Kimberly Newell

Kimberly Newell grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia, attending Vancouver Giants games at the Pacific Coliseum as a kid. Decades later, she skated out of that same building as a goaltender for the PWHL's Vancouver Goldeneyes — a full-circle moment she described on InGoal Radio as producing "little chills running down your back." ^[1]

The path from Burnaby to that opening-night skate-out was anything but direct. Newell played collegiate hockey at Princeton, where she became the winningest goaltender in the program's women's hockey history. After graduating, she spent two years working in finance in New York City before returning to the ice in a way that drew international attention: she joined the KRS Vanke Rays in the Zhenskaya Hockey League, playing under the Chinese name Zhou Jiaying to represent her Chinese heritage on the first Chinese professional women's hockey team. That chapter of her career culminated at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where she represented China in the women's ice hockey tournament. Her first InGoal Radio appearance came shortly after those Olympics, on episode 178 ^[2], an episode Kevin Woodley has since described as loaded with mindset content.

Before any of that international stage, Newell was part of a notable Team Canada U18 program. In 2013, she was a teammate of Kristen Campbell and Hannah Miller and Sarah Nurse on a gold medal-winning U18 squad — a connection she referenced in her 2025 InGoal conversation, noting that no video exists from that final.

After the 2022 Olympics, Newell remained involved in the game through coaching rather than playing, working with the local U18 AAA program in the Vancouver area and co-founding InPower Hockey. That coaching work shaped the way she approached her return to professional play. As she explained on episode 330 of InGoal Radio, explaining technique to goalies of different ages forced her to examine assumptions she had made about her own game — understanding not just what she does, but why, and recognizing that different movement options carry different trade-offs depending on the situation. ^[1]

When the PWHL announced an expansion franchise in Vancouver, Newell entered the draft. She has said the location was the deciding factor: asked whether she would have pursued a spot if the expansion had gone to another city, she said she would not have been nearly as motivated. The sold-out PWHL Takeover Tour game at Rogers Arena — she attended with the U18 AAA staff — was the first moment she entertained the idea. "If I don't try, I think I might regret it," she told InGoal Radio. ^[1]

The physical preparation required to return to competitive goaltending after a significant gap was a central topic in her episode 330 conversation. She managed an ankle injury that had pre-dated the 2022 Olympics, traveled to San Jose in September to work in person with a strength coach and neuromuscular therapist, and deliberately limited her on-ice sessions through the summer — sometimes only once a week — to avoid setbacks. She framed the discipline of restraint as the hardest part of the process: wanting to push on the ice but recognizing that the technical foundation built over years of playing and coaching was already there, and that the priority had to be physical readiness going into training camp. ^[1]

Her discussion of goaltending movement on that episode ranged across biomechanics, the shift from linear thinking about technique toward a framework built on versatility, adaptability, and resiliency, and the practical question of how a goaltender moves between detailed analytical work in practice and a cleared, trusting mindset on game days. She also addressed her working relationship with Vancouver's goaltending coach Joey, her familiarity with Kristen Campbell going back to their shared U18 camp, and her observations about the stylistic differences among the Goldeneyes' goaltending group. ^[1]

Newell wore number 35 for Vancouver in the 2025–26 PWHL season. She continues to run InPower Hockey alongside her playing commitments.

InGoal Magazine has covered Kimberly Newell in two podcast appearances.