Grawbarger finishing off university career with possible eye on future hockey career in Europe

By Sam Laskaris

TORONTO – Sophie Grawbarger is hoping that she’ll be able to participate in a third consecutive national women’s university hockey championship.

Grawbarger, a member of Garden River First Nation, is a forward with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues squad.

For Grawbarger, who is 23, this is in all likelihood her final season playing at U of T. She had graduated from the school last spring with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a specialization in Indigenous studies and a minor in history.

But she returned to U of T to play another season with the Varsity Blues, while taking various non-degree courses. Since one of her hockey seasons at U of T was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grawbarger still has one year of university eligibility remaining. But she does not plan to return.

“I’m going to go home and take a year and regroup and maybe consider going to Europe the year after,” she said.

Grawbarger is planning to work for Parks Canada at the Sault Ste. Marie National Historic Site.

She might continue playing in a Northern Ontario women’s league just to stay active, especially if she is keen to join a European pro squad after that.

For now, however, Grawbarger is focused on the Varsity Blues’ post-season, expected to begin on Feb. 26.

U of T concluded its regular season with a 17-9 record, good for second place in the seven-team East Division of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA).

The Varsity Blues need to capture the OUA title to advance to the national tournament, which is hosted by the University of Waterloo and begins Mar. 20.

Grawbarger and her teammates won the silver medal at last year’s nationals in Saskatoon. U of T also competed at the 2023 Canadian tournament. Grawbarger said she’d love to return to the nationals this year and help her squad win the gold medal.

“That’s the main goal, especially if I’m done this year,” she said. “I want to end with kind of a bang for sure.”

Some believe the Varsity Blues are exceeding expectations this year since they had a large turnover from last year’s team.

But Grawbarger isn’t that surprised with the club’s successes thus far.

“It’s a great group,” she said. “Everybody contributes to the team in their own way. So, I’m not surprised how we’re doing so far. And I think we’re just going to keep getting better as time goes on.”

As for the possibility of playing professionally in Europe at some point, Grawbarger said she has not given it much consideration yet, but she does have some friends and former teammates toiling for various European clubs.

“I’m just going to ask them how their experience was and if they recommend it or not,” Grawbarger said. “But I’m not pushing it too hard right now. I’m just going to finish off this year and see when the season is done.”

U of T head coach Vicky Sunohara realizes Grawbarger still has one year of university eligibility remaining, but she also knows Grawbarger wants to move on with her life.

“She’s probably happy to be finished school,” Sunohara said. “She’s put a lot of work in and she came back to play in post-grad. I know she loves the game but I think there’s a part of her that wants to move on.”

Sunohara added Grawbarger has been a key member of the U of T team throughout her university days.

“She’s meant so much every year,” she said. “She’s such a quiet leader. The team really gravitates around her. She’s highly skilled. She always amazes us whether it’s in practices or in games with some of the moves she comes up with.”

If Grawbarger does indeed decide to head to Europe to play, Sunohara is confident she will find success.

“I think for sure she’d get picked up by a team,” Sunohara said. “She’s very skilled and strong. Her nickname is Turbo. When she turns on her turbo speed, she’s fast. We just tell her to be Turbo all the time because she’s hard to defend.”

Sunohara is also impressed with one of Grawbarger’s stats.

“She’s got eight penalty minutes in four years,” she said. “Isn’t that amazing? She just plays the game the right way.”