Canada Winter Games female hockey players show dedication to the game

You have to be dedicated to hockey to travel a few hours each week to play with the Yukon’s best.

You have to be dedicated to hockey to travel a few hours each week to play with the Yukon’s best.

Many of girls on the 2011 Canada Winter Games development squad descend on Whitehorse from Dawson City, Haines Junction, Faro, Teslin and Marsh Lake for training on Wednesdays and on the weekends.

That sort of dedication – and passion for the game – comes with the territory. 

Just ask 14-year-old Dana van Vliet, who along with her sister Savannah, make that weekly trek.

“I’ve been playing since I was about two and I loved it ever since,” van Vliet said.

“We have a rink and most people in Haines Junction play, but it takes a lot of dedication to come to Whitehorse all the time for it.”

The van Vliet sisters are two of six players – and a coach – who represent Haines Junction on the squad.

Last season, van Vliet played hockey every day, either in Whitehorse or Haines Junction, even going twice a day some weeks.

She will make the weekly drives into the city, “as much as I have to,” she said.

“I’m used to playing with guys in Haines Junction, and I was always the girl who played with them, so I didn’t get many passes or a lot of opportunities, but when I came here I started to be able to play at the level I wanted to be at.”

The female Canada Winter Games hockey team started 14 months ago with identification camps, followed eight months later by a second round of ID camps.

From that, more than 30 players (roughly 34) were given a training schedule to use through the summer, which included off-ice training and an on-ice session each week.

Summer training was followed by a two-part selection camp in August and September, when the development team was pared down to 21 players (13 forwards, six defense and two goalies), of which 17-20 will go to the Canada Games, held in Halifax, N.S., in February.

The final cut will be in October.

Fifteen-year-old Tshayla Nothstein traveled from Faro throughout that entire process.

Her family moved to Whitehorse two months ago so she could train regularly and go to school.

“The experience of going to another place to play hockey, it’s the best sport, it’s what I love to do,” Nothstein said, adding that opportunities to play competitive hockey in Faro are slim.

“You can’t really play competitive, but it’s still fun to go out there and play hockey, play Oldtimers (league) with the older guys too.

“Once you get used to playing with the girls, the same team over and over again, you slowly get better, start to play better as a team,” she added. 

She credited T.J. and Heather Grantham with pushing her to make most of the practices, both in Faro and Whitehorse.

“If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here, they did a lot,” Nothstein said. “They’re always pushing me an extra little bit. And my mom of course – buying me all my expensive hockey gear.”

The Canada Winter Games team practices on Wednesdays, Fridays, twice on the ice on Saturdays and one ice-time and one dry-land session on Sundays.

Head coach Louis Bouchard said that’s a lot of work for anybody.

“We’re trying to get them to come as often as possible and not burn them out, that’s the big thing. With school commitments and family and hockey, the coming five months are going to be very tough on them,” said Bouchard, who has coached the Northern Avalanche hockey club for the past two seasons.

The team will look to gain some game experience by playing against the bantam boys in town and by competing in two tournaments in the lead up to the Canada Winter Games.

“We’re hoping that that’s going to be close to the level of play we’re going to see at the Canada Games,” Bouchard said.

He’s been pleased with the progress of his players in some departments, but knows there is work to be done in others.

“What we are noticing is some of our players are not in as good a shape as they should be to be able to play at that Canada Games level,” Bouchard said. “We have five months to remedy that, and we’re going to work very hard on getting them to that level.

“The skating is very good, the stick handling is coming, the passing is coming and they’re learning tactical and technical. Now we have to work on their cardio.”

Speaking with Bouchard, he seems pleased the entire territory is represented, adding:

“I’d really like to mention the commitment on the parents part also, getting these girls over here.”

The development squad is as follows:

Sadie Whitelaw

Madison Logan

Tamara Greek

Christina McIntyre

Natalja Blanchard

Jonnie-Lyn Kurshniruk

Tshayla Nothstein

Dana van Vliet

Savannah van Vliet

Breanna Smith

Jocelyn Wynnyk

Linsey Eby

Hannah Turner

Chyanne Spenner

Adrianne Dewhurst

Lynsey Keaton

Shayla Roulston

Maya Oakley

Britney Brown

Sierra Oakley

Ashtyn Sandulak