Hamilton superstar goalie Tia Chan to play in PWHL for San Jose

A local hockey star got her start playing in net during road-hockey games with her brother in Hamilton’s Rosedale neighbourhood.

From there she played college hockey in the U.S., started a game in the Olympics, and is now beginning her professional career, all by the age of 23.

Tia Chan spent the last five seasons tending goal for the UConn Huskies in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but her love of hockey started on the streets of Hamilton with her brothers.

“They both played hockey and I always wanted to be involved, and so they had played road hockey and my way of getting in there was playing goalie, so that’s kind of how I started in that,” said Chan.

She started playing ice hockey at the age of four. Now at 23, the sport has taken her around the world, even China, where she played for the Chinese Olympic women’s hockey team in the 2022 Beijing Games.

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“I first got approached from someone on an arena and they were like ‘hey, we noticed your last name is Chan and you have Chinese heritage,’ which is true, my grandfather was born in China,” said Chan. “They said, ‘we’re looking to grow hockey in China’ — I want to grow hockey, I was all in.”

It was an adventure she’ll never forget.

“Just having that experience of being on Olympic ice, having thousands and thousands of fans in the arena and seeing the Olympic rings on the back of the net, on the boards, on banners — it was so surreal, so awesome and cool,” said Chan.

After the Olympics, Chan returned to the UConn Huskies and over the next few years, led them to new heights.

“Our program built up immensely from my start and throughout my time there, we got two hockey championships, one of which was the first in program history,” said Chan. “For us, we had two NCAA tournament berths, one of which was the first for the program.”

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She finished her last season at UConn with a 27 and 8 record, and was drafted in the third round by San Jose in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).

“Once I got that experience in the NCAA, you only want more after that, and I’m so grateful for the women’s players that came before me and started this new league, and I’m so fortunate to have it for me as soon as I come out of college,” said Chan.

She hit the ice in Burlington Friday with a few other PWHL players, giving her a taste of what to expect next season in San Jose.

“Everything’s going to be improved: shot, release, speed skating, speed, deception — people’s hands are going to be more skilled,” said Chan. “Everything is going to be elevated, it’s going to be bigger bodies, more physical, everything.”

As exciting as playing pro is for Chan, she’s really looking forward to coming back to Hamilton for the first time, to play in front of friends and family.

“Absolutely, I can’t wait to come here and see what the crowd is like,” said Chan. “See the hometown, be in my hometown and see how excited the fans are going to be.”

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