun to play different sports right?” Darkangelo said. “I did think about playing it again after.”
She eventually decided against it, since she was playing hockey on a scholarship, and after graduating she didn’t want to risk an injury after signing with the national team, securing a gold medal for USA at the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
Darkangelo recorded eight seasons of professional hockey before the PWHL was even in consideration. After her time with the national team, she played for Buffalo in the NWHL in 2016, which wasn’t sustainable as their pay got cut halfway through the season.
“There was a period of time where I was like ‘Oh gosh the league’s not gonna survive, what’s gonna happen?’” Darkangelo said. “I got cut from the 2018 Olympic team. And then I got a phone call to go to China.”
She played for the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s Chinese team for a year before coming back to Canada, landing in Toronto.
In China, players were paid a proper salary, something that the U.S. and Canada just weren’t. Once Darkangelo came back, she was forced to pick up a remote corporate job on top of hockey, before being invited to play for PHF’s Toronto Six, becoming the first and only captain of the team.
In 2023, Darkangelo was drafted by the Boston Fleet from the 70th pick in round 12.
“It was a lot of unknowns, uncertainty,” Darkangelo said. “It definitely felt weird because there was a lot of tension but I think it’s exciting, the growth is much better for those girls that are in college now.”
Unlike most of the players in that first season, Darkangelo was not a stranger to playing in front of large crowds. Still, her first game for the Fleet was extremely emotional — some good and some bad.
“We were in one league that got folded, bought out by this, there was some resentment like, is this gonna work?” Darkangelo said. “Is this why? But as the games got traction, it was so cool to see 5,000 or more fans per game. I think that;s what everybody wanted at the end of the day, you want to play against the best and you want to beat the best and that’s what happened.”
Even though she is now 10 years removed from graduating, Darkangelo never really left the Bobcats, considering every team she’s ever played on had someone from Quinnipiac on it.
“I feel like we always joke about it,” Darkangelo laughed. “It’s happened multiple times with multiple people and it’s kind of cool because there’s a lot of us and I think that says something to the type of people Quinnipiac recruits.”
Darkangelo netted two goals and one assist on the season as of Jan. 20.
While Darkangelo and Tabin shared the ice before, this will be both of their first times playing alongside former Bobcat, Maya Labad.
Labad was drafted in the 2025 PWHL draft in round five from the 36th spot by her hometown team, Montreal.
“It meant so much to me,” Labad said. “It means that I will be close to home again after being away for six years and it’s nice to be back. It’s going to be fun to play in front of my family and people who surround me.”
Labad played four seasons in Hamden, recording 98 points with 51 goals.
“Maya is such an athlete, she’s fast and she can finish, she gets her chances and she can bury it,” Turner said. “Her size and her strength really helps her to be able to win pucks back quickly and she grew throughout her time at Quinnipiac. She definitely is the type of player that I could see filling any role that Montreal needs this year.”
Labad knew Quinnipiac was the place for her as soon as she visited, as “my gut told me to go to Quinnipiac, it felt like home.”
After surviving preseason and earning her spot on the roster, Labad has played four games for the Victoire so far, recording one goal as of Jan. 20.
OTTAWA CHARGE
The Ottawa Charge is one of the inaugural six PWHL teams. In its first home game on Jan. 2, 2024, the Charge set an attendance record for professional women’s hockey at 8,318.
In the 2025-26 season, two former Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey players don the red and gold, former forward Taylor House ‘22 and former defenseman Kate Reilly ‘24.
On Jan. 18, former Quinnipiac defender Emma Greco ‘17 was traded to the Charge as part of a six-person trade from the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
House played in 155 games across five years for the Bobcats with 45 goals and 45 blocked shots.
Quinnipiac was one of the first schools House considered for her collegiate career, calling her committing a very easy decision.
“Just the style of play, it’s worked well for me everywhere I’ve played since then even before this league,” House said. “All the systems and the details and everything have followed me.”
House didn’t join the PWHL until its second season, signing with the Charge right away, after playing in the PHF for a year post graduation before playing for a year in a Swedish league.
House described her first game in the PWHL as “terrifying.”
“Terrifying but exciting,” House laughed. “I got to play in Boston, I’ve been out there a lot, knew a lot of people so it was nice to kind of be in a familiar place for the first game, but yeah, a mix of good nerves and being scared, mostly excited.”
Having other former Bobcats on the team makes the transition into the league a lot easier, according to House, especially since she is joined by her former teammate Kate Reilly.
Reilly played five seasons in Hamden, falling only two points short of 100 points in 161 games and recorded 213 blocked shots.
This is Reilly’s first season of professional hockey, after going undrafted this year and not playing last year.
Either of the players have yet to score a point for the Charge in the 2025-26 season.
Greco played four years at Quinnipiac and was part of the first group to ever secure the ECAC Regular Season Championship. In her senior year she led the team with 72 blocked shots.
“I think she’s probably surprised herself that she’s where she is in this league right now,” Quinnipiac’s head coach Cass Turner said. “She’s always been such a competitor. When you get a league like this where you get the best defensemen from every team, you’re getting the best offensive defensemen. Her value has gone up year to year, because they see that she is simple. She’ll make the simple play, she’ll make the smart play and she cares about keeping the puck out of her net.”
The Burlington, Ontario native recorded 25 points during her four years with the Bobcats.
“I don’t think I understood where hockey would take me, because obviously when I started there wasn’t much hockey to do after graduating,” Greco said. “I was focused on playing in the NCAA. I liked how there was a large focus on the hockey programs at Quinnipiac, I liked the coaching staff.”
For her final year at Quinnipiac, while pursuing her MBA, she was a part of the women’s soccer team, playing over 1,000 minutes on the Bobcats’ defense.
“It’s hard to do both,” Turner said. “For Greco that was an additional year, how that all worked at the end. The player has to be really committed to their training and making sure that they’re ready for both and they can find success in both.”
After graduation, alongside another former Bobcat, now-Montreal Victoire forward Darkangelo, Greco was one of the first five players signed by the PHF’s Toronto Six.
For the PWHL’s inaugural season, Greco suited up with the Minnesota Frost and was part of the very first team to win the Walter Cup.
“It was pretty emotional,” Greco said. “I’ve never played in front of that many people. I feel like that is something that I will never forget.”
Following that, she played with the Boston Fleet, recording three assists under the leadership of another former Bobcat Danielle Marmer.
“People always get annoyed, because whenever me and the former Quinnipiac teammates are together we always just reminisce about our good times. Everyone’s like ‘you guys aren’t normal,’” Greco laughed. “We were just very close, it was like a family there. It was a great college experience.”
In June, she signed a two-year contract with the Goldeneyes.
“I think it’ll be a pretty smooth transition,” Greco said. “Vancouver is made up of a lot of people that have already been in the league, so I don’t think it’s gonna be too much of a difference. Hopefully we do well.”
She played in 13 games this season for the Goldeneyes without recording a point before the trade.
