Wong skates to new role with expansion Red Star
Former Inferno star plays for CWHL team from China, which is on road trip
Jessica Wong embarked on her Canadian Women’s Hockey League career in the 2013-14 season as a forward with the Calgary Inferno.
What a difference four years makes.
She’s now playing defence for the Kunlun Red Star, one of two expansion teams from China in the CWHL this season.
“It’s definitely something different,” said Wong, whose new squad lost 4-1 to her old team at WinSport Arena on Sunday the day after the Red Star skated to a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over the Inferno at Max Bell Centre.
“I wouldn’t have said that two years ago that I would be on a different team but just given the opportunity to play for KRS is something pretty special.
“To come back and play some girls that I knew, it was lots of fun but I wish we could have come out with a sweep.”
After being chosen first overall in the 2013 CWHL Draft, Wong played two seasons for the Inferno before deciding to retire.
“It was time to hang them up,” said the 26-year-old from Baddeck, N.S. who scored the winning goal in the 2010 NCAA championship game for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. “I kind of went a different route. I was working with Hockey Canada.”
That all changed when the CWHL announced that the Red Star and the Vanke Rays were joining the league for the 2017-18 season.
“It’s close to my heart and I have never been over there, so when this opportunity came up I jumped on it,” said Wong, who has a grandmother who hails from near Shenzhen, China, where both the Red Star and Rays are based. “It’s special to me.”
Red Star coach Digit Murphy had nothing but glowing praise for Wong and how valuable she has been for the expansion team so far.
“Jess Wong is just a dynamite human,” said Murphy, who previously coached the CWHL’s Boston Blades to a pair of Clarkson Cup titles in 2013 and 2015.
“She is awesome to have on a team and the fact that she has Chinese heritage really is a blessing for us to have someone like that on our team. She is really smooth and she really moves the puck well.”
Former teammate and current Inferno captain Erica Kromm was happy to hear that Wong joined the Red Star for their inaugural season.
“It’s awesome for her,” Kromm said. “I think she took some time off which was good for her, but now she’s able to come back and play for a team that is really good. I’m happy she’s back. She’s a great player.”
After dropping two road decisions to the Markham Thunder on Oct. 21 and 22, the Red Star (1-3-0) bounced back with Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Inferno.
Annina Rajahuhta scored twice, including the OT winner with less than a second left on the clock, while Kelli Stack had a goal and an assist. Shiann Darkangelo also scored, while goalie Noora Raty made 28 saves.
Iya Gavrilova had a goal and an assist for the Inferno (3-0-1) on Saturday, Rhianna Kurio also scored, while goalie Lindsay Post made 16 saves.
Louise Warren equalled Gavrilova’s output on Sunday, while Kelty Apperson, Kayla Gardner and Sophie Shirley also scored. Delayne Brian made 26 saves in net to pick up the win.
Stack had the lone goal for the Red Star, while Raty stopped 22 shots.
“It was really good to see how we lined up against them,” said Kromm after Sunday’s bounceback win. “Both games were a battle. Kudos to them because they have been travelling a lot and I am happy we got the job done.”
The Red Star will suit up for three more road games against the defending Clarkson Cup champion Les Canadiennes de Montreal from Nov. 11-14 before heading back to China to play their next eight games — six of them in Shenzhen, just outside of Hong Kong, and two others in Harbin against the Vanke Rays.
“I think that this team is still learning,” Murphy said. “It’s a work in progress. It’s mixing the Chinese players with the North American players. We’ve got to get together and work a little harder and work a little smarter.”
Meanwhile, the Inferno will host the Thunder for a pair of games next Saturday (6 p.m., Joan Snyder Arena) and Sunday (12:15 p.m., WinSport Arena) at the Markin MacPhail Centre.
The Inferno will have to wait until early February for their trip to China to play the Rays twice and the Red Star twice.