Former collegiate women’s ice hockey players are opting to play professional hockey abroad to continue their careers. In 2024, that includes five former NCAA athletes playing in the Chinese Women’s Ice Hockey League (WCIHL).
The WCIHL is a league traditionally made up of Chinese nationals, but while looking to improve the level of play, the WCIHL signed five North American women to compete with them this season.
Penn State women’s ice hockey alum Maggie MacEachern took this non-traditional path after concluding her NCAA career, signing a professional contract with the Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star (KRS), a team within the Chinese Women’s Ice Hockey League.
MacEachern wasn’t quite sure of what she wanted to pursue after college.
“I didn’t think I was ready to hang up the skates quite yet,” MacEachern said. “Over the summer, I was kind of humming and hawing about what to do next. I was waiting to see what opportunities would come up, whether it be with the PWHL, in Sweden, Switzerland, and then this opportunity in China came up.”
In August, MacEachern packed up and moved halfway across the world to her temporary “home” in Shenzhen, China having no expectations, or prior experience visiting China.
MacEachern, along with the five other North Americans who chose to play in the WCIHL, are housed together in Shenzhen. The KRS team owns an apartment building where the North American players all live within one floor of one another. This has helped MacEachern.
“I don’t know how I would be doing in this experience if it was just me, but having other people that are also here obviously makes a difference,” she said. “We can share in the joys, the suffering and all the other stuff.”
Why are many players electing to play in other countries instead of the newly established PWHL?
For MacEachern, she considered whether or not to pursue the PWHL or other offers. She had the opportunity to try out for PWHL teams but declined.
“I just didn’t think that I would get the opportunity to play in the (league) way that I wanted to, or get to play the role I wanted to within the PWHL,” MacEachern said. “I have no shame in saying that, it’s an awesome league, and it’s going to be really successful, but I just wanted a different experience.”
She also is an avid traveler, and felt this experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I’ve done a little bit of international hockey, but once I saw the contract and kind of talked to the coaches, I thought, ‘I don’t think I’m ever going to get this opportunity again,’ and I’d forever regret it if I didn’t hop on a plane and fly halfway across the world.”
MacEachern does admit that life in a foreign country is not always perfect, and the language barrier has impacted her, as it has the other North Americans.
“I’ve never had that challenge before, where you’re playing with people that don’t know your language and your only way of communicating is using a board and a marker,” she said. “Knowing that some of our hockey language is the same helps, but a lot of it is not.”
Despite this MacEachern says the “vibes have been very positive.”
MacEachern added it’s helpful that the team is doing well.
“The team I’m on is very strong, so we’ve won a lot of games, which obviously helps the cause. When you’re winning, it’s not that many complaints. Maybe when we go to the losing column, there’ll be a little bit more to talk about, but hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
MacEachern is still unsure whether she will return to the United States or Canada for professional hockey in the future.
“There’s the PWHL, but the league is just at such a high level right now that cracking a roster is obviously going to be really challenging. Someone has to be the one to sit in the stands, and I 100% understand that, but I didn’t really want to miss out on a season. China was chomping at the bit to get North Americans over there, and it just seemed like the right opportunity for me.”
Despite this, MacEachern isn’t ruling out the PWHL for the future.
“I wanted to get playing again, and I missed hockey. We’ll see what happens next year, I don’t know if I’m ready to be done quite yet.”
MacEachern still has a significant portion of her season left in China. She may be unsure about her future, but one thing is for sure, she loves the game and the experience.
“I love hockey, and it’s played a huge role in my life,” said MacEachern. “It’s not always been easy, but being here is an experience that is incredibly valuable nonetheless.”
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