Your 2020-21 Lethbridge Pronghorns

A ten-team Canada West Conference would have been pretty awesome when one considers playoff races, travel, and having 25-30 more women involved in the game at the university level, but the University of Lethbridge thought differently when they dropped the guillotine on Pronghorns hockey. I'm not here to attack the University of Lethbridge - that's already been done - but I do wanna play a little "what could have been" today in looking at the roster that head coach Doug Paisley was putting together for this 2020-21 season and beyond. Of course, none of this will happen as the Pronghorns have yet to be ressurected despite some solid efforts by people in that community, but they deserve some respect in making that effort so I'll give that respect to them here today with this season preview.

I really don't need a disclaimer as this roster wouldn't have happened this season, but it's important to remember that the above gives you an idea of who would have played for the Doug Paisley as the Lethbridge Pronghorns this season. I will point out that Doug needs no help from a guy like me in putting together a dynamic lineup, so the lineup you see would likely not see the light of day under Doug's watch. That being said, though, the video-game version of the Pronghorns shows you was on the roster this season had the program not been axed by the University of Lethbridge.

You might be looking at that roster and noticing some weird numbers for players. Because Lethbridge has no team, they had no need to assign numbers to their recruiting class, so I did. Among those players who would have been incoming are Emma Neff (#83), Molly Mitchell (#71), Maddy McCleary (#98), Mallory Dyer (#78), Abby Soyko (#94), Allie Soyko (#97), Madeleine Noonan (#91), Jade Sandberg (#82), and Teah Workman (#92). All of these players ended being scratched on the above roster, but I guarantee they would have pushed for roster spots on the Pronghorns. This is a talented group of women who likely would have seen a few, if not many, earn a lot of ice time.

It's fair to say that Kyra Greig and Alli Borrow would have done a lot of scoring this season based on their 2019-20 efforts. What needs to be emphasized, though, is that the depth that Doug Paisley was building would have provided a lot of secondary scoring. Kianna Dietz, Madison Porter, and Mikaela Reay likely would have seen their roles increase, but players like Mila Verbicky, Sage Sansregret, Kenzie Lausberg, the Soyko twins, and Mallory Dyer would have given the Pronghorns that secondary layer of scoring from their younger players. Add in some great offensive-minded defenders like Eryn Johanson, Brooklyn Palmer, and Emma Neff, and suddenly this Lethbridge team had offence up and down the lineup that won't ever play together.

Defensively, there is a still a bit of a concern when it comes to keeping pucks out of the net had they played. Lethbridge doesn't play a physical game as much as some Canada West teams do, and they really didn't add anyone who can help in wearing down their opponent's forwards (that they won't be playing). They do block shots and can move the puck well, but moving players out from in front of the net they won't have to defend seems problematic once again. Alicia Anderson graduated as, perhaps, the best goaltender to have played in Canada West if the record books hold true, but they weren't going to see a major drop-off in that department with Chloe Marshall and Stephanie Gross stepping into the spotlight. Molly Mitchell is a great third option to tandem with Gross in the future, but that future is, as we know, no more thanks to the University of Lethbridge's economics.

Of the 29 players that Lethbridge would have skated this season, only 18 remain from those who opted not to transfer elsewhere. Those 18 players are featured below in hockey card form. That's not to say that the other 11 players aren't important or wouldn't have factored into the success of the Pronghorns this season, but most have cards for their new teams which have already been featured. For those that transferred out of conference, get in touch with me and I can get you a card if you like.

2020-21 Lethbridge Pronghorns Women's Hockey Team

Would the 2020-21 Lethbridge Pronghorns win a Canada West banner? It would seem unlikely had they played this season, but the likelihood of seeing the Pronghorns in the Canada West playoffs would have been much greater. They have scoring that can keep them in games, they have a defence that was improving, and their goaltending would have been more than sufficient to keep them in games. I was excited for the Pronghorns last season and as they began their recruiting for what the future held, but that was erased in one day by those who pull the financial strings at the University of Lethbridge. I am hopeful that the committee working to restore Pronghorns men's and women's hockey are successful because this conference feels incomplete without them.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!