Howran drafted seventh overall to NWHL

May 12, 2020

By Nate Smelle

Every young hockey player dreams of one day playing the sport they love professionally. For Bancroft's Tori Howran, on April 28 that dream came true when she found out that she had been drafted seventh overall by the National Women's Hockey League's Connecticut Whale. Shortly after receiving the news while watching the draft on the NWHL's Twitter page, Howran said she was contacted and congratulated by the team.
“When I heard my name, it was true excitement and truly an honour,” said Howran.
“I almost couldn't believe that I would get to continue my hockey career.”
Over the past few seasons Howran has been playing for the University of New Hampshire Wildcats while earning a bachelor's degree in Psychology. Prior to that, she played four seasons with the Whitby Wolves, and earned a silver medal at the 2016 IIHF Women's U18 World Championships while playing for Team Canada. At the root of her accomplishments it was in Bancroft where Howran began her hockey career playing with the Jets. Reminiscing on her time with the Jets, she said “Growing up and playing in a small town has left me with many memories. Along with all the games, wins and losses, road trips, and hotels, I gained many friends. A few specific memories would be scoring with 0.6 seconds left in overtime at the Pembroke Silverstick to help the jets advance to the finals in which we proceeded to go to International Silverstick.”
To reach her goal of becoming a professional hockey player, Howran has put in years of hard work on and off the ice. In order to build strength and develop the skills necessary to compete at the sport's highest level, she has committed to training year-round. As with any sport, Howran said this means she has continued her training during all “three seasons” – the pre-season, in-season and post-season. This year however, because of COVID-19 she has had to adjust her training schedule.
“Currently I'm in post-season training as I'm not really on the ice due to the pandemic and time of year,” explained Howran.
“Post-season training involves weight training four to five times a week, and then cardio training, which for hockey is typically interval training. While in-season typically I would work out two to three times a week to maintain all components of training that translate onto the ice. Then in pre-season, I'll still be working out four to five times a week, but really focusing on power, explosiveness, speed and endurance, and less on strength.”
With gyms closed because of the pandemic, Howran said it has made weight training more difficult, so she has been doing a lot of body weight and resistance training. Acknowledging that this was a shift away from her usual training regiment, she said she has still been able to make gains in terms of explosiveness, strength, speed and endurance. Howran is hoping that by September the pandemic will be resolved or contained so that she is able to travel to Connecticut and join her new team during the pre-season.