The Vancouver Giants have made history with their 13th round selection in Thursday’s 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.
Opting to select local defenceman Chloe Primerano with the 267th overall pick, the Giants have become the first team to choose a female skater in the draft, while Primerano has become the first woman selected in CHL drafting history.
The 15-year-old blueliner was in her car coming home from school when the news broke.
“I was driving home from school with my mom in the car and I was just praying for it and it just happened and I was in shock, honestly,” she said immediately following the selection.
There have been five other instances involving women within the Canadian Hockey League.
From 1999-2001, goaltender Charline Labonte played in 28 games for Acadie-Bathurst, while Manon Rheaume was a fellow netminder for Trois-Rivieres in 1991-92. This past March, also in the QMJHL, Eve Gascon started one game for the Gatineau Olympiques. At last year’s OHL draft, another goaltender, Taya Currie was selected in the 14th round by the Sarnia Sting. Shannon Szabados played 20 seconds in net with the Sri-City Americans in September of 2002.
The common theme here is goaltenders, to which Primerano is not. She actually models her game after longtime Chicago Blackhawks and current Edmonton Oilers defenceman Duncan Keith.
“I would say I’m a two-way defenceman,” she said in an interview during Thursday’s Sportsnet hockey broadcast. “I can go up in the rush and go in the offensive zone, but when it comes time to play shutdown I can do that as well.”
Over 30 games last year with the Burnaby Winter Club’s U-15 program, Primerano scored twice while adding another 17 assists for 19 points on the season.
“Chloe’s play this season in the top U15 league in Canada made her fully deserving of this selection today,” Giants general manager Barclay Parneta said shortly after the draft. “The Vancouver Giants are happy to recognize her strong play by drafting her to the Western Hockey League.”
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