Wind off to Atlantics
Abram-Village-based team competing for regional bantam AAA female championship
Abram-Village-based team competing for regional bantam AAA female championship.
The Western Wind will make franchise history this week. The Wind will compete in the Atlantic bantam AAA female hockey championship for the first time. Play in the five-team tournament, which is being held in Moncton, N.B., begins Thursday, and continues through to Sunday.
“It’s really exciting and something to be really proud of,” said Wind left-winger Allie McHugh of Anglo/Tignish.
Western finished first overall in the P.E.I. Bantam AAA Female Hockey League. The Wind went on to pull out a 4-2 win in the fifth and deciding game of the best-of-five final over the Mid-Isle Wildcats to claim the Moase Cup.
“It wasn’t easy, but we pulled through,” said McHugh, 14.
First experience
The Western players are excited to have earned the opportunity to play in an Atlantic championship.
“It’s pretty cool because I have never been there before,” said centre Keira MacKendrick of Tyne Valley. “I’m excited to see what it’s like.” MacKendrick added Wind captain Hilarie Gaudet, who has experience playing in an Atlantic championship, has shared with the team what to expect. “We need to keep doing what we are doing,” said MacKendrick, 14. “As long as everybody comes to play their best game, then we should come out not too bad.”
Wind assistant captain Ally Hustler will also be competing for her first Atlantic title. The 15-year-old blue-liner feels special teams will be key for the Wind.
“We are pretty defensive and we have a couple of girls who can score a lot and are really good at scoring,” explained Hustler, who’s from Miminegash.
The Wind will play four round-robin games against the host team and provincial champions from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
“We are all going to try and play our best game, and do what we can,” said MacKendrick. “Try to make the least mistakes.”
Pressure key for Wind
Head coach Paul Campbell says a key for the Wind will be to “pressure” the opposition.
“We have three solid lines and will need to get pucks deep, lots of shots and let our goaltenders (Emma Smallman and Madison McHugh) do their job,” assessed Campbell, who feels the Wind is “tough to play against” and plays a “really gritty” style. The Wind, who also went undefeated en route to winning the bantam AAA championship of the 11th annual Sweetheart tournament, hosted by the North River Minor Hockey Association, in February, is comprised of players from Tignish, Alberton, O’Leary, Tyne Valley, Evangeline region and Summerside. The team plays their home games out of the Evangeline Recreation Centre in Abram-Village.
“We have a hard-working team, and we have lots of fun,” offered McHugh, who added the Wind possesses a defence-first mentality.
“We have come together off the ice too.
“We all hang out as often as we can, and in the dressing room we are all one team.”