Practice Day In Saskatoon

Having arrived successfully in Saskatoon, credentials for the 2024 GFL U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy, were obtained, granting me access to Merlis Belsher Place in a limited capacity. Because I didn't apply for media credentials, I don't have the same freedom as some of the reporters who will be spending time at the rink, but it's weird in that me, a volunteer, was one of the few people who was at the arena on Wednesday to watch the practices of a few teams. One of those teams I was lucky enough to watch practice was the Concordia Stingers, and I'll make the case right now that the Stingers appear to be ready for their game on Thursday evening against the host Saskatchewan Huskies.

I'm not here to pump any teams' tires, but watching Concordia practice was pretty incredible because it didn't feel like a practice as much as it looked like a confident team having fun. There were some basic drills and reinforcement of systems, but it was fun to watch the players partake in a breakaway contest where they showed all sorts of moves and skills as the goalies were left to fend for themselves.

Some of the players stood out regarding those skills. Justine Yelle, known more for her defensive play, sent two lasers by the Concordia netminders with her wrist shot - the first when she went off the left post while breaking in on the right side, and the second was a rocket over the glove of the goaltender just under the bar. I was completely unaware of how strong and how accurate her shot was because she plays in a more defensive style, but Yelle's ability to pick her spots with her shot was quite impressive.

Émilie Lavoie was having too much fun with her breakaway moves, deking and weaving down the ice before showing her quick hands. She went between the legs for one attempt that was stopped that resulted in her her looking to the sky, but her attempt down the other end of the ice saw her deke in, drag the puck on her backhand to the far post, and shelf the puck over the stretched goalie across the ice. Needless to say, Lavoie looks like she could be dangerous if she finds some room to skate.

Jessymaude Drapeau was the other player having way too much fun with the breakaways as she was deking, juking, and weaving all over the offensive zone as she pulled out her bag of tricks. Her method seemed to be to get in tight to the crease before showing off her incredible hands, leaving the netminders very little time to react. It worked once, but it seemed that Jordyn Verbeek may have known what to expect as she deked Verbeek to one side of the net before moving the puck to her backhand where it seemed like she had a yawning cage. I say that because Verbeek reached back and absolutely robbed Drapeau with the glove, denying her an incredible goal which resulted in a pad tap from Drapeau.

Clearly, the Stingers were having a good time, but there was some other work being done. Defenders, when not using their skills competition moves, were working on rimming the puck around the boards to the point where a second defender was playing the bounce to get a sense of the kick off the boards. They did that a number of times both along the ice and up along the glass, and it seemed like they had a good idea on how the puck would move if they used the boards to find a player at the point.

Meanwhile, Stingers head coach Julie Chu was chatting with the defenders at the blue line while throwing pucks in at the yellow kickplate behind the net to see how it would kick into the slot area based on her angle. It was rather amazing to watch for the US Olympian testing the kickplate at various spots for how it would send the puck back out front, and you got the sense that she's discussed the idea of purposely missing the net with a low shot with her defenders just to get that kick off the end boards for her forwards battling in front of the net. Will this come into play against the Huskies? I can't say for sure, but I feel like that's something very few coaches spend time discussing with their teams.

Overall, there was a good discussion at the end with the team tightly-huddled near Chu at the boards, and it was cool to see and hear her talking about taking care of the puck, knowing where you have to be on the ice, supporting each other, and having fun. That last part seemed to be the important part to her as there were some laughs and a lot of smiles as she spoke, and you get the sense that the top-ranked team is where they are because they do have fun playing the game. Yes, they're loaded with skill and talent, but hockey is fun for them as well - a point some coaches seem to forget.

Will they win tomorrow? I'm not making that prediction here because the field seems pretty open when it comes to the eight teams competing at the 2024 GFL U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy, but the top-ranked team in Canada seems to be ready for the battle that looms. If they bring the same energy and fun they had today to their game tomorrow, I feel like the Huskies will have their hands full, but it seems pretty clear that the Stingers are pretty confident heading into the National Championship tournament.

It all gets started tomorrow, so make sure you tune in on CBCSports or get your bottom to Merlis Belsher Place for all the action!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!