Mariah Fujimagari is aiming to become the first woman to play in the ECHL in 28 years. On Sunday night, she took a step towards that goal with a preseason win for the Kalamazoo Wings, the Vancouver Canucks' ECHL affiliate.
The 29-year-old goaltender signed a professional tryout agreement (PTO) with the K-Wings after spending a season in Sweden. Fujimagari had previously played in the Premier Hockey Federation — formerly the National Women's Hockey League — with the Buffalo Beauts and Connecticut Whale, but she went undrafted in the recent Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) draft.
Fujimagari came into Sunday night's preseason game for the K-Wings in the third period for Jonathan Lemieux and made 14 saves on 17 shots, including five saves in overtime, before Erik Bradford tucked in a pass from Brad Morrison on a 2-on-1 to seal the win for Fujimagari.
The team's celebration of the win showed just how excited the team was for Fujimagari, as they swarmed the goatender, recognizing the importance of the moment.
Fujimagari was visibly thrilled, pumping up the crowd after the win. She was named the third star of the game.
K-Wings general manager Toni Will, who was the first woman to be named to the ECHL Board of Governors, had to have been happy that Fujimagari performed so well in her first preseason outing.
"Mariah, flat-out, regardless of her gender, is talented enough to be on that professional try out and on the ice with those men," said Will on the weekend. "Gender aside, she is talented and that's why she has a tryout. Flat out. She can run with the boys."
It remains to be seen if Fugimagari will earn a contract with the K-Wings. The K-Wings already have Hunter Vorva, who had a .920 save percentage with the K-Wings last season, and she faces stiff competition for the backup job from Jonathan Lemieux, who was at the Canucks' NHL training camp and stopped all twenty shots he faced in the first two periods before Fujimagari came into the game.
That said, ECHL teams typically need more than two goaltenders. The K-Wings had five goaltenders appear in at least one game for them last season.
At the very least, it doesn't look like she'll need to compete with any Canucks prospects for a spot on the team. While the Canucks could have sent Nikita Tolopilo down to the ECHL to ensure he got playing time, it appears that he'll be staying with the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL, as he and Arturs Silovs split the team's first two games.
While some outlets reported Fujimagari's win as the first for a woman in ECHL history, that's not the case. Two other goaltenders preceded her, though they did so nearly thirty years ago.
Erin Whitten appeared in four ECHL games with the Toledo Storm in the 1993-94 season, earning two wins. Manon Rheaume, who is still the only woman to play a preseason game in the NHL, had a 5-1-1 record and an .878 save percentage across nine games played in the ECHL from 1993 to 1995 with the Knoxville Cherokees, Nashville Knights, and Tallahassee Tiger Sharks.
