Canadian defender Tara Watchorn announced her retirement from pro hockey, first from the CWHL and then today from the national team, retiring at only 27 years of age with an Olympic Gold and Clarkson Cup.

Watchorn, a native of Newcastle, Ontario, spent her collegiate career with the Boston University Terriers before joining the upstart CWHL, spending a season with Calgary before returning to Boston in 2014 with the Blades. It was back in Boston that Watchorn would capture the 2015 Clarkson Cup over Montréal in her first season, also being named CWHL Defender of the Year in the same season, granting her the Blades’ captaincy the following season until her retirement.

Watchorn first joined the Canadian national team as an alternate at 2010 Four Nations Cup, first playing on the active roster at the 2011 World Championships. Watchorn would be an important anchor of the 2014 Sochi Olympic championship team, winning Gold at three Nations Cups (2010, 2013, 2014), as well as Silver at three World Championships (2011, 2015, 2016) and one Nations Cup (2012), amassing eight medals in only six seasons with the senior national team.

Over the course of her international career, Watchorn held the IHLC five times 18 times, starting with her debut at the 2010 Four Nations Cup, with additional wins in 2012, 2013, at the 2014 Sochi Games, and lastly at the 2016 Four Nations Cup, fittingly her final senior international tournament. We wish Tara and her family the very best for her retirement and the things to come!

Photo Credit: Tara Watchorn – IIHF – HHOF – IOC