Goalie prospect says she’s ready for camp
SARNIA — Taya Currie is still more comfortable facing slapshots than posing for snapshots.
The 16-year-old goalie from Parkhill had to adjust to sudden fame when the Sarnia Sting made her the first female player ever chosen in the Ontario Hockey League draft in June — one of the highest-profile moments in league history.
Since then, well-wishers have asked her for photos and autographs.
“That’s a little different when you go out in public and people actually know you,” Currie said. “Sometimes, I’m like, ‘You know me?’ It’s kind of weird, but I’m starting to get used to it.”
There was no special treatment Monday when the Sting began orientation camp at Progressive Auto Sales Arena. Her fellow prospects treated her like any other player.
“I don’t think they want it to be any different,” she said. “I’m just one of the players trying out for the team. Everyone acted the same and that’s what I wanted.
“Everyone was good to me. They were very nice guys.”
Currie made international headlines when the Sting drafted her in the 14th round, 267th overall, in April. There were interviews with TSN and Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada.
She received congratulations from “a couple big names, pretty awesome hockey players,” she said.
Among them was retired goalie Manon Rheaume, who played pre-season games with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and was the first woman to play in a major North American pro sports league. She and Currie have stayed in touch since the draft.
“We were talking about our hockey paths,” Currie said.
She’s also met young goalies – girls and boys – who say she’s their role model.
“That’s pretty inspiring,” Currie said. “It’s pretty cool, I have to say. I just do my own thing and talk to them, of course, and just try to enjoy it.”
Currie has played on AAA boys teams for seven seasons. She posted a 3.19 goals-against average and one shutout in 16 games for the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs in 2019-20.
The Sting have 32 players, including four goalies, in orientation camp.
Some will be invited to the main camp, which begins Wednesday when the veterans hit the ice.
“A lot of people have reached out to me and wished me good luck in the camp,” Currie said. “It’s been pretty exciting but nerve-racking for the last couple weeks.”
The Grade 11 student at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in Strathroy, Ont. arrived at camp with no goals. “Just work hard and try to enjoy it,” she said.
Her first day was fun but exhausting. She had two scrimmages and a practice.
She said the play was as fast as AAA, but the shots were a little quicker.
“I played pretty good,” Currie said. “I was getting pretty tired by the end, especially after practice.”
If she attends camp with the Sting for more than 48 hours, she’ll have to cover her own expenses or lose her NCAA eligibility.
Currie hasn’t chosen a path for this season. She could play AAA midget hockey with the boys — Elgin-Middlesex, London and Sarnia are options — or she could join her sister, Tristan, on the Bluewater Hawks of the Provincial Women’s Hockey League.
She wants to talk with the Sting coaches before choosing a team.
“That’s kind of a big decision at this point,” she said.
“I’ve got to think that through. I enjoy playing with the boys. It’s pretty fun.”