BUFFALO – The Buffalo Beauts announced that their first of three 2021 3rd-round draft selections has signed with the team. Chosen 13th overall in the recent NWHL Draft, center Kennedy Ganser is now beginning her professional career. Becoming a Beaut is something she views as a dream come true.
“It still feels pretty surreal to have been drafted by the Beauts,” said Ganser. “Growing up, I had always hoped that there would be a ‘women’s NHL’. Now that I have that opportunity, it is pretty exciting.”
A native of Provost, Alberta, Canada, Ganser is the second player in Beauts history to be drafted from the University of Alberta. She had double digits in assists and points for the Pandas in each season from 2016-17 through 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020-21 U SPORTS season. Ganser produced numbers of 34 goals, 51 assists, and 85 points in 112 games – an average of 0.76 points per game. She not only was part of the Pandas’ U SPORTS Championship winning team in 2016-17, but was named U SPORTS West’s Rookie of the Year and was named to the Canada West’s All-Rookie Team that season as well.
“When you look at Gans’ production and her achievements with the Pandas, we were pretty elated to get her in the draft,” said Beauts General Manager Nate Oliver. “Now she is under contract, and we anticipate that she is going to be an impact player right off the bat. I have a lot of respect for (Pandas head coach) Howie Draper and he told me quite bluntly, ‘Nate – Kennedy is going to be your favorite player.’ Gans has a great blend of physicality and finesse.”
With the Beauts Ganser will rejoin her former University of Alberta winger Autumn MacDougall. The two formed a deadly combination for the Pandas and hope to do so once more in Buffalo.
“Auttie and I always seem to know where each other are out on the ice,” Ganser said. “We have different styles of play that seem to compliment each other quite well.
