Toronto Sceptres’ Emma Gentry and Kiara Zanon already making an impact

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Being the new kid on the block—whether at work, school, or in the community—isn't always easy.

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But you can determine your comfort level if you manage to tick a few boxes in advance.

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In this regard, the two highest drafted Scepters realized this quite quickly.

Let's start with the fact that both Emma Gentry and Ciara Zanon were ahead of the game from the start simply by being in the same lineup.

The two (actually four if you count Clara Van Wieren and Hannah Baskin, also drafted this season) were well acquainted before becoming Sceptres, splitting time on the U.S. U-18 team as well as various camps within the U.S. program.

On the night of the draft, the conversation immediately turned to setting up housing in the new market.

“We knew about it almost immediately,” Zanon said. “There were four of us who knew each other and had a good relationship, so it wasn't difficult. Would it just be two of us or four? And obviously four were hard to find in Toronto.”

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Gentry and Zanon were the first to arrive on the market and sign the lease. Van Wieren and Baskin recently found their home nearby and are planning a housewarming party early this week.

On the ice, all four had their moments in practice, but in the only game that mattered today, the higher-ranked players naturally got more opportunities.

Both Gentry and Zanon received praise from their head coach for their PWHL debuts, although Zanon's night naturally got a little more rowdy as he scored the game-winning goal.

It was her third goal in three games, counting two preseason games against Ottawa, but no one is interested in putting goal-per-game pressure on a rookie still finding her way.

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“I don’t even think I’ve started,” Zanon said of her claim. “I feel like I have a lot to learn. Obviously, I want to be productive, and that remains the goal. But for me, the biggest thing is I want to be consistent and thorough. I want that (scoring goals) to be part of my game, but I want to be consistent all over the ice.”

Head coach Troy Ryan already has a good feeling about the team's top two players in the draft.

“I think they’ve done a good job so far,” Ryan said. “I'm not optimistic about their early productivity, but about their coaching ability. They're both very open to suggestions and comments, so I just feel like they'll continue to get better and they've had a pretty good start so far.”

For Zanon in particular, as pleased as he was with her early production, he was most impressed with her approach to acting.

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“She plays the right way,” Ryan said. “There's not a lot of excitement in her game. If she needs to turn an angle, she does it. You even see her dunk a few pucks, throw some pucks deep and forecheck some of the more boring things that sometimes a young, experienced player doesn't do.”
For now, Ryan is keeping the two together, although Zanon did step up and join Emma Maltais and Natalie Spooner for a shift or two when Daryl Watts took a big hit late in the game.

But for now, Ryan likes the comfort his two top rookies get playing with each other and seems content to keep them together.

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WATTS STILL FEEL IT

Last year's Scepter leading scorer Daryl Watts is expected to miss at least the next game as she recovers from hitting the boards with her head in Friday's game at Minnesota.

Watts' head appeared to bounce off the throw when she was hit by Frost rookie Abby Hustler about five minutes into the third period.

Watts needed help getting off the ice and missed several shifts, but eventually returned to finish the game. She hasn't skated with the team in practice this week and doesn't plan to do so for the rest of the week.

“I expect she won't train this week and then we'll see what happens next,” Ryan said, “but I don't think it's a long-term thing. I know she's met with the doctors and they're not too concerned about the long term.”

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