When the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL announced that they had extended a Professional Tryout Offer (PTO) contract to 29-year-old Canadian goalie Mariah Fujimagari, it took many by surprise. But the offer from Joel Martin, coach of the affiliate of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks had actually been years in the making. 

He was impressed with Fujimagari when the two met at a goalie coaching symposium a few years back. An ECHL Hall of Fame goalie himself, Martin said he liked what he saw she could do on the ice, but it was how she handled herself when not in net that really stood out. When it came time to start putting together his roster for this season and thought about the intangibles his team would need to be successful, he thought of how Fujimagari’s focus and work ethic would be assets. 

“I knew that she fit the culture that we have here and I felt like she could help us build that culture, as well, by being a part of it. We're looking for good hockey players, but we're looking for good people, as well, that do things a certain way and we felt like she checked all those boxes,” said Martin. 

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Fujimagari has shuffled between the CWHL and PHF (then the NWHL) and leagues in Slovakia and Sweden since graduating from the University of Maine but spends her offseason in Toronto as the only woman amid a group of men who play in the NHL, KHL and several other leagues that train at In-Tech High Performance. 

“I'm able to fully be a beast there every single day training to you know, push me outside of my comfort zone every single day and develop as a goalie in every single area of my game,” she said. 

K-Wings goaltender @Fujimagoalie, Joel Martin & GM Toni Will discuss with the press how training camp is going and Fujimagari's impact thus far.#IgniteTheFlight pic.twitter.com/8ojZrVeE5N

— Kalamazoo Wings (@KalamazooWings) October 10, 2023

A relentless student of the game with a dogged work ethic and commitment to improvement, Fujimagari shows a dedication to her craft, said Martin, that belies a pride in the game of hockey, in herself and in the role of goaltender that he thinks is important that his players see, regardless of the gender of the person modeling the behavior. 

At 5 '11” Fujimagari has the size to be able to handle traffic and bodies in front of the net, but Martin said she also has the speed to move around the goalmouth to make saves she probably shouldn’t be able to make. Martin said Fujimagari has an advanced ability to read the game and anticipate plays. Much of that is innate - or at least learned over time in her career. But fortuitous timing also helped prepare her for this opportunity she couldn’t have known then was in her future. 

She joined Allmänna Idrottsklubben Ishockeyförening (AIK) in the Svenska damhockeyligan (SDHL) last season, when the league decided to test out more relaxed rules on body contact than exist elsewhere. The lack of checking has always made the women’s game more about finesse, passing and puck-handling. The need to defend differently allows the best players to be really inventive with time and space. 

When players were allowed body contact, that sped up the pace of play, Fujimagari said, because there was no assumption of time or space. Defenders didn’t have to hang back in passing lanes and look for blocks. It changed pretty much everything about the way the game looked in front of her but set her up to be in a great place to join a men’s team. 

“I'm just really blessed for all of the avenues hockey has been able to take me on because I've been able to learn so many valuable lessons and develop as a goalie as well as a person at every single stage that I've gone through,” said Fujimagari. 

While her personal approach to the game drew Martin’s notice, Fujimagari is well aware that she wouldn’t be getting this opportunity in Kalamazoo without the help of a whole host of people that helped shape her into the person and hockey player capable of playing in the ECHL. 

“I'm just really grateful for every opportunity that has been paved for me every stage of the way. It's not one person that allows an athlete to reach their full potential. It takes a village. I'm so grateful for every single coach and every single trainer and every single mentor and my family that has really led me to be able to have this opportunity here today,” she said. 

All of the work that she has put in culminated in this being an opportunity that Fujimagari didn’t want to pass up. Yes, she wants to be a trailblazer and inspire the next generation. She does not take the meaning and impact of what she's doing lightly. But she also just really loves this game and has dedicated her life to being in the best physical and mental condition to play it at the highest level.

“I am just very passionate about the game of hockey. I love being on the ice. I love saving the puck. I love developing and becoming a better goalie,” she said. 

“My motivation is to always be developing my game and becoming the best goaltender that I can possibly be and be a part of a culture that really facilitates that in terms of resources, the group of players and everything that goes into a professional organization. Whatever environment that is that facilitates that growth and development in my game, I'm really always looking to surround myself in that environment.”

That this opportunity for this woman to make history is happening in Kalamazoo is no accident and should not be overlooked. General manager Toni Will is Kalamazoo’s first female general manager as well as the first woman ever to be named to the ECHL Board of Governors. Martin is the first Black head coach in K-Wings history and is one of two Black head coaches in North American men's professional hockey (Cincinnati Cyclones head coach Jason Payne is the other). 

“Joel (Martin) and I feel very passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion, and we're willing to speak up and represent the minority - not only for the K-Wings, but for the ECHL,” said Will. 

“Joel (Martin) has worked tremendously hard as a professional athlete and now a head coach to be where he is. I have busted my a-- to be where I am, regardless of my gender. We’re not trying to exclude anyone. We want this to be about everyone having a voice, everyone to feel seen, everyone to be represented. It’s about a growth mindset. Being open-minded. That’s where we’re at, thinking about the future. We’re going to keep doing what we do because our world is changing, and we've seen a lot of progress in the last 20 years and it's going to continue to happen. But we’ve got a long way to go.”

Fujimagari wouldn’t even be the first woman to play for Kalamazoo. Molly McMaster played for the K-Wings in 2006, during the team’s time in the United Hockey League. 

So no, Will said, this isn’t a stunt. Fujimagari was signed to a PTO because they know she continues to put in the work to become the best goalie she can be and because the way she carries herself off the ice - with media, with training, in the gym - is the way they hope all their players approach the game. 

Martin noted that in the short time Fujimagari had been in camp, she had already settled into a routine that made her the last person on the ice or in the gym every day. She was still in the building when Martin himself left for the day. 

For Will’s part, she said she loves that it is a woman breaking barriers and upsetting the expectations and norms for the ECHL, but also noted that when Fujimagari is on the ice, she forgets that the player she’s watching is any different from anyone else out on the ice. The level of her play erases any gender gap, she said. 

“Mariah, flat-out, regardless of her gender, is talented enough to be on that professional try out and on the ice with those men. Gender aside, she is talented and that's why she has a tryout. Flat out. She can run with the boys,” said Will. 

Fujimagari is in camp with three other goalies vying for one of three spots on the team’s roster. Should she make the team, she would be the third woman in ECHL history to sign with a team and the first since 1995. The other two were also goalies -- former U.S. National Team netminder Erin Whitten and Manon Rheaume, who was also the first and only woman to appear in an NHL preseason game.

The league has been making progress in inclusion of women over the past few seasons. Laura Schmidlein became the league’s first female official in December 2021. Danielle Goyette was the first female assistant coach in the history of the ECHL when was named to the role temporarily for the Newfoundland Growlers when their coaching staff went through Covid protocols. Members of the PHF and PWHPA have taken part in the league’s All-Star Weekend for the past three seasons. 

Earning a place on the team would be another big step for both the ECHL and women in hockey, but Fujimagari knows she can’t dwell too much on the fact that her invite to camp is a big cultural moment that is much bigger than she is. She spoke to media before her tryout started in earnest. The team is doing the best they can to limit distractions and manage the larger-than-life story that “Mariah Fujimagari, woman goalie” has become so that Mariah Fujimagari, hockey player, can concentrate on her tryout. 

“It’s important for me as a goalie to be able to showcase and bring my athleticism, my size and my compete level every single day to camp and that's what I'm focused on doing. Nothing is given here. Everything is earned,” Fujimagari said.

“I work very hard every single day in the gym and off the ice so that my body is in the best physical shape it can be in so I can be on the ice and make saves. It's really important every single day to stay hungry and continue to take action towards my goals. And that's what I plan to do. At the end of the day, it's my job to stop the puck, so that's what I'm really focused on.”