CANORA - After winning tournaments in Melville and Portage la Prairie, Man. earlier in the season, the U13 Parkland Prairie Ice girls hockey team finally had the opportunity to play closer to home at the Canora Civic Centre on March 20, in what was the last game of the 2022-23 hockey season in Canora.
Billed as a U13 Female Hockey Showcase Game, the Ice hosted the Balcarres Barracudas, a league team that is presently involved provincial playoffs. Balcarres needed to stay sharp between series, while the Ice were looking for more opportunities to play together as a team.
The final score was 4-2 for the Barracudas, but the Ice could have easily won, according to Assistant Coach Jess Harper of Canora. Harper was filling in for Head Coach Nicole Korpusik, who was unable to make it to the game.
“Our girls played well, especially for not playing together for a while,” said Harper. “Since our last tournament we’ve only been able to have one practise, which was over a month ago.”
Harper said the team really appreciated the fan support. With players from Canora, Kamsack, Sturgis, Norquay, Keeseekoose First Nation and Yorkton, the game provided the opportunity for families and friends to make the trip to Canora and see them play in person.
“It was awesome, we had the best crowd I’ve seen all year for a U13 game. The stands were full, the lobby was full, it was great.”
The Ice players appeared to be nervous for the first few minutes, but after Harper Danchilla of Yorkton scoring the first goal with an assist from Avery Masley of Sturgis, “the game was really on,” according to Harper.
“As the game went on, our girls played well in all areas, backchecking and forechecking, carry the puck, passing was good and right on the tape most of the time. Our goalie, Ty Northrop, was excellent, made big saves, especially on close-in shots.”
Balcarres tied the game later in the first period, but then another goal by Harper Danchilla, this time assisted by Rowyn Johnson of Norquay, had gave the Ice a one-goal lead for the second time in the game.
Even though they had a number of quality scoring chances later in the game; that would be the last goal for the Ice. Balcarres tied the score later in the second and potted the only two goals of the third period to wrap up the victory.
When asked what this team needs to keep improving, Harper’s simple answer was, “Play together more. We’re hoping to carry this team into next year. Jamie Johnson of Norquay, our manager is doing a great job, we’ll see what next year brings.”
Harper said he has really enjoyed being a part of this team during its first season in existence.
“It’s been great, nobody new what to expect. We won the A final in two tournaments. We watched those girls come together, like they’d been playing together for years, when in most cases they had never met before other than playing against each other for their community teams.
"It’s amazing, they formed a bond and they’re standing up for one another.
“Nicole has been a tremendous head coach, all of the coaches have been great to work with.”
Manager Jaime Johnson echoed the thoughts of Harper that it’s been a very successful season for the ice.
“The overall goal was to simply introduce these players to girls’ hockey,” said Johnson. “Many of them have only ever played co-ed, so we wanted to expose them to female hockey in the hopes that they will want to keep playing next year in the Female Hockey League. Many girls stop playing once they reach U15 as that is when contact play is allowed and the size difference between boys and girls becomes more apparent.”
Practises were held approximately once a month during the season. One of the biggest challenges was finding ice time that was workable for all the players, since they came from five different community teams in the Major Hockey League.
“We were hoping to play in one more tournament, but we couldn’t make it work with all the conflicting schedules,” Johnson continued. “Despite the limited play, I think the girls had a great experience, which in my opinion, means the season was a success. They experienced how fun girls’ hockey can be, made some new friends and learned from a fantastic and inspirational female coach – the two tournament wins were just an added bonus.”
Members of the U13 Parkland Prairie Ice during the 2022/23 season were:
Ryea Harper, Cassidy Wolkowski, Tessica Mydonick and Chloe Doogan of Canora; Quinn Keshane of Keeseekoose First Nation; Rowyn Johnson and Ty Northrop of Norquay; Camryn Kosokowsky of Kamsack; Morgan Olson, Avery Masley, Allie Babiuk, Rylee Coleman and Makayla Johnson of Sturgis, and Avery Lammers, Harper Danchilla and Isabelle Smith of Yorkton.
The team was lead by Head Coach Nicole Korpusik of Norquay; assistant coaches Jess Harper of Canora, Greg Olson of Sturgis, Brent Danchilla and Greg Smith of Yorkton, and Bowdrie Northrop of Norquay, and Manager Jaime Johnson of Norquay.
Most of the players will be moving into the U15 division next year, so the intention is to transition this team into the Female Hockey League as a U15 team.
“Our hope is that most of the girls will want to continue playing for the Ice, but we will see what next season brings,” said Johnson.
“I’d like to extend my appreciation to the MHL for creating the Parkland Female Hockey umbrella, which allowed these girls to play together and experience female hockey. I’d also like to thank the coaching staff and the parents for dedicating their time and effort to making this team a reality and giving the players this awesome opportunity.”
Even though she was unable to be at the game in Canora, Head Coach Nicole Korpusik was eager to share her thoughts on the season and the players.
“They could have treated this team as a way to showcase their own skills but instead they worked together and brought out the best in each other,” said Korpusik. “I know I'm looking forward to seeing what these girls are capable of when we get to spend a full season together, we only had a handful of practices and were able to come away with some great successes, I can only imagine what we can accomplish!”
