Samantha Cogan

Samantha Cogan
Cogan in 2019
Born (1997-07-07) July 7, 1997 (age 27)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 154 lb (70 kg; 11 st 0 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Left
PWHL team
Former teams		 Toronto Sceptres
Coached for Calgary Dinos
Playing career 2011–present
Coaching career 2021–present

Samantha "Sam" Cogan[1] (born July 7, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She played college ice hockey at Wisconsin and won a national title with the team in 2019.

Playing career

Cogan first started playing hockey at six years old.[2] Her father was initially apprehensive about her playing hockey but her mother and friends convinced him to let her play the sport.[3] She shoots left.[2]

Junior

Cogan began her junior career in the Provincial Women's Hockey League (PWHL or Provincial WHL; renamed Ontario Women's Hockey League in 2023) playing for the Nepean Wildcats in her home city of Ottawa, Ontario.[1][4][5] She spent four seasons with the team, from 2011 to 2015, and in her final season was named alternate captain and helped lead the team to their first regular season championship.[6][7][2] Cogan was the team's leading scorer in her second season[8] and was a top-three point and goal scorer during her other three seasons.[9][10][6]

NCAA

Cogan's time in the NCAA Division I was spent representing the Wisconsin Badgers in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WHCA) from 2015 to 2019, as she majored in physical education.[11][12][2] In her rookie season, Cogan led her rookie teammates in goals, assists, and points.[2] She was also the runner up in the same three categories across all WHCA freshmen.[2] Cogan's standout rookie season secured her a spot on the 20015–16 WHCA All-Rookie Team and awarded her WHCA Rookie of the Month twice in 2015–16, and WHCA Rookie of the Week on three occasions in 2015–16.[2] She was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week once in 2018, and to the 2017–18 WCHA All-Academic Team.[2]

In her senior year, Cogan helped lead the team to the 2019 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament national championship. She recorded 100 career points, joining only 25 other Badgers in obtaining that achievement.[2][13]

Professional

Cogan joined the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) in 2020 and played for Calgary-based Team Scotiabank until 2022, at which time she switched teams and spent the 2022–23 season with Toronto-based Team Sonnet.[14][15][16] In her first season with Team Scotiabank, Cogan was selected as a PWHPA All-Star, and her second season with the team was victorious, making Team Scotiabank PWHPA Champions.[citation needed]

Cogan with Toronto in 2024

In 2023, the Professional Women's Hockey League announced its inaugural season. Cogan was noted as a player to watch ahead of the 2023 PWHL Draft but, to her own surprise, was not selected during the draft.[17][18] She was invited to PWHL Toronto's preseason training camp and signed with the team as a free agent.[19]

On March 2, 2024, she scored her first PWHL goal against her hometown team in a 5–2 PWHL Toronto win over PWHL Ottawa.[1]

International play

As a junior player with the Canadian national under-18 ice hockey team, Cogan participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championships in 2014 and 2015, winning gold and silver medals, respectively.[7][14][20][21] Her performance in the 2014 championship awarded her an opportunity to be a part of the Canadian National Team Fall Festival.[22]

Personal life

Cogan was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Don and Heather Cogan, and is Jewish.[23][24][25][7][1][2] She has a sister, Casey, and a brother, Tyler.[2] She attended Glebe Collegiate Institute for high school, where she was on the honor roll for three years.[2]

She served as an assistant coach to the Calgary Dinos women's ice hockey program during the 2021–22 season of U Sports women's ice hockey.[18] The Dinos coaching team in that season was led by head coach Carla MacLeod and Kelty Apperson was an assistant coach alongside Cogan.[26]

Cogan resided in Calgary during 2020 to 2023.[7]

Awards and honours

Award Year or period
International
World U18 Gold Medal 2014
World U18 Silver Medal 2015
College
WCHA Rookie of the Week Week of November 3, 2015
Week of December 8, 2015
Week of February 10, 2016
WCHA Rookie of the Month December 2015
February 2016
WCHA All-Rookie Team 2015–16
WCHA Offensive Player of the Week Week of February 20, 2018
NCAA Tournament Champion 2019
PWHPA
All-Star Game 2022–23[7]
Other
Sharon Koffman Memorial Athletic Award
bestowed by the Ottawa Jewish Sports Hall of Fame 		2017[27]

See also

References

  • Cogan, Samantha; Pate, Brandon (interviewer) (October 11, 2021). PWHPA professional hockey player Samantha Cogan (Video interview). Brandon's Sports Talk. Retrieved March 25, 2024 – via YouTube.
  1. ^ a b c d Kennedy, Ian (March 2, 2024). "Sam Cogan Scores First PWHL Goal in Front of Hometown Crowd". The Hockey News. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "2018-19 Women's Hockey Roster: 7 Sam Cogan". Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  3. ^ Elliot, Monique (March 31, 2014). "Women's hockey player hopes to score Olympic gold in 2018". Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. p. 18. Retrieved March 25, 2024 – via Issuu.
  4. ^ Cleary, Martin (April 9, 2014). "Cogan, Wildcats maul competition: Samantha Cogan certainly would love to replay her 2013-14 hockey season all over again. Who wouldn't, when you consider her list of achievements". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  5. ^ Staffieri, Mark (February 4, 2013). "Sam Cogan Represents the Next Wave of Scoring Leaders for Nepean PWHL". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "PWHL 2014/2015 – Nepean Wildcats, Stats". Provincial Women's Hockey League. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Staffieri, Mark (December 22, 2022). "Samantha Cogan a hometown heroine at PWHPA All-Star Weekend". Women's Hockey Life. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  8. ^ "PWHL 2012/2013 – Nepean Wildcats, Stats". Provincial Women's Hockey League. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  9. ^ "PWHL 2011/2012 – Nepean Wildcats, Stats". Provincial Women's Hockey League. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  10. ^ "PWHL 2013/2014 – Nepean Wildcats, Stats". Provincial Women's Hockey League. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  11. ^ Milewski, Todd D. (February 21, 2018). "Wisconsin's Sam Cogan named WCHA's offensive player of the week". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  12. ^ Johnson, Andy (December 23, 2014). "Shaver, Cogan sign LOIs with women's hockey team". Bucky's 5th Quarter. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  13. ^ Kennedy, Ian (July 14, 2022). "Women's Hockey Growth Continues With Inclusion in Maccabiah Games". The Hockey News. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Player Profile: Samantha Cogan". Elite Prospects. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  15. ^ Jay, Michelle (October 22, 2020). "PWHPA releases 2020-21 regional rosters". The Ice Garden. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  16. ^ "PWHPA Unveils Rosters for 2022-23 Season". Women's Hockey Life (Press release). September 22, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  17. ^ Kennedy, Ian (September 14, 2023). "Final: Top 120 PWHL Draft Rankings". The Hockey News. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Ganter, Mike (January 3, 2024). "Undrafted free agents staking their claim as PWHL Toronto settles in". Toronto Sun. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  19. ^ Kennedy, Ian (December 6, 2023). "Free Agents: A Look At The Preseason Performance Of PWHL Free Agents". The Hockey News. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  20. ^ "Breaking the Ice with Sam Cogan". Wisconsin Badgers. September 18, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  21. ^ Staffieri, Mark (January 6, 2022). "PWHPA Spotlight: Samantha Cogan". Women's Hockey Life. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  22. ^ "Coach Sam Cogan". SDR Academy. July 11, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  23. ^ Braun, Jon (June 30, 2014). "SJCC honours athletes at Breakfast of Champions" (PDF). Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. p. 34. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  24. ^ Gurvis, Jacob (March 8, 2024). "Meet Jordan Harris, the Black Jewish NHL player on a mission to change hockey". The Jewish Sport Report. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  25. ^ Haase, Nicole (October 1, 2015). "Meet a new Badger: Sam Cogan". Bucky's 5th Quarter. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  26. ^ "2021-22 Women's Hockey Coaching Staff". University of Calgary Athletics. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  27. ^ Scanlan, Wayne (June 11, 2017). "Levine inducted into Jewish sports hall as Maccabiah athletes feted at JC". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved March 25, 2024.