In May, Pascal Daoust, general manager of the New York Sirens, presented captain Micah Zandee-Hart with an unprecedented choice: remain with the Sirens or return to her hometown by joining the newly established Vancouver Goldeneyes, a PWHL expansion team set to debut in the Pacific Northwest for the 2025-26 season. Daoust emphasized the difficult yet respectful nature of this offer, recognizing Zandee-Hart’s dedication to her team and the unique opportunity to play professionally at home.
I sat with her in May, and I said, ‘Hey, Vancouver is coming, and it’s your hometown. I don’t want you to go. We want you as our captain. But if you ask me, I’m gonna let you go,’
Daoust revealed during the Sirens’ training camp in November.
You deserve this for everything that you’ve done so far.
Micah Zandee-Hart, raised in Saanichton, British Columbia, found herself deeply considering the appeal of joining Vancouver’s new franchise. As she explained,
Being a kid from the West Coast, having a Vancouver pro team was something that was never on my radar,
Zandee-Hart said.
So when that became an expansion team, it was hard for my family not to be like, ‘Oh, that would be nice.’ I’ve lived away from home for a long time.
Despite her roots in the Pacific Northwest, Zandee-Hart’s professional and collegiate career has largely been anchored on the East Coast. She excelled at Cornell University in New York, captaining the Big Red women’s hockey team for three seasons between 2015 and 2020. Following a brief period with the Toronto PWHPA affiliate, she emerged as one of three inaugural signings for New York in the PWHL’s 2023 free agency class and subsequently became the first captain in Sirens history.
Even though an opportunity to play close to home was available, the allure of building something meaningful with the Sirens outweighed the tempting offer.
I’m determined to make this fan base just as proud as I am to be a Siren,
Zandee-Hart pledged.
I know we’ve had a couple tough seasons, but I think there’s a lot to look forward to coming up, and I really want to be a part of it.
Turnaround Under Zandee-Hart’s Captaincy and Key Roster Changes
By February, the New York Sirens’ season had taken a hopeful turn. Emerging from a nearly month-long Olympic break, the Sirens held a playoff position, ranking fourth overall with 24 points and achieving their best start ever (7-0-3-6) in franchise history. Head coach Greg Fargo attributed the evolving positive culture and improved performance in no small part to Zandee-Hart’s leadership.
I think the culture is different,
Fargo noted during the Olympic hiatus.
We have a lot of new faces, but I think more than anything, we’re getting to see the best of Micah, and that’s been a big part of the change.
Change was an intentional strategy led by Daoust, who had restructured nearly 70 percent of the Sirens’ scoring lineup following the difficult 2024-25 season. Building a youthful core was central to his vision, centered around promising first-round draft picks Kristyna Kaltounkova (first overall) and Casey O’Brien (third overall).
When you have to face these decisions, you need to stick to what’s most important for you and for the organization,
Daoust explained.
And it was to build around [our] values.
Zandee-Hart personifies those values, and her belief in Daoust’s plan cemented her choice to stay in New York.
At the end of the day — talking with Pascal and Greg and the changes that we’ve made — it just made sense for me to stay here,
Zandee-Hart said.
This is a group that I want to be a part of, and I want to keep growing.
Daoust respected her decision, protecting her from the 2025 expansion draft along with 2025 Rookie of the Year Sarah Fillier and defender Ella Shelton. On November 5, Zandee-Hart signed a one-year contract extension through the 2026-27 season, maintaining her leadership role with the Sirens.
The C stays in NY ✍️Captain Micah Zandee-Hart has signed a contract extension through the 2026-27 season
— New York Sirens (@PWHL_NewYork)
While this loyalty required the Sirens to sacrifice some key players, with the Seattle Torrent selecting star center Alex Carpenter, starting goalie Corinne Schroeder, and winger Jessie Eldridge during the offseason, Daoust viewed the moves as necessary for the organization’s long-term development.
It was not a decision to be popular,
Daoust acknowledged.
It was a decision to make the organization better in the window that we were in.
Zandee-Hart’s Role as the Heart of the Sirens’ Resurgence
At the core of New York’s cultural transformation and on-ice progression lies Zandee-Hart’s unyielding leadership. Daoust praised her invaluable consistency and character.
You’re looking for players that can bring you 60 minutes of consistency. She brings you 24 hours a day of consistency,
Daoust said.
She’s the daughter that you want. She is the captain that you have the privilege to have. She’s the partner that you want your daughter or your son to have. She is a role model.
This steadfastness resonates deeply with her teammates. Defender Jaime Bourbonnais, who has shared the ice with Zandee-Hart for many seasons, complimented her loyalty.
Instead of going home to be with her fiancé and her cat, she decided to stay here and play with all of us weirdos,
Bourbonnais joked.
She’s a loyal person, loyal friend, loyal captain. There’s no one else that I’d rather play with.
Rookie of the Year Sarah Fillier also highlighted Zandee-Hart’s devotion.
It’s just exciting to see someone who wears the ‘C’ on her jersey to be completely bought into that,
Fillier said.
We all know in that locker room that she’s dead set on being a Siren, and we’re happy to have her.
Zandee-Hart ‘Raising the Bar’ for Sirens Hockey Performance
While the Sirens’ resurgence owes credit to rising stars such as league-leading goal scorer Kristyna Kaltounkova and goalie Kayle Osborne, Zandee-Hart’s influence permeates every element of the team’s progress. Fargo underscored her impact as a leader.
She is setting the standard for us every single day,
Fargo said.
I think when you have leaders like that who are consistently showing up, pushing herself, pushing others — as a young player coming here, or anybody who walks through the door or steps on the ice, it’s really hard to go any other direction than the direction that your captain’s going.
Daoust echoed this sentiment, praising her ability to teach by example.
She’s going to teach without asking to teach,
he said.
She’s going to do her things, and people will just look at her and understand, ‘okay, this is how you become a pro.’
Joking aside, Bourbonnais spoke warmly about Zandee-Hart’s comprehensive leadership qualities.
I’m definitely biased, but I think she’s the perfect person to be wearing that ‘C’,
Bourbonnais shared.
She really embodies a leader in all facets. She works hard, leads by example, but she’s also not afraid to give us shit when we need it, and I think that’s really important. And she’s a good friend, first and foremost. So yeah, I mean, I could talk forever about her.
Bourbonnais and Zandee-Hart’s strong bond traces back to their shared time at Cornell along with current Sirens center Kristin O’Neill. Their reunion in New York has solidified the leadership core, especially after Carpenter and Shelton departed. Bourbonnais and Fillier are now alternate captains supporting Zandee-Hart.
She’s been my captain for a long time. I just think she does a really good job of making everybody feel really comfortable. I think she really puts in effort to get to know everybody,
Bourbonnais explained.
And that’s something that is very rare, especially at this level. Everybody has their own lives, but you can really see that she puts in so much effort talking to everybody one-on-one. That goes a long way, especially with a young team.
Fargo views Zandee-Hart’s leadership as rare and genuine.
There’s a lot of things that make Micah a special person, and therefore, a special leader. The first thing that comes to mind is her ability to see the perspective from every seat in the locker room. She has such an ability to see beyond just herself and those that she’s closest with,
Fargo noted.
But to me, it’s not her trying to be anything other than who she is. She’s just so authentically herself, and it’s so easy for everybody to see how, how much she cares.
It’s quite frankly like nothing I’ve ever seen before from a captain. She’s incredible.
On the ice, Zandee-Hart anchors New York’s top defensive pair and frequently matches up against the league’s premier offensive players. Fargo observed growth in her game this season.
I think her play is elevated from a year ago,
Fargo said.
She’s stronger. She’s more mobile. I think because of that, she’s able to play the game at a different speed. The game, in some ways, has slowed down for her because of the way she’s moving out there this year.
A trailblazer in her native British Columbia, Zandee-Hart became the first skater from the province to make Canada’s Women’s Olympic team in 2022, helping secure the gold medal in Beijing. Despite being on the bubble for the 2025 Rivalry Series, she was not selected for Team Canada’s 2026 Olympic roster.
I feel like Micah did everything she can to play her way into a role on that team,
Fargo said.
Unfortunately, they had different plans. But to me, she earned that opportunity.
Zandee-Hart’s Impact Beyond Statistics and Team Challenges
While her contributions on the ice include three assists and a plus-one rating in 16 games this season, Zandee-Hart’s true value lies in the transformation she has inspired within a struggling franchise. Bourbonnais acknowledged the burden Zandee-Hart carried in previous seasons.
I know that she took our last two seasons a lot on her own shoulders,
Bourbonnais said.
The Sirens had foundered in their first two seasons, accumulating a league-low 63 points out of 162 possible, with poor goal differentials and defensive struggles. Zandee-Hart posted negative plus-minus ratings in those years, trailing all Sirens players with a minus-18 in 2024.
I think she really wanted to make a change for this group and to come in and change the culture and change the way we play,
Bourbonnais added.
And I think the on-ice physicality — I feel like our team has been really good at that, and I think that starts with her.
The tone was set early in the 2025-26 season opener when Zandee-Hart responded physically after an illegal body check on Bourbonnais by Ottawa’s Gabbie Hughes, delivering a retaliatory cross-check that led to a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, sparking a larger altercation.
Micah Zandee-Hart has received a major penalty and a game misconduct for cross-checking following this play.#PWHL
— TSN (@TSN_Sports)
Following the incident, Zandee-Hart expressed a shift in team mentality.
I think in the last two seasons, we’ve maybe been a team that’s let teams dictate how the game was going to go,
she said.
We don’t want to be that team this year.
This aggressive, unified mindset has become contagious. By the Olympic break, three Sirens players ranked among the league’s top ten in hits: rookie forward Maddi Wheeler (30), Kaltounkova (24), and Bourbonnais (24), with Wheeler second overall behind only Toronto’s Blayre Turnbull by a narrow margin.
[Micah’s] always been a really physical player, but I think she’s just created an environment where we all want to step up for each other, and we know that being physical is going to help us win,
Bourbonnais said.
And she’s made that clear. That is a huge part of our game, and I would say that that definitely stems from her.
Developing Young Talent with a Shared Leadership Approach
Though Zandee-Hart wears the captain’s “C,” she promotes a collective leadership style within the Sirens, encouraging all players to contribute as mentors and leaders. She emphasized during training camp her belief that leadership should be communal, not concentrated.
I’m a big believer that just because you have a letter on your jersey, it shouldn’t change how you act,
Zandee-Hart remarked.
Daoust agreed, highlighting the importance of diverse leadership roles throughout the roster.
The minute you feel that you only have one leader, you’re in trouble,
Daoust stated.
As I told the players in the past, you don’t need to be the lead singer to be a leader. There’s tons of leaders that are part of the show that maybe sometimes you don’t see.
This approach proved crucial given the Sirens’ youthful roster, which is the youngest in the PWHL and includes seven rookies along with two first-year goalies.
So just trying to bring some of those younger players with us and create an environment where everyone feels like they’re a part of it and they have a voice,
Zandee-Hart said.
And I think the range of ages we do have on our team — that comes quite naturally. We have players that have experienced a lot of different roles on a lot of different teams.
The roster’s diversity includes Rookie of the Year Sarah Fillier, undrafted forward Savannah Norcross, NCAA national champion Paetyn Levis, and former USA Olympian Jincy Roese. Though Zandee-Hart, at 29, is the eldest player, she serves as a crucial figure in nurturing this emerging talent.
I think Micah’s been great. She’s helped all of us kind of settle in. She is really good by leading by example,
rookie Maddi Wheeler said.
But I think leadership doesn’t just fall onto a captain. We have a great leadership group with ‘Fil’ and Jaime as well. They’ve done a great job with us.
The youth movement has paid dividends offensively. New York leads the PWHL with 21 goals from rookie players, nearly doubling the second-place Boston Fleet’s 11.
Fargo trusted his rookies with significant ice time; Kaltounkova and O’Brien rank eighth and ninth in average minutes among PWHL forwards, with Anne Cherkowski just behind at 15th. Kaltounkova, O’Brien, and Wheeler occupy the top three scoring spots on the team.
Zandee-Hart’s inclusive leadership helped foster this supportive atmosphere.
I think our captains have done a really good job at just helping us feel included, and getting us a part of the team,
Wheeler noted.
I think that it’s very different from college, where you come in as a freshman [and] you feel like you’re a freshman.
New York’s Renewed Determination to Break Through
Shaking off the stigma of consecutive last-place finishes, the Sirens have embraced a renewed team spirit and determination to secure their first playoff berth in franchise history. This collective ambition was evident during the Olympic break.
It just feels super light. I think that’s the best way I can explain it. I think we all genuinely want each other to succeed, and that’s rare on a team,
Bourbonnais said.
I think when a team is really succeeding and wanting each other to succeed, that’s when I think we’re going to go far. And I feel like we have that this year.
New York’s pursuit of that milestone resumes on February 26, when the Sirens host the Montreal Victoire at the Prudential Center, their sights firmly set on transforming a once-struggling squad into genuine contenders.
A message from our Captain: pic.twitter.com/W2VpOjBSiL
— New York Sirens (@PWHL_NewYork) November 28, 2025
The C stays in NY ✍️
Captain Micah Zandee-Hart has signed a contract extension through the 2026-27 season
READ MORE 📄 https://t.co/8fr3XDUbzb pic.twitter.com/eJQ2arL3uw
— New York Sirens (@PWHL_NewYork) November 5, 2025
Sirens coach Greg Fargo kept it respectful, but he was clearly not pleased that Micah Zandee-Hart was left off Team Canada for the 2026 Olympics.
“I know those that pick the team for Team Canada — all these teams in the Olympics — it's a hard job. But I feel like Micah did…
— Lou Orlando (@SweetLouuuuu) February 6, 2026
Micah Zandee-Hart has received a major penalty and a game misconduct for cross-checking following this play.#PWHL pic.twitter.com/faH7eTw34A
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 23, 2025
