After becoming first female picked in OHL draft, Currie making more history with strong play at MacEwan
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Team Stats
Regina
| Game Statistics | Regina | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 2 for 6 | 1 for 3 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 3 (6) | 6 (12) |
| Shots on Goal | 21 | 27 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Among the more thrilling moments when Taya Currie made history by becoming the first female selected in the Ontario Hockey League draft (267th overall to Sarnia in 2021) was receiving a message of congratulations from Shannon Szabados.
Of course, Szabados, the best female goaltender in the world in her prime, played tons of high-level men's hockey – including with the MacEwan Griffins men's team from 2007-09 and 2010-11.
"She DM'd me after she got drafted," said Currie. "That was a pretty special moment. It's actually crazy that she went here."
Now Currie is making her own mark at MacEwan, transferring in to play for the Griffins women's hockey team after two years in the NCAA with Providence College.
Coming off a 28-save shutout to pace the Griffins to a 1-0 overtime win over Calgary last weekend, Currie recently made more history in her career, becoming the first Griff to be win a Canada West BioSteel women's hockey player of the week honour.
"It was an exciting game," she said of her first Canada West win and shutout. "I felt confident in my own game right from the first period. I didn't have many shots in the first period. In the second, I definitely had a couple two-on-one saves that were very key to winning our game. And then just in overtime, there were a couple breakaway saves.
"It's always nice on the powerplay getting a goal to win the game in OT," she added of captain Sydney Olsen's winner. "It was very exciting. All the girls came back to me and hugged me. Off the post and in. It was a good shot."
Shout out to Taya Currie, who has her first career @CanadaWest shutout!
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Hockey (@GriffinsWHKY) November 1, 2025
Just a terrific 28-save effort for the netminder leads the @MacEwanGriffins to their second win of the season.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/vhGJYyC3Fw
Currie and the Griffins (2-7-1) will look to continue rolling this weekend when they host Regina (3-3-1-1) on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (5 p.m., both Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
In the spring of 2021, Currie remembers well the moment the Sarnia Sting called her name in the OHL draft. Coming off a solid season with Elgin Middlesex Chiefs, she was more watching to see which of her teammates would get selected.
"At the time, I think I talked to five teams in advance, so I had an idea," said the Parkhill, Ont. product. "I was mostly watching for my teammates to be drafted. We had a very strong team – we won the Alliance (Championship) that year. It was in COVID, so we were just watching the TV. It was pretty exciting. I got a lot of phone calls from everyone. It was a great moment and still a memorable one for me."
#OHLDraft history! ��
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) June 5, 2021
Congrats to goaltender Taya Currie of @ALLIANCE_Hockey's @EMCChiefs, the first female ever chosen in the Priority Selection, joining @StingHockey at 267th overall: https://t.co/Vn9S9i8MdT pic.twitter.com/fDsmT13vYt
She attended Sarnia Sting camp, but ultimately never played a game for them.
"I went to camp, but at the time, you couldn't play in the OHL and then go D1, so I decided to go the D1 route," she said. "So, you couldn't stay there longer than 48 hours.
"Now, they've changed that rule, so if I could go back in time, I would have gone that route and then went NCAA."
One of her teammates from her days playing boys AAA hockey was forward Easton Cowan, who recently scored his first NHL goal with the Toronto Maple Leafs (on Nov. 1 at Philadelphia) before being assigned to the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday.
"We definitely keep in contact," said Currie. "We were close at the time. We always drove together to away games. He was pretty close to me. He's a great kid."
Currie carved her own path after those years, playing two seasons of top-level female hockey with the Bluewater Hawks before heading to the NCAA. But at Providence College, it just didn't work out.
"I went there for two years and my first year I tore my ACL (2023), so I was out for the whole season," she explained. "It was tough coming back. The goalie was a senior and she played most of the games. I didn't love it there. The atmosphere wasn't great.
"I decided to transfer last minute. I decided to come back to Canada. I had some options. I chose MacEwan. Great coaches, I love the girls when I visited. Just the atmosphere."
Taya Currie reaches out to stop the rebound after initially making a spectacular save on a two-on-one against Calgary last Saturday. She had a 28-save shutout (Jim Corry photo).
And the Griffins are pleased that she did. Head coach Chris Leeming noted it was more than just hockey when he saw the fit Currie brought with the team.
"She brings the maturity, being a little bit of an older player," he said. "Just the way that she carries herself and takes what she's doing pretty seriously but is also able to enjoy it. That's one of the biggest things I've noticed from her. She speaks up when she feels she needs to. She's not scared to voice her opinion – to acknowledge when things are going well or to call the team up when they need it. That just shows the confidence and poise she has as a person.
"That was another huge thing we knew we were getting after going through that recruiting process with her. It wasn't just adding another great goalie, it was gaining a fantastic human that was going to add to the team dynamic in more ways than just the on-ice performance."
Now, with Currie added to the mix alongside returning goaltenders Lindsey Johnson and Mikayla Christmann, the Griffins have an ideal situation where all three are sharpening each other every day.
So far, Johnson and Currie have shared the net for games with both posting numbers that are among the Canada West leaders (2.23 GAA and .929 save percentage for Johnson and 2.35 GAA, .925 for Currie). Christmann has also played well in practice, pushing both of them.
"The biggest piece about those three is they sat down at the beginning of the year and really established a good goalie group culture with 'we're all capable goalies, we can all contribute to this team, regardless of who's in the net,' " said Leeming. "They wanted to make sure they could maintain that throughout the year regardless of who has the net."
That's led to a very healthy situation for a team that's on the rise in Canada West.
"It's definitely very close," said Currie. "Me and Johnny have been sharing the weekends and it's been fun. They're great people. We're definitely competitive in practice, but that makes us better in games. I feel like the team can trust either one of us who is playing."
