Former Central York Panthers forward commits to Queen’s University

By Robert Belardi 

Maple native and former Central York Panthers forward Sophie Hudson confirmed on May 20 she will be attending Queen's University next year. 

Hudson will be a part of the university's hockey program while studying both math and engineering, a discipline special to Queen's. 

Hudson weighed out multiple options before confirming her decision to remain in the country.

“I had a bunch of other offers from schools, mostly in Canada. Before this past year I was deciding if I wanted to go to the United States and play in the NCAA. Ultimately, with COVID and a lot of uncertainty with eligibility with girls having to endure gap years due to lack of spots, I ended up choosing to stay in Canada,” Hudson said. 

“My sister goes to Queen's. I have gone to visit her many times and when I went I met with the coach and he showed me around the facility and the campus. I thought that was the place to be.” 

Growing up, Hudson initially began dancing along with her older sister. As she continued pursuing her love for dance, her younger brothers came of age to be enrolled in hockey. 

She watched in the early hours of the morning her brother skate and practice. She knew she wanted to be enrolled in it, too. She skated with her brother's team a few times; however, she joined the Aurora Panthers (now Central York) shortly after to play the sport full-time in a girls' league. 

Hudson most notably idolized one of Canada's most prolific hockey stars in Hayley Wickenheiser. She even took it upon herself to write her name on the back of a standard team Canada sweater. 

“I wanted to be able to wear her number,” Hudson laughed. 

“I was walking around with a taped ‘Wickenheiser'; I don't think I even spelt it right. It was the best I could get.” 

As Hudson continued to work on her game and as she approached the bantam years, she made an appearance for the Mississauga Chiefs in the PWHL scoring a goal in her lone spell. 

She stayed within the Mississauga Chiefs program honing her craft and eventually moved to the Toronto Aeroes Midget AA program under head coach Dave Gwyn. When Gwyn left the program most of the girls on his team followed and they all met up with the Durham West Jr. Lightning. There she knew what the best part of her game is. 

“I'm able to be the biggest person on the ice. It's difficult to push me off the puck because of how tall I am. It's tough to do that without a long reach,” Hudson said. 

“The best part of my game is playing below the goal-line in the offensive zone with the puck. Just to stand in front of the net and be able to be in tight and pull the puck around the goalie. I think that's how I scored most of my goals last year,” Hudson said. 

Hudson says she needs to work on stops and starts in the defensive end. She loves playing on the penalty kill and blocking shots as well. 

She says she can't wait to get to Queen's and go to university with her sister, who is at the university now.