How 'understated' Izzy Daniel found her way to the Toronto Sceptres top line

Toronto Sceptres GM Gina Kingsbury was surprised to see Izzy Daniel still on the draft board when Toronto made the final pick of the third round of the PWHL draft last June.

The forward from Minneapolis, Minn., had just become the first player for Cornell University to win the top prize for a player in women's NCAA hockey, the Patty Kazmaier Award. She finished her final college season with 59 points in 34 games.

"She has incredible spatial awareness," Kingsbury said on the night of the draft. "She creates plays. She attracts space. She's very, very smart."

But despite her standout season at Cornell, Daniel had to wait a couple of rounds to hear her name called in a deep draft class that included national team regulars like Cayla Barnes and Hannah Bilka, as well as top European talent.

Before the draft, Daniel was asked by a reporter about her lack of experience playing with the American national team compared to other top prospects. She said she felt confident that people who talked to her and watched her play could see what she brings to the table.

"I just continue to try to prove myself and my game that I can play with the best in the world."

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It's not the first time Daniel has had to prove herself. The player her high school coach describes as "understated" both on and off the ice didn't take a linear path to the pros. She didn't make the elite USA Hockey teams along the way.

She didn't even start playing hockey until she was eight.

"To go from playing high school hockey in Minnesota to then winning the Patty Kazmaier Award four years or five years later down the road, it's just an incredible journey that she's had," Cornell's head coach, Doug Derraugh, said in an interview with CBC Sports.

So far, the pick has been shrewd for Toronto. Daniel has logged time on Toronto's top line, playing alongside Sarah Nurse. She registered her first professional goal in a 3-2 loss to Ottawa earlier this month.

Daniel and the Sceptres will host the Montreal Victoire at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. You can watch the game on CBC TV, CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca.

Smooth skating

Daniel didn't grow up in a hockey family. No one played, until her father registered Izzy and her younger brother for an introduction to hockey program when she was eight. Most of the other players were five.

Shawn Reid remembers a "tiny" eighth grader showing up for the high school varsity team tryouts at The Blake School in Minnesota. She wasn't ready for the varsity team. But Reid took note of how crafty she was on the ice, despite her size.

"Then she came back the next year as a ninth grader and she grew in every single way," Reid said.

"She grew in height, she grew in maturity, she grew in her ability to talk as well. She made our varsity team and made an immediate impact, and it was just phenomenal watching her play."

Daniel, pictured at Toronto Sceptres training camp, has always stood out for her smooth skating and hockey IQ. (PWHL Toronto/X)

Her smooth skating and smarts always seemed special to Reid. She always knew what angle to take when attacking or the best way to position her body to use her stick to break up plays and make a poke check at the right time. Her passes looked effortless.

But Daniel still didn't get the call for many of USA Hockey's elite teams, including the under-18 squad. Her game was effective, but under the radar.

"She's not all that flashy because she's so smooth," Reid said. "It looks like she glides through players, but she doesn't have the big powerful slap shot or the big huge juke. Everything is just so understated."

'I want to prove them wrong'

When the invites to USA Hockey teams didn't come, Daniel wasn't disappointed at first. She didn't realize where she could take her hockey career.

"But then as I got older, I think when I wasn't making those teams or wasn't getting invited, it kind of just fuelled me to be like, OK, like I didn't get invited," Daniel said. " I want to prove them wrong, that I'm better than some of those players and that I can play at this level."

Daniel attended the last two fall evaluation camps with USA Hockey, as well as an evaluation camp held in March before the world championship. But she hasn't played a game for her country yet.

She credits the staff at Cornell for giving her the confidence to believe she could play professionally.

Toronto Sceptres draft pick Izzy Daniel (4th from right) poses with Toronto teammates Kristen Campbell, Emma Maltais, Natalie Spooner and Renata Fast, and Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury. Toronto selected Daniel in the 3rd round of the 2024 draft. (Heather Pollock/PWHL)

Her university coach, Derraugh, sees Daniel's path as an important one for young players to think about. It shows that even if you weren't a superstar from a young age, and even if you didn't make the most competitive teams, you can still get to the top level.

He saw a player who had a strong base with her skating, but had to round out other parts of her game to get there.

"She became a very smart player," Derraugh said. " One of the smartest players I've ever coached. You combine that with the skills and speed that she has, and I think that just brought her to a whole other level."

A student of the game

Derraugh described Daniel as a student of the game, and that applies off the ice, too. She's fascinated by salary caps and roster management.

She spent a summer working with the Minnesota Vikings, and has interest in working in sports management someday.

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But first, she's adjusting to life as a pro. Off the ice, Daniel lives with Toronto teammate Julia Gosling, who's from nearby London, Ont., and gives Daniel drives to the rink.

On the ice, Daniel said the physicality is much more than she'd been used to in the NCAA. She's been learning how to put herself in better positions when taking a hit so she doesn't get hurt, as a smaller player.

It's all about finding ways to think the game differently, just like she did as a small ninth grader playing against older players.

"Everyone's just so good," Daniel said about the PWHL.

"You can't get away with holding the puck too long or can't skate yourself out of certain situations. In practice, getting to go against some of the best players in the world is honestly amazing."