The Yorkton Crushers - Yorkton Minor Hockeyās only all-girl hockey team - is off to a strong start in their first-ever season, sitting in second place in the nine-team Ā鶹“«Ć½AV Sask Female Hockey Leagueās (SSFHL) Bantam āAā division with a record of 6-2-0 after eight of 24 games.
The team ā made up of girls from several different communities and coached by Fred Schrader - opened their inaugural season up with six straight wins, dropping Weyburn 3-1, 7-3 and 2-1, Estevan 6-2 and 7-1 and the Ā鶹“«Ć½AVwest Cyclones 8-2 before falling in back-to-back games this past Sunday to the league leading Moose Jaw Mavericks 4-3 and 5-2. āWe were 6-0 coming into Sundayās games against Moose Jaw, so it was basically a battle of top teams,ā suggested Schrader, continuing, āIt was a good, hard fought couple of games. The first game they scored with 28 seconds left for a 4-3 victory and the second game, well, two games in one day kind of hurt us a little bit and we came out a little flat and spotted them a four goal lead and we were battling uphill right from the start.ā
Despite the two recent losses Schrader said that the hot start to the season is still impressive; not only because he was unsure of how the team would play together, but because he wasnāt sure if the girls would adapt to playing against all-girl teams. āThe girls have been really good so far this season,ā offered Schrader. āItās a little bit different for them because itās different going from girls and boys hockey to an all-girls team.
āWhen theyāre playing with boys theyāre in a more supportive role, but here these girls are put in leadership roles and are asked to carry the play and so far theyāve all responded very well.ā
Three players that have responded better than most, according to Schrader, are three that spent last season playing in the SSFHL with the Parkland Lions (Springside): Sierra Meroniuk, Austen Dubreuil and Taylor Halarewich. āThose three girls, they really stepped up their play and taken a leadership role on the team,ā offered Schrader, adding that they have to lead by example due to being the only returning SSFHL players. āWe only have those three girls returning to the league. We have two more second year bantams, five peewee aged players and six first year bantams, so they need to lead and theyāve done it.ā
Schrader also said that the parents have responded well to the team, embracing the idea of an all-girls team while also travelling long distances for practices and games - both home and away ā with little to no complaining. āThe parents have been great. The league is so spread out geographically speaking, so that means lots of travelling to away games for everyone,ā mentioned Schrader, adding that some players and parents even have hour plus trips to home games and practices. āWe also have players from Pelly, Esterhazy, Kamsack, etc., and we play mainly in Theodore, so thatās lots of travelling for some people.ā
Next action
The next chance for people to see the first-ever Yorkton Minor Hockey all-girls team in action will be this weekend when they host the Wood River Ice Cats for a pair of games this weekend in Theodore. Puck drop for Saturdayās game is 4:00p.m. with Sundayās start time a little bit earlier at 11:30 in the morning.
