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5 (ish) Questions with Kaitlyn Ross, 2023 National Champion

We sat down with Kaitlyn Ross, 2023 U Sports National Champion, to talk about her hockey journey and declaring for the 2025 PWHL draft.

5 (ish) Questions with Kaitlyn Ross, 2023 National Champion
Kaitlyn Ross makes a save | Credit: Mount Royal Cougars

Kaitlyn Ross might not be the best-known name on the draft eligibility list, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be a frontrunner for being picked up in the 2025 PWHL entry draft.

The 23-year-old goaltender from Alberta backstopped the Mount Royal Cougars to their first U Sports National title in 2023, taking home the tournament MVP. Ross played her high school hockey at the elite hockey school, Notre Dame, and took home a silver medal playing for Team Canada at FISU, the U Sports International hockey tournament.

In her six years playing for the Cougars, Ross had a 1.42 GAA and a .945 save percentage and was the fastest goaltender in the Canada West conference to win 50 games. She holds the Cougars' record for all-time wins, single-season wins, minutes played, goals against average, save percentage, shutouts, shots against, and saves. Mic drop.

Among U Sports athletes, she holds the all-time U Sports playoff shutout record.

Ross also won both games for Team Canada at the 2025 FISU Winter Games, letting in zero goals in the tournament.

While playing elite-level hockey, Ross was also an impressive baseball player, making the Canadian National Women's Baseball team, participating in multiple World Cups, and winning bronze in 2018.

As an MRU alumnus, I was excited to chat with Kaitlyn and bring more eyes to talented U Sports athletes.

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The Ice Garden: Tell me about your hockey journey growing up, and how you ended up at Mount Royal University?

Kaitlyn Ross: So, I can never remember exactly when I started playing, but as long as I can remember, I've been playing hockey. I think it came to when I was in Atom, I got into being a goalie. I always asked my dad if I could be a goalie, and he always said no, and he finally let me do it, and I loved it, and I was pretty good at it. And then I played boys' hockey for a little bit.

And then once I got to U18, I went to Notre Dame in Saskatchewan, and I did three years there. And then after that, I kind of, I got to grade 12, and I hadn't really thought about university that much. I never really got on it when I was in grade 10 or 11. So I was kind of a last-minute recruit. I was in grade 12, looking for somewhere to go. I had a couple of options. One was in the East, one was in the West. And I figured that Mount Royal would be a good choice for me. It was close to home. It was in Calgary, a nice big city, so I ended up choosing Mount Royal.

TIG: What's been the highlight of your career thus far?

KR: Our national championship. Yeah, I don't even have close to another answer. That was one of the best feelings ever.

TIG: And you were one of the underdogs going into it?

KR: Yeah. We came in ranked eighth. Nobody thought we'd win a game. There were people in the bathroom saying, like, "Oh, poor Mount Royal, they came all this way just to lose". And then, yeah, we kind of had our little Cinderella story. It was an unreal thing, and we ended up winning gold.

We showed who Mount Royal was, but also showed that Canada West is a strong conference and that we represented Canada West, too. So, yeah, it was a nice kind of, like screw you guys. We can do this, we won.

TIG: So, you're a really strong baseball player. Oftentimes, we see athletes have to give up one sport to pursue the other, but that doesn't seem like what you've done. How has baseball helped with your hockey skills and vice versa?

KR: Yeah, well, I think at this point in my hockey career, it's come to the time where I kind of have had to choose, just with, like, injuries, contracts, I don't want to make anything messy. So I've kind of put a pause on baseball for right now.

But, it's been huge. Like, I would say the biggest thing is hand-eye coordination. It gives me the glove that I do in hockey. And without it, I wouldn't have that. I find myself with my with my goalie coach being like, "Oh, I think I do this because of baseball and it helps me." I'm really good at blocking because I'm a catcher. And even both ways, I have to keep everything in front of me, so I think that correlates.

But also keeping me competitive year-round. Okay, I'm done hockey, now it's in baseball mode. I'm competitive; I want to win. And then I'm in hockey mode and I'm competitive and I want to win, and it kind of was always that cycle.

So it'll be interesting to see, without baseball, how it goes. It's definitely been a little tough, because I've just been having to watch and I can't play, but it was for the best.

TIG: Okay, back to hockey. The PWHL is a relatively new concept. Obviously, in the past, there were other leagues, but there were very few opportunities to make hockey your career. Even starting university, this wasn't on the table. How does it feel to have this opportunity now, to maybe play this sport as your full-time career?

KR: Honestly, as you just said that, I kind of got chills. It's kind of surreal. It's something as a kid, the highest aspiration you have is to play for Team Canada. And besides that, it's like, I can't do it. The men can go do it, but I can't do it. And that's kind of an unfortunate feeling.

But now it's like, we have this opportunity to showcase it, to do this year-round, just like the men do. And I think that's such a huge thing. It's something that we can put all of our effort, time, and focus into this thing and really like, prove that we're good and make the best out of it, and make a career.

I'm kind of at a loss for words because it's something that you never expected. And now even younger girls, they're not going to quit. There's gonna be more girls playing, because there's something higher up to attain. I think that's huge for us.

TIG: Goaltending has been unreal in the PWHL. In the final series, we just saw that all the games were two to one. So obviously it's a very competitive spot to get, but how excited would you be to be able to play with some of the best goaltenders in the world?

KR: I think it would be unreal. Even in my experience at FISU (International University Sports Federation) this year, we were some of the best goaltenders in U Sports. And even that was something that was super cool to see; the different levels, how different goalies play, and you can pull things from them.

I think with the PWHL, it would be even cooler because it's all of the world. It's the best goalies in the world. To even be included in that, being in that conversation with those other goalies, it's something that's priceless.

TIG: If you could go into the draft and choose where you ended up, which team would you choose? Is there a goalie you'd pick to be your mentor?

KR: See, I'm not sure if I have an answer for that, because I think, to me, it would just be an honour to make any team and to be in any conversation. So in my mind, I'm like, I just want to make a team. I want to be picked by somebody, and whoever's there is going to be a great goaltender. Like you said, the league is full of them. And then I think, yeah, it'd be a great time to showcase myself on any team.

The PWHL draft will take place in Ottawa on June 24.

*Transcript has been edited for clarity and length

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