‘An incredible year’: Brittany Howard steps away from PWHL, returns to her home away from home

The 28-year-old from St. Thomas recently retired from playing to become head coach of the under-16 and under-19 girls’ teams with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite organization. She will also work as the skills development trainer for the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

“This opportunity was one that I couldn’t pass on,” Howard told the Star about the offer she accepted in March, while the PWHL season was in full swing.

“It hit all the key markings to make me make a tough decision to hang them up. But also obviously I’m getting old, so you never know when your time is going to be done,” she said.It was a tough decision but I’m excited for the opportunity ahead.”

Howard is returning to a place she considers a home away from home. She studied at and played for Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh —  a 15-minute drive from where she will be working — earning a master’s degree in leadership and an undergraduate degree in sports management.

As a player, she was the team’s MVP three times, player of the year in 2017 and 2018, and Pittsburgh’s sportswoman of the year in 2017. 

Howard was drafted by the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women’s Hockey League, but opted to play with the Toronto Furies in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2018-19. She joined the Premier Hockey Federation for the 2022-23 season and was the leading scorer for the Toronto Six, who won the 2023 Isobel Cup.

An eighth-round pick in the PWHL draft, Howard had eight points in 23 games in the league’s inaugural season, but the coaching bug never went away.

“I’ve worked in skills development for the last 10 years alongside my playing career,” she said. “To be able to go to the rink every day and be on the ice with the kids and teach them the game of hockey is something that I really enjoy doing.”

Despite what appears to be an early departure, she is proud of her time in the PWHL.

“I was lucky enough to be drafted to a place that’s close to home and have my family and friends come to watch me play throughout the season,” Howard said.“We had an incredible year in the inaugural season, and that’s something that is only going to happen once.”.”