Linden native skates into women’s hockey history

Brooke Bryant had to skate through her share of challenges on her way from playing against the boys at Oak Park Ice Arena to realizing her dream of playing professional hockey in front of record-breaking crowds.

There weren’t any girls teams in San Joaquin County, so the Linden native played with the Stockton Colts boys team. She found a travel team in Southern California when she became a teenager, had to play her college career during the COVID crisis and when she signed with her first pro team, the league perished.

But she pushed toward her goal with a singleminded purpose that her parents said has been on display since she was a young child.

Bryant made her professional debut on Jan. 3 with the Minnesota franchise of the new Professional Women’s Hockey League and on Jan. 6 Minnesota won its second consecutive game when it beat Montreal at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. The game drew a crowd of 13,316, a record for a women’s professional hockey game.

Among the fans in Saint Paul were her parents, Scott and Tara Podesta-Bryant of Linden.

“To see her in that environment was amazing,” Tara Bryant said. “She has always been determined to play hockey at the highest level possible. It was a great experience, and will only get better.”

Brooke Bryant echoed her mom’s sentiments.

“I still have so much passion for the game and I want to play for as long as I possibly can,” Bryant said. “When pro hockey became a possibility, I wanted to work for it.”

Bryant adds a little West Coast presence to the PWHL. She is the only woman raised in California in the league (Boston’s Hilary Knight was born in Palo Alto, but raised in New Hampshire). She is the first player born in San Joaquin County known to go pro, and the third Stockton Colts player, joining Don Carter and Drew Sanders, both of who played for teams in the men’s minor leagues.

Bryant was always a very good athlete, starring in softball and volleyball at Linden High School. But hockey was her passion. After playing for the Stockton Colts at Oak Park Ice Arena, she joined the Anaheim Ducks girls hockey program because there were no opportunities in Northern California.

All the travel paid off when she was offered a scholarship at Minnesota State. She planned to play four years and look for future playing opportunities, but COVID hit and changed everything. She stayed a fifth year and played well, and was signed by the Minnesota Whitecaps of the Premier Hockey Federation in May 2023.

However, the PHF was in its last month and would dissolve in June to make way for the PWHL. Although the new league set up in Minnesota and other PHF cities, the contracts from the disbanded league were voided.

“It was kind of out of the blue for me,” Bryant said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen with signing with Whitecaps and you know, expecting to play there for the next two years. So, yeah, it was kind of a bump in the road and I didn’t really know what to expect. But everything worked out for me.”

While the Whitecaps were gone, interest in Bryant was not. PWHL Minnesota General manager Natalie Darwitz, who spent a decade playing for the United States National Team, said the franchise had their “eye on Brooke” and six roster spots to fill going into training camp.

“We knew about her when she played for (Minnesota State), and knew she could add some impact to our roster,” Darwitz said. “We wanted to give her a shot at training camp. She did really well and earned a spot on the team.”

The PWHL has six teams in its inaugural season, located in Minnesota, New York, Boston, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal and play a 24-game schedule. The rosters for each team feature several national team members from varous countries. Minnesota has six American Olympians, including Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, Lee Stecklein, Kendall Coyne-Schofield and goaltenders Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney, the latter of whom was the gold medal-winning goalie for the United States in 2018.

Bryant started the season playing on the fourth line, but received significant ice time in the first two games. Darwitz said one of Bryant’s main jobs this season is to learn the professional game, which is faster and more physical than the college version.

“She has a lot of upside,” Darwitz said. “There’s a lot of potential and a lot of raw skill. If we can kind of hone in on her abilities and guide her a little bit, I think the sky is the limit for Brooke.”

Brooke Bryant is excited about the opportunity to be a part of something new, and to keep doing what she loves on the ice.

“This is a league of six teams of the best players in the world,” Bryant said. “This is what women’s hockey needed, and I’m so lucky to be a part of it.”