Erin Ambrose

Erin Ambrose (born April 30, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the PWHL Las Vegas of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and member of the Canada women's national ice hockey team. She made her debut with the Canada women's national ice hockey team at the 2014 4 Nations Cup.

Playing career At the age of 11, Ambrose moved from AA to AAA boys hockey, and in her second season, she was named team captain. She began to play women's ice hockey as a 14-year-old in 2008. She competed for Ontario Blue at the 2008 National Women's Under-18 Championship and participated in all five games. Ontario Blue had a fourth-place finish at the tournament in Napanee, Ont. In 2009, she was invited to Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team. She was one of seven defenders named to the final roster, making her the second 15-year-old (after teammate Kaleigh Fratkin) to suit up for the under-18 squad. On February 19, 2012, Ambrose became the all-time scoring leader among defenders in Provincial Women's Hockey League history. She recorded a three-point game versus the Mississauga Jr. Chiefs to surpass Laura Fortino.

College On January 16, 2012, it was announced that Ambrose committed to join the Clarkson Golden Knights women's ice hockey program in autumn 2012. Ambrose was the leading rookie scorer among all defenders in the NCAA, recording 36 points. Her 30 assists were a program record, while her 1.06 points per game made her one of only three blueliners in NCAA points to average at least one point per game.

To begin her sophomore season, Ambrose amassed five and four-point performances, including hat tricks in consecutive games. Such performances took place against the RIT Tigers and St. Lawrence Skating Saints. She finished the season as the co-winner of ECAC Hockey's Best Defensive Defenseman Award.

Serving as an assistant captain in her junior and senior seasons, the junior season was highlighted by recording the 100th point of her career with the Golden Knights. Becoming the ninth player in program history to reach the century club, she achieved the feat on January 10, 2015, scoring a goal in a 1–1 draw versus conference rival Cornell.

In her senior season, she missed the first nine games due to injury.

Making her debut with Les Canadiennes on December 16, she recorded a pair of assists, including an assist on the overtime winner by Kayla Tutino, a 5–4 win versus the Markham Thunder.

With Les Canadiennes, Ambrose appeared in the 2019 Clarkson Cup, challenging the Calgary Inferno. Ambrose gained an assist in the game, a 5–2 loss to Calgary.

PWHL On September 18, 2023, Ambrose was drafted in the first round, sixth overall, by PWHL Montreal in the 2023 PWHL Draft. She was the fourth player to be protected by Montreal in the 2025 Expansion Draft, after the new teams signed two players from the Victoire. Previously, her teammates Ann-Renée Desbiens, Marie-Philip Poulin, and Laura Stacey were protected first.

During the 2025–26 season, she recorded six assists in 21 regular season games and two assists in nine games during the 2026 Walter Cup playoffs, to help the Victoire win the Walter Cup.

During the league's expansion to 12 teams ahead of the 2026–27 season, she was left unprotected by the Victoire and signed a two-year contract with PWHL Las Vegas on June 8, 2026.

International play Ambrose was part of Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team to a gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship in Chicago. As a member of the gold medal-winning squad, a hockey card of her was featured in the Upper Deck 2010 World of Sports card series. In addition, she participated in the Canada Celebrates Event on June 30 in Edmonton, Alberta which recognized the Canadian Olympic and World hockey champions from the 2009–10 season .

During the 2011–12 Canada women's national ice hockey team season, she was a member of the Canadian National Under 18 team that participated in a three-game series vs. the US in August 2011. In addition, she was named the team captain. She was part of the gold medal-winning Team Ontario Red squad at the 2011 Canadian National Women's Under-18 Championships In the second game of the 2012 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship (contested on January 1, 2012), Erin Ambrose earned two points in a 6–0 shutout of Germany.

On January 11, 2022, Ambrose was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.

On January 9, 2026, she was named to Canada's roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2008–09 Toronto Jr. Aeros Prov. WHL 26 1 7 8 8 8 1 1 2 6 2009–10 Toronto Jr. Aeros Prov. WHL 38 4 19 23 10 7 3 3 6 0 2010–11 Toronto Jr. Aeros Prov. WHL 32 7 21 28 20 7 3 5 8 2 2011–12 Toronto Jr. Aeros Prov. WHL 29 7 22 29 6 10 1 8 9 4 2012–13 Clarkson Golden Knights NCAA 34 6 30 36 18 — — — — — 2013–14 Clarkson Golden Knights NCAA 37 14 36 50 22 — — — — — 2014–15 Clarkson Golden Knights NCAA 31 6 17 23 18 — — — — — 2015–16 Clarkson Golden Knights NCAA 30 7 21 28 18 — — — — — 2016–17 Toronto Furies CWHL 17 0 8 8 8 — — — — — 2017–18 Montréal Canadiennes CWHL 16 2 12 14 10 2 0 1 1 0 2018–19 Montréal Canadiennes CWHL 26 6 18 24 20 2 0 1 1 2 2019–20 Montréal PWHPA — — — — — — — — — — 2020–21 Team Bauer PWHPA 4 1 3 4 2 — — — — — 2022–23 Team Sonnet PWHPA 16 2 3 5 6 — — — — — 2023–24 PWHL Montreal PWHL 24 4 14 18 4 3 0 2 2 0 2024–25 Montréal Victoire PWHL 28 0 13 13 4 4 0 1 1 0 2025–26 Montréal Victoire PWHL 21 0 6 6 2 9 0 2 2 2PWHL totals 73 4 33 37 10 16 0 5 5 2

International

Sources: Elite Prospects and the NHL.

Awards and honours Directorate Award, Best Defender, 2012 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship.

NCAA ECAC Rookie of the Week (Week of October 23, 2012) 2013 ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year 2013 Second-Team ECAC All-Star 2013 All-USCHO.com All-Star team 2014 First-Team All-American 2014 Top 10 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award finalist 2015 ECAC Hockey Third-Team All-League 2016 First-Team ECAC Hockey All-Star 2016, Finalist for ECAC Hockey Best Defenseman Award 2016 ECAC Hockey All-Tournament team

CWHL 2018–19, CWHL Defender of the Year

PWHL 2023–24, PWHL Defender of the Year 2023–24 First Team All-Star Walter Cup champion (2026)

Personal life In October 2020, Ambrose wrote a piece for Hockey Canada detailing her struggles with depression and anxiety, also revealing her queer identity. In December 2020, she pledged to donate her brain to science for concussion research after her death.