Stellar Recruits - 2021 Edition

Just as this blog did last year, it's time to take a look at the recruiting classes coming into each Canada West institution this season to play women's hockey. The image to the left is a solar flare, a rather unique event in space, where a star emits a large quantity of energy that normally affects the surrounding system. Like these stars giving off this energy, the nine Canada West schools are hoping the players they've recruited can do the same both in the classroom and on the ice when they come to those schools this September. We'll see new stars born on the ice this winter, and these are some of those names you'll hear often!

Make no mistake that Canada West women's hockey is only going to get more competitive this season. With a number of fifth-year players deciding on whether to move on or play out their fifth and final season of eligibility, there will be hard decisions made this summer that will affect each of the nine teams moving forward. We've already seen some players move on as they pursue careers and further education opportunities, and that opens doors for some of these recruits to step in and compete for jobs. Competition is good in every scenario, so expect teams to look different when the season opens in October 2021 than when we last saw them in 2020.

With the world in full shutdown mode for most of women's hockey, statistics on the information below will come from the 2019-20 season for most of these players. Obviously, we could have seen those numbers change depending on the opportunities these players may have found in their 2020-21 seasons with their teams, but we're not here to speculate or play the "what if" game. We'll use the 2019-20 stats for these players because it's the last complete season they played that has stats for all.

As you read through these, the "Current" is the last team or current team they played with while "Prv." is the province or state where that team is found. You'll also notice a few bolded, yellow or red names. Those are players who transferred in from other institutions and have already used up part of their five years of eligibility are in yellow while players who transferred in, but still have all five years of eligibility available, are in red.

With that information, here are all the players joining the nine Canada West teams in 2020-21.

Canada West Recruits

Alberta Pandas

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Sage Taylor	Edmonton	AB	F	7	10
Raegan Yewdall	Winnipeg Ice	MB	F	17	17
Kallie Clouston	Rocky Mountain	AB	F	4	7
Natalie Kieser	St. Albert	AB	F	3	7
Elle Boyko	Northern Alberta	AB	G	1.37	.948
Tessa Ross	Red Deer College	AB	D	1	2
Abby Fonteyne	Red Deer College	AB	D	0	1

As Howie Draper rebuilds on the fly with the Alberta Pandas, he has added some really good talent over the last two seasons. Yewdall has all sorts of speed to burn and can finish as well as anyone, and goaltender Elle Boyko will give him another exceptional netminder on which he can call. Taylor, Clouston, and Kieser will all be given chances to fill roles for the Pandas while the two transfers from Red Deer College in Ross and Fonteyne have four years of eligibility left where they can settle in on the Pandas' blue line.

Calgary Dinos

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Brette Kerley	Northern Capitals	BC	F	18	8
Nicole Black	St. Mary's Academy	MB	D	0	2
Grace Elliott	Greater Vancouver	BC	F	27	23
Ella Howard	Bluewater	ON	G	2.04	.918
Sydney Mercier	Saskatoon	SK	F	9	10
Bridget Rezansoff	Saskatoon	SK	D	5	3

Danielle Goyette has all sorts of goal-scoring at her disposal as the 2021-22 season opens. Kerley led the Northern Capitals in scoring, Elliott was one of the top goal-scorers for Greater Vancouver, and Mercier has the hands to really be dangerous at the Canada West level. Black and Rezansoff don't score much from the blue line, but they have great defensive awareness when on the ice as Black uses her big frame to knock pucks off sticks while Rezansoff jumps into the offence where possible. The Dinos jumped back into international waters by landing goaltender Ella Howard out of the Bluewater Hawks program where Howard played after backstopping Team Great Britain at the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship Division-1B in 2018! Howard, it should be noted, will be the first British-born netminder to play at the U SPORTS level!

MacEwan Griffins

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Sydney Olsen	Edmonton	AB	D	1	11
Hailey Maurice	Fraser Valley	BC	F	21	17
Jocelyn Elliott	Rocky Mountain	AB	D	3	8
Joie Simon	Yellowhead	MB	F	27	13
Claire Hobbs	Rocky Mountain	AB	F	3	3
Caroline Gosling	Edge School	AB	G	2.29	.911

Lindsay McAlpine is really making the Griffins into a scary team long before they play their first game in Canada West. Adding Maurice and Simon gives her two more exceptional goal-scorers while Olsen, Elliott, and Hobbs likely will be the core of her future blue line with their skills and abilities. Gosling is a bit of interesting pick-up as she'll have to redshirt this season after transferring in from Concordia University where she also redshirted, but her height is what stood out to me as she's listed at 5'1", making her one of the smallest netminders in Canada West!

Manitoba Bisons

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Ashley Keller	St. Mary's Academy	MB	F	10	9
Miressa Mäkelä	HIFK	FI	F	12	8
Jessica Haner	St. Mary's Academy	MB	F	7	7
Julia Bird	Winnipeg Ice	MB	F	16	17
Bailey Fiala	Calgary	AB	D	2	4
Rachel Gottfried	Winnipeg Avros	MB	D	8	26
Emily Shippam	St. Mary's Academy	MB	G	2.38	.896

Jon Rempel continues to add all sorts of talent to his roster as he looks to get the Bisons back to championship form. Keller has all sorts of skill to control the middle of the ice, Haner is all sorts of dangerous with her speed, and Bird is a solid play-maker who can start or finish plays. Fiala is a solid, no-nonsense defender who moves the puck well while Gottfried brings a booming shot, great vision, and a bag of physical play to the blue line. Adding Shippam gives Manitoba the odd situation of potentially having five goalies, so I'm not sure what the plan is for the Bisons with all those netminders. Like Calgary, Manitoba dips back into international waters as Miressa Mäkelä comes over from Finland where she was one of the younger players on the squad, but she's 21 so she might be more physically ready for the grind in Canada West than her rookie-class peers.

Mount Royal Cougars

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Abbey Borbandy	Rocky Mountain	AB	D	2	8
Jori Hansen-Young	Westman	AB	D	11	20
Aliya Jomha	Edge School	AB	F	15	30

A very quiet offseason of recruiting for Scott Rivett saw the Cougars add some major scoring in Jomha, some puck movement from the blue line in Borbandy as the second sister act at Mount Royal takes flight, and they get some size and a booming shot out of the nearly six-foot Hansen-Young. Rivett knew what his squad needed, and he certainly went out and found players who can contribute immediately in the Mount Royal lineup.

Regina Cougars

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Jordyn Blais	Battleford	SK	F	7	6
Makena Kushniruk	Saskatoon	SK	F	10	8
Trinity Grove	Winnipeg Avros	MB	F	30	24
Kaylee Dyer	Regina	SK	F	6	5
Natalie Williamson	Westman	MB	G	1.29	.942
Charley Lindberg	Westman	MB	F	19	15
Shaylee Scraba	Westman	MB	F	20	15
Olivia Leggett	Regina	SK	D	6	10

It was known that Regina lost three of their best players last season, and two more announced this past week that their time was done with the Cougars as well. As a result, Sarah Hodges has been hard at work in the recruiting department. Bringing in two proven scorers who have chemistry together like Lindberg and Scraba was a great move, Grove has all sorts of offensive ability and speed, and she added a very good goaltender from western Manitoba in Williamson. Blais, Kushniruk, and Dyer all have the skills and talents to play at the Canada West level, and Leggett gives Hodges an excellent offensive threat from the blue line. The Cougars are coming in young this season, but they have loads of talent with which to work!

Saskatchewan Huskies

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Paris Oleksyn	Prince Albert	SK	F	15	11
Larissa Bohlken	Regina	SK	D	6	11
Bronwyn Boucher	St. Albert	AB	F	7	5

Steve Kook had a big recruiting class one year ago, so it was a quieter year for him this year as he recruited just three players. Both Oleksyn and Boucher will score goals while being defensively responsible in Kook's system while Bohlken will look to create the same magic from the blue line as her sister, Leah, did while with the Huskies. Kook didn't need to add a lot, but he brought in three good players who make the Huskies that much better.

Trinity Western Spartans

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Jordyn Matthews	Rocky Mountain	AB	F	4	2
Madisyn Smith	Winnipeg Avros	MB	D	5	16
Mabel Maltais	St. Albert	AB	G	0.99	.940
Brooke Legault	Rink Academy	MB	F	7	12
Kylie Perry	Red Deer Chiefs	AB	F	9	3
Jaidia Pisani	St. Albert	AB	D	1	8
Katelynn Fawcett	Barrie	ON	G	1.74	.943
Kyra McDonald	St. Albert	AB	F	4	8
Olivia Leier	Notre Dame	SK	F	5	8
Kailey Ledoux	Prince Albert	SK	F	7	9

Jean Laforest brought in another handful of players that includes good defenders in Smith, who battles hard and has a great first-pass out of the zone, and Pisani, who skates well and has great vision on the ice. Matthews, Legault, Perry, and McDonald all can score goals and set them up, but they never quit in their hustles and they battle hard for every puck. These traits shown by these rookies will push the current roster once again as TWU aims to grab a playoff spot. Like Manitoba, I'm confused by Trinity Western recruiting a fourth and fifth netminder, but there's no doubt that both Maltais and Fawcett gives Laforest all sorts of great goaltending options in the blue paint.

UPDATE: This is why I keep the options open when it comes to recruits as I missed two for TWU. Olivia Leier signed on with TWU after impressing Coach Laforest with her work ethic and coachability. There's no denying that the program at Notre Dame produced high-quality players, and it appears that Trinity Western has acquired another solid player! Kailey Ledoux comes into TWU from the Prince Albert program where she was a solid power forward with good hands. She'll be a force down the wing or in front of the net for the Spartans!

UBC Thunderbirds

Name	Current	Prv.	Pos	G/GAA	A/SV%
Mya Healey	Northern Alberta	AB	F	8	10
Kailee Peppler	Prince Albert	SK	D	2	11
Mia Bierd	Edge School	AB	F	6	11
Annalise Wong	Fraser Valley	BC	F	0	3
Kayla McDougall	Stoney Creek	ON	G	1.67	.914

Graham Thomas went out and found some additional scoring and size as Healey comes in with both boxes checked while Bierd checks off the speed and skill boxes. Wong only played a handful of games for Fraser Valley, but she was in on plays with her aggressive style of play and relentless chase of the puck. Peppler skates smoothly and sees the ice well with her accurate passing. McDougall is another very good goalie who will set up camp in the UBC crease, and it's expected she'll push both Hiddleston and Hugens as the starter once Micklash's time with the program is over.

I think that's everyone based on the U SPORTS Letter of Intent list, the various websites with recruitment information, and the teams' social media accounts. If I missed someone, get in touch with me ASAP so I can make those adjustments to the lists, but I think this is a fairly complete document at this point. And if I did miss someone, I apologize!

I'm going to be honest when I say that the recruiting class from last season was quite exceptional. Adding this layer of recruits onto players who have yet to play a game at the Canada West level means that there is a lot to be excited about for this season. Not only do we have two new teams entering the fray in Canada West as the MacEwan Griffins and the Trinity Western Spartans make their long-awaited debuts, but there are a ton of talented players who will be competing for the Canada West Rookie of the Year Award at the very least.

Being able to call live hockey is something I've missed for a long time. Being able to see these teams put the kind of talent they've amassed over the last two seasons back out onto the ice is something I will not take for granted after not having set foot in Wayne Fleming Arena for eighteen months. I am excited to call games, I am excited be back, but I am most excited to see this next wave of stars invade rinks and dazzle us with their skills, abilities, and talents.

As much as I'm excited for summer, I have October circled on the calendar already. Canada West hockey can't come back soon enough for me!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!