There is one defenceman on the Yorkton Sherring Gold Peewee ‘AA’ Terriers that skates so well it almost seems as if there is no effort involved at all.
This particular player can pick the puck up, fly down the ice and put a shot on net, then get back to the defensive position in time to prevent any kind of counter attack.
“Wow that guy’s a really good skater” or “look at that guy fly” are comments often heard from visiting parents about number 20 on the Peewee Terriers.
And then they realize, usually to their surprise, that number 20 isn’t a guy.
Number 20 is a girl.
Chace Sperling, 12-years-old, is a stalwart on the back end for the Yorkton Sherring Gold Terriers of the SSMHL Peewee division. In fact her coach, one Ryan Hoffman, feels as though Sperling is one of the top blueliners on the team. “She’s one of our horses on the backend and we really rely on her to be one of our top two players back there and she’s done a real good job for us,” offered Hoffman, adding that Sperling’s skating ability is probably the strongest part of her game. “I think her skating is her biggest asset. She’s got a real powerful stride and it doesn’t take her long to get wound up.
“She does a real good job rushing the puck for us. She takes the puck wide and she allows us to gain the offensive zone pretty easily when she’s out there rushing the puck up the ice.”
However Hoffman also knows that Sperling is not a one dimensional player, like so many peewee aged kids tend to be. Instead, Hoffman feels that if Sperling gets into trouble while taking an offensive risk, she can easily get back to make a play defensively. “Yeah if she does happen to get caught or the puck gets turned over on the rush it doesn’t take her much to get back because of that big, long stride,” suggested Hoffman. “She’s been a real good two way player for us.”
That really shouldn’t come as a surprise, however. According to Chace’s father Gerald Sperling, playing defence is really something she was good at from day one. “She was a natural defenceman from day one,” mentioned the proud father. “She started on defence and made the right decisions, passed the puck well and she really never went forward a whole lot because she has done so well as a defenceman.”
Another reason that Chace prefers defence as opposed to playing as a forward might have something to do with her brother Keanan, himself a talented defenceman for the Yorkton UCT Terriers of the SBAAHL.
Sure, like all siblings there is definitely a rivalry between the two. “If I don’t get a goal he’ll bug me,” said Chace, continuing, “But if he doesn’t get a goal I bug him.”
Chace also told Yorkton This Week that, while Keanan is definitely a strong skater, he’s not the best in the family. “I sit in my skates way better than him,” laughed the 12-year-old defenceman.
But sibling rivalry aside, Chace admitted that Keanan also helps her out regularly and continues to teach her things that will make her a better hockey player. “He teaches me how to shoot better and how to get the puck to the net and he helps make me better,” offered Chace, adding that Keanan also helps her in her defensive positioning in addition to teaching her how to block shots.
All the help from her brother, as well as her natural ability of course, seems to be paying off. Chace caught the eyes of the Melville Prairie Fire coaching staff at their female midget ‘AAA’ tryout camp and would have made the team as a 12-year-old, but instead opted to play boys hockey. A decision she felt is for the better. “I like playing on boys’ teams because it’s more competitive,” suggested Chace. “Girls’ hockey is more fun because you can hang out with the girls, but with boys’ it’s way more competitive.”
And competition, as everyone knows, only makes a person better.
