Natalie Buchbinder sits in front of the projector screen, tucked away in the windowless players’ lounge at NSC Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota. It’s September of last year, and one of her hockey dreams is on the line.
Mere months ago, this dream didn’t exist.
And it hasn’t been easy to get here. Her physical and mental strength was tested along the way.
She spent years as a kid playing on boys’ teams, moved across the country for better opportunities and most recently fought back from a season-ending Achilles injury in her final season playing for the University of Wisconsin.
But the 25-year-old Fairport native has a shot.
A former teammate, current U.S. Women’s National team player and USA Hockey team athletic trainer take seats beside her. Nerves and excitement fill the air, inside the space where the nation’s greatest women’s hockey players are crafted.
One by one the names of other New Yorkers are called out on the screen — Maureen Murphy from Buffalo, Hayley Scamurra from Getzville — along with fellow Wisconsin Badgers Jesse Compher, Sophie Shirley and Daryl Watts.
Buchbinder, a defender, was confident there would be a spot for her on one of the league’s six rosters, but now she struggles to quiet the doubt-riddled thoughts.
Almost 14 hours away, in Toronto, Ontario, Professional Women’s Hockey League Minnesota general manager and former member of the U.S. Women’s National Team Natalie Darwitz announced the team’s first selection in the seventh round.
Buchbinder hears her name.
The broader responsibility of what this moment will mean for young athletes who will one day follow in her footsteps won’t come until training camp two months later.
On a personal level, as the grateful daughter of parents who laid the stepping stones to this moment — childhood carpools, a backyard rink and a cross-country move to join the competitive girls’ hockey scene among them — emotions wash over her in waves. There’s joy, relief and gratitude.
She made it.
The women’s hockey world then versus now
Growing up, young elite hockey players like Buchbinder shot for lofty goals — like skating for a college team or the Women’s National Team and a spot in the Olympics.
There weren’t many competitive girls programs then, especially in the Rochester area. Even now, there are less than 60 girls high school hockey teams in New York — none of them are in Rochester school districts.
Professional leagues have ignited and fizzled out over the years, including the Premier Hockey League,…
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