Whitehorse Daily Star

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PEEWEE CHAMPIONS – The Peewee North Stars celebrate their 4-3 overtime gold medal win over Juan De Fuca at the Ice Hockey Classic Female Hockey Tournament in Richmond, B.C. Photos submitted by PAT TOBLER

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CELEBRATING SILVER – The Whitehorse Female Mustangs pose with their silver medals after dropping their final game 4-3 in overtime against Meadow Ridge in the midget championship match of the Ice Hockey Classic Female Hockey Tournament in Richmond, B.C. Photos submitted by PAT TOBLER

Three female hockey teams compete in Richmond

The Yukon was well represented at the 22nd Annual Ice Hockey Classic Female Hockey Tournament in Richmond, B.C., this past weekend.

By John Tonin on April 3, 2019

The Yukon was well represented at the 22nd Annual Ice Hockey Classic Female Hockey Tournament in Richmond, B.C., this past weekend. Three teams travelled to Richmond, the Whitehorse Female Mustangs, a midget team, the North Stars, a peewee team, and the Atom Girls. According to Pat Tobler, it was the first time an atom team has travelled down to a tournament.

Tobler said having three teams at the tournament is a sign that female hockey is growing in the Yukon. He as well hopes other young girls realize the opportunities exist to play competitive hockey in the territory.

“The hope is other girls are seeing what is going on and that it can be done,” said Tobler.

“The atoms were watching the peewee and the midget games and it’s great for them to watch. There is a future for these girls to play hockey.”

In Whitehorse, the peewees and atoms will play with boys. Tobler said if it wasn’t for these tournaments the girls would not be able to travel.

“They love to travel and be together,” said Tobler. “Second it gives them an opportunity to shine. The girl’s game is different. They are gaining more confidence.”

Dan Johnson was the coach of the Atom Girls team. He said Whitehorse is a hockey city and growing the girls game is going to build a well-rounded hockey community.

“I was born and raised in Whitehorse,” said Johnson. “I saw the early pioneers and saw the challenges they had. There is momentum building. We want to get them hooked on hockey.”

Johnson also noted that the older girls were great mentors to the younger players.

“The older girls were amazing with the younger girls,” Johnson wrote. “Taking them under their wing, making signs for their games and really creating a family environment in what I think we can safely say is a female hockey club that spans tyke to midget.”

While in Richmond the three teams saw success. The Atom Girls made it to the semifinals. The North Stars won gold and the Female Mustangs won silver.

Female Mustangs coach Candice MacEachen said before this season the midget girls had never won a medal. Now they have won two - they won silver at Wickfest in Calgary in November.

She said the program is growing and you can see it in the results.

“It’s not like we went and finished poorly,” said MacEachen. “It is definitely something that is growing. I have been coaching in the Yukon for seven years. This is the first year the girls have won a medal.

“I remember asking them after Wickfest ‘when was the last time you had won?’ They said ‘they never have before.’”

Both Johnson and MacEachen credited Tobler with his efforts in growing the game in the Yukon and showing girls that they have the opportunity to pursue hockey in the territory without looking outside.

Moving to the tournament highlights we will start with the Atom Girls team which made it to the semifinal. Johnson said they blew away expectations because the team did not have a lot of experience.

“(We started) the tournament with no goals except to learn and grow,” said Johnson.

“With only two players that had ever played on a full sheet of ice and four out of 13 girls still novice age in an atom tournament, there were no expectations.”

The team won their first game 4-2 against Rose City from Portland. Johnson said they overcame some early challenges.

“They overcame challenges the first game,” said Johnson. “For most, it was their first competitive environment and they battled. Adapting to the big ice was a challenge. Some had never been on a line change. It was a lot to digest. There were some wide eyes.”

Johnson said goalie Stephanie Nemeth had a stellar performance in net and Sophie Drummond chipped in some clutch offence. Nemeth was awarded the team’s MVP for the game. Drummond was given the moose hat for the clutch player of the game.

He said the whole team impressed him after the first game.

“It was impressive to see where they fit ability wise,” said Johnson.

In their second game, the team dominated the Vancouver side. Johnson said the team found their footing and realized they belonged. Having the ice tilted their way was still not enough to get the win as they dropped the game 3-2.

Kasey McKenna and Zayda Bilton were given the MVP and the moose hat.

The Atom Girls needed at least a tie against the Richmond Ravens to secure a berth in the semifinal. The team fell behind 5-2 after two periods of action.

The team competed until the final whistle getting back-to-back goals by Drummond. Maya Bulmer got the game-tying goal on a breakaway securing a spot in the semifinal.

Danica Johnson earned the MVP for her efforts generating rushes and playing solid defence. Bulmer got the moose hat for her late game heroics.

The team played an undefeated Seattle team in the semifinal group. The Atom Girls fell behind early as Seattle’s star forward potted three goals in quick succession.

The Atom Girls continued to battle and generate chances but couldn’t find a way to close the gap in an eventual 5-1 loss.

Despite the loss, the future looks bright for the team as they will be returning eight of 13 players.

“Our group has a lot of raw talent,” said Johnson. “We have a core group with real potential here.”

With the players moving up and remaining in atom, Johnson said the program is going to help grow the older teams.

“It is going to bolster the next round of peewees and Female Mustangs,” said Johnson.

The peewee North Stars had not played together since winning Wickfest in November.

The team featured two players from Watson Lake and one player from Haines Junction. Tobler said it was essentially the same team.

Winning yet another tournament without being able to get consistent practice together, Tobler said speaks to the girls’ talents and speaks to their high-end skill.

The North Stars kicked off their tournament with a game against the host team from Richmond. The team played to a 2-2 tie.

Their next game they played Inland, a team from Washington, and handled them 8-2. In their late game, they played Juan De Fuca and were able to come out with another victory, skating to a 3-2 win.

With a finals berth on the line, the North Stars were once again on the ice against Inland.

The game proved to be much closer than their first meeting but the North Stars were able to come out on top 4-3.

Tobler said the message to the team was to keep things simple.

“Just keep it simple and not complicate things,” said Tobler. “We just wanted them to focus on the little things and play as a team.”

He also noted the importance of keeping a positive attitude.

“We wanted to keep the mood upbeat,” said Tobler. “It is a short tournament with lots and ups and downs.”

The championship game was a rematch with Juan de Fuca and Tobler said it was a challenging game for the team.

“The final game was challenging,” said Tobler. “There were lots of penalties called and they were the kind of penalties because of lots of incidental contact. They faced a lot of adversity.”

The North Stars and Juan De Fuca skated to a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation. The North Stars were able to take the game in the extra frame.

Tobler said throughout the game the girls’ focus waned.

“It was a challenge to keep them focused,” said Tobler. “They fought through the adversity though and came out on top.”

After the win, Tobler said the peewees have a bright future.

“This age group has the potential to play together for years to come,” said Tobler. “We are hopeful they will become more competitive to compete in Arctic Winter Games and then eventually Canada Winter Games.”

The Female Mustangs grabbed their second silver medal of the season after falling in overtime to Meadow Ridge 4-3.

The Mustangs had to battle hard in their last game to get into the final. They needed to win the game by two goals to move on to the championship. They were tied in points with Richmond who at the time had a better plus/minus.

Only up by one with a minute and a half left in the third period, the Mustangs were able to find the back of the net and punch their ticket to the championship game.

Meadow Ridge had beaten them in the round-robin 4-1 but MacEachen said the team had dominating periods in the championship game.

“They played really good,” said MacEachen. “They picked it up through one and battled back from two down. They dominated the second and third but in the four-on-four overtime it bounced their (Meadow Ridge’s) way.”

MacEachen said she was proud of her team’s effort in the championship.

“It is always bittersweet to win a medal when you lost,” said MacEachen. “I am proud of their effort they had a great weekend. We are seeing improvement.”

MacEachen said the Mustangs are a young team, with some peewee and bantam players, and that she can’t wait to see what they do in the future.

“For the most part they are used to playing at that level,” said MacEachen. “They are used to playing up. I sometimes don’t think they understand how young they are and can still hold their own.

“I kept telling them after the game that I can’t wait to see what they can do when they get older.”

The Mustangs started the tournament with a tie and a loss to Meadow Ridge and Richmond. They defeated Moscow, a team from Idaho, 7-0 and then beat Cowichan to make it to the finals. The Mustangs finished first in the round-robin with seven points.

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