YORKTON - Prince Albert’s Brooke Hobson will be patrolling the blue line for the Boston Pride in the upcoming 2023-24 Premier Hockey Federation season.
“I’m super excited,” she told Yorkton This Week in a recent interview. “I’m very excited about it and to get started.”
Hobson, a defender, explained unlike most pro sports leagues the PHF doesn’t currently hold a draft for graduating university players.
“Everyone’s a free agent after college,” said Hobson, adding that is a positive as it allows players to sign with teams that may be closest to other career opportunities since PHF players are not paid as highly as many pro sport leagues.
In Hobson’s case the system allowed her to ink a deal which takes her back to Boston which has become essentially her second home.
“Boston’s where I went to school (college) for five years . . . I loved the city from day one,” she said.
During her time as a Northeastern Husky from 2017-22, Hobson said she made lots of friends, many who stayed in Boston after college, so she has a network there.
“I’m really excited to go back to where my friend base is,” she said.
While Hobson polished her hockey skills at Northeastern, she got her start in Saskatchewan.
“I played all my minor hockey in Prince Albert,” she said, adding she started in the sport when her parents enrolled her as her two older brothers were already involved.
The older brothers were always the players Hobson looked up to most.
“I was pretty competitive. I always wanted to keep up with the boys,” she said.
In her first years Hobson said she played on predominately boys’ team as there were not all girl teams available until her Midget years.
“It wasn’t a bad thing for me,” said Hobson of her time playing on the boys’ team, adding she could keep up and earned just to be herself and play the game.
“It gave me a pretty good mindset that as a young player I shouldn’t look at myself differently,” she she said.
Hobson attended Carlton Comprehensive High School and played for the Prince Albert Northern Bears and the Canada U-18 program being named a First Team All-Star four times as well as the league’s top defenceman in three seasons. She helped the Bears to SFMAAAHL and Western Regional championships in 2016-17, and helped the Canada U-18 National Team to a silver medal at the 2017 Women’s World Championship in the Czech Republic.
At the time Hobson said there was the potential of college, but not much beyond that as a female hockey player.
“That was a really exciting step when colleges starting reaching out,” she said.
In 170 career games at Northeastern, Hobson scored an impressive 21 goals and 77 assists for 98 total points, and accumulated a +101 plus/minus rating with 217 shot blocks. Hobson was named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star three times during her collegiate career in 2019, 2021, and 2022, and was also recognized as a Hockey East Third Team All-Star in 2020.
Today the dream can be bigger.
“Now girls can look at pro hockey which is amazing,” offered Hobson, adding it was really only in her last couple of seasons at Northeastern she began to seriously think about pro hockey as her next step.
Now with the Pride Hobson looks forward to contributing in anyway she can.
“I see myself as a two-way defender, she said, adding that while coaches tend to look at the offensive upside of her game, she “takes pride in the defensive end too.”
To have hockey emerge as her ‘job’ is huge, said Hobson.
“To play the sport I love I really can’t ask for anything more. It’s a pretty surreal opportunity,” she said.
