Last week saw a historic moment in women’s hockey as the Toronto Six became the first Canadian team in the history of the Premiere Hockey Federation to win the Isobel Cup.
The final was a wild game between Toronto and the Minnesota Whitecaps as it was settled in 3 on 3 overtime by Six forward Tereza Vanisova, giving the franchise its first championship since joining the league in 2020.
But an underrated player in Toronto’s run to the final was Oakville defender Taylor Davison.
Davison became a staple of Toronto’s back end as she suited up for 23 regular season games and played in four playoff games, including the championship final against Minnesota.
"We knew once we got into that 3 on 3 overtime that we would kill it." Davison said, "It was a battle to get there, but I think we just persevered and fought through it, and we were able to win."
What made Davison and her group so confident in overtime?
"We as a team talked about (the overtime) in the dressing room in between periods. We just had to all stay calm (and) play our game, and by doing that, we knew that we would win."
This moment is obviously a huge one for Taylor and her team, but this win is even more special to Davison and the other Canadian players on the Six because this is the first time a Canadian team has won this trophy.
"It’s surreal right now," Taylor said on the topic of being able to bring the Isobel Cup to Canada.
"It hasn’t really set in for a lot of us; we were talking about that last night. I think it’s going to take a couple of days to really understand that we won."
This achievement is incredible for Taylor, but the Six defender is not a stranger to playing for big teams in big moments.
Before being drafted by the Six, Taylor spent five years at York University playing for the Lions, where she accumulated 46 total points in 94 games. Before playing with York, she played minor hockey with the Burlington Barracudas when she scored 14 points in 37 games in 2015-16.