Four Markham Thunder players retire

The Markham Thunder announced this morning on Twitter that four players from their 2018 Clarkson Cup-winning team are retiring this offseason.

They leave as champions.

Thank you @fielding16, @hartwick7, @mwronz78 and @UrbanKarolina for your hard work and dedication 💚

📚 https://t.co/Yy1xSVN7Lf pic.twitter.com/PdK05KPG37

— Markham Thunder HC (@ThunderCWHL) August 23, 2018

Forwards Fielding Montgomery, Melissa Wronzberg, and Karolina Urban, along with defender Jessica Hartwick, will not be returning to the Thunder for the 2018-19 season.

Montgomery is a graduate of Dalhousie University, and was taken 35th overall in the 2014 draft. She spent four years with the Thunder, three in Brampton. Wronzberg and Hartwick were both Ryerson University products, and they were both Thunder picks in the 2016 draft, 23rd and 38th respectively.

Going to be weird not having to be at the rink every night, but I can't wait to see how the @ThunderCWHL do this year! Thanks for the memories #thundernation! https://t.co/mVi4tgI4Qf

— Melissa Wronzberg (@mwronz78) August 23, 2018

Urban only joined the Thunder in 2017, but it was her second stint in the CWHL—she played a year for the Toronto Furies in 2012-13 and a year for the Calgary Inferno in 2013-14. She then spent two years with Aisulu Almaty in the EWHL before returning to Canada and the CWHL last season.

Thank you for the most memorable year @ThunderCWHL ! https://t.co/OF1yPR3iCa

— Karolina Urban (@UrbanKarolina) August 23, 2018

Urban’s name might also be familiar to GTA hockey fans from her work with The Athletic as a player-correspondent last season. Whether she’ll continue in that role as a correspondent-correspondent remains to be seen.

While they might be retiring from professional play, that doesn’t mean they’re leaving hockey. Montgomery, Wronzberg, and Urban will all be coaching teams in the area, and Hartwick has started her own hockey development company.

Coaches, business owners, PHD candidates, innovators. An incredible group of girls who have left their mark on the @ThunderCWHL 💚 Excited to see what’s next for all of you! https://t.co/mRU1Nc3tdi

— Kristen Richards (@k_rich19) August 23, 2018

It’s every hockey player’s goal to go out with at least one Cup under their belt, and while it’s always sad to see players retire, these four women were able to do it as reigning Clarkson Cup champions. We wish them the best in all the challenges they choose to face next.