If Queen Elizabeth I played hockey: right wing, rated 81

Queen Elizabeth I as a hockey player: scouting report

Queen Elizabeth I would play right wing, and she would run the power play from the half wall like a monarch running a court. She held the throne of England for more than forty four years, from 1558 to 1603, and a reign that long takes patience, a long memory and a gift for reading every person in the room. On the ice that becomes the best passing on her card: she sees the seam before it opens and threads the puck through it while defenders are still deciding who to cover.

She was one of the most educated rulers of her age, reading and speaking Latin, French, Italian and Greek, and that quickness of mind shows up in her release. Her shooting is nearly as strong as her passing, so she is a true dual threat on the flank. Elizabeth also loved to ride, hunt and dance, and those hours on horseback and on the dance floor give her better balance on her edges than her skating grade suggests. Her defense is sound, and she plays her own end with discipline.

The weak spot is physical play. She is not built to win board battles in the corners, and she was always more inclined to outmaneuver a rival than to collide with one. Center is a strong second spot thanks to her vision, and goalie is a workable third. Draft her as the brain of a scoring line and put a hard working forechecker beside her to retrieve the puck, and she will turn those possessions into chances all night.

Plays like A cerebral sniper who sets the tempo from the half wall

Put Queen Elizabeth I in your lineup

8 rolls, a starting six and a bench, 82 games. Can you go 82-0? Free, no account.