Taya Currie makes history as first female ever picked at OHL Priority Selection draft

Goaltender Taya Currie made history on Saturday by becoming the first female ever chosen in the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection draft.

The 16-year-old from Parkhill, Ont., was selected in the 14th round, 267th overall, by the Sarnia Sting.

Currie, five-foot-seven 140 pounds, was touted as one of Alliance Hockey’s top goaltenders as a member of the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs triple-A boys’ under-16 team.

The 2005-born Currie described herself ahead of the draft as athletic, flexible and quick and wants to be “known as the goalie everyone hates to play against and loves to have on the team.”

She didn’t get to play the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic.

Manon Rheaume — the only women to ever play in the NHL when she suited up in exhibition games for the Tampa Bay Lightning 1992 and ’93 — played one game in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in the 1991-92 season with the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs.

Most recently, Shannon Szabados dressed for a game with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League in 2003-04.

Both women went on to have successful careers with the Canadian national women’s team and are Olympic medallists.

The Sudbury Wolves used the No. 1 pick to select six-foot-one 180-pound right winger Quentin Musty from the North Jersey Avalanche U16 team.

Rounds 1 to 3 went Friday night, with rounds 4 to 15 on Saturday. The entire draft was held online.

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2021.

The Canadian Press