U18 B Girls earn provincials berth after unbeaten playdowns

The Hubbard Pharmacy U18 B Girls St. Marys Rock celebrate a win on March 8 over the Stratford Aces. The win continued the team’s unbeaten streak in playdowns, a streak that earned the Rock a spot in the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) Provincial Championship April 9-12 in Scarborough.

By Spencer Seymour

The Hubbard Pharmacy U18 B Girls St. Marys Rock are headed to the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) Provincial Championships April 9-12 in Scarborough after going undefeated through their playdowns.

The Rock solidified their spot after winning a pair of games against the Huron Heat on March 5 and March 7. Head coach Nathan Brown said he had full confidence from the start of the season his squad could achieve their goal of qualifying for provincials given their high-octane quickness and two-way tenacity.

“I knew they could do it the whole entire year, it was just a matter of getting them to believe,” said Brown. “On the ice, they know where each other is. They play with a ton of speed, which is hard for some teams to handle. On the forecheck, it’s crazy how quickly F-1 can get to the puck. They hunt pucks really well, backtrack up the middle really well.”

Brown noted the team has made the most strides in their ability to communicate with one another on the ice after starting out as a group of players largely unfamiliar with one another.

“They communicate really well now,” Brown said. “At the start of the year, we knew we were in tough because we have a whole bunch of girls from everywhere. Six girls are from St. Marys, three are from Mitchell, three are from Stratford, two are from Thorndale, two are from Monkton. Then add on the girls that are coming up from the U15s, playing their first year of U18, getting used to each other, line matches and line mixes.

“It gravitates outwards when they start getting used to each other and finding that chemistry. And if you don’t have chemistry in the room, you don’t have chemistry on the ice. Everybody’s getting a lot louder. Everybody’s communicating at a different level on the ice, which is really relieving for me to see. You beat on them all year to play a certain way, and then they have the lightbulb moment and away they go.”

The team’s younger players, according to Brown, have settled into their roles incredibly well.

“They’re having fun,” said Brown. “At the start of the year, there was a lot of pressure on them because everything was new and the game is faster. They have to think things faster, but they’ve really settled in with their grit. They all work really hard. They don’t take shifts off. Even in these two qualifying games for provincials, there is just that different level of, ‘I’m here to play for my teammates, and if I have to go that extra step and go a little harder to get back to help my defender or my goalie, I will.’ ”

Brown cited examples of the younger players filling important roles, including Linley Porter and Abby Russell, who are top-notch penalty killers for the group, with Porter also having some of the most skillful hands on the team, and Russell being a “net-front machine” thanks to her ability to tip pucks. Brown also credited Emma Groenestege for her versatility, describing her as a “Swiss army knife who is willing to play anywhere she’s asked,” as well as being one of the team’s best shooters.

The Rock’s unbeaten stretch was in no small part thanks to the team’s most consistent line of the season comprising Emma Carradine, Ellie MacArthur and Kayla Visneskie, who Brown credited for intuitively knowing where each other are on the ice at all times.

Brown also credited goaltender Ramona Graham for playing a massive role in lifting St. Marys to their provincial qualification. Graham went on an otherworldly run leading to their ticket to provincials being punched.

“Ramona has been playing exceptionally well,” said Brown. “Our goalie coach, Rachel Bentley, put a rebound drill together where there is a lot of action in front of the net at practice, and we’ve done that the last six or seven practices, and you can see it in real time in the game how it’s really helped Ramona and everyone’s reaction time. And all our defenders, Mira (Broughton), Jenna (Gooder), Macie (Russworm), Maeve (Wheeler), Cortney (Linton) and Marci (Linton) are helping her chipping the puck out.”

One of the team’s most potent lines at both ends of the ice is the trio of Maddie Monisit Brown, Piper Broughton and Hailey McLean, all of whom are in their final year of minor hockey and, according to Brown, have histories of heated battles against one another.

“The three girls who are leaving this year, Maddie, Piper and Hailey, never played together before. They hated each other when they played against each other. They came in for tryouts and they all made the team, so I threw them on one line together and said, ‘Figure it out.’ And now they’re dominant. They’re all crazy fast. Cortney (Linton) is also a graduating player. She AP’d with us from the U18 C team, but she’s been around us all year and is an absolute leader for us.”

Brown added the line of Monisit Brown, Broughton and McLean thrives in part due to the three all having similar, wide-ranging abilities.

“They are three different girls coming out of three different systems, two of them having been coached by other coaches their entire hockey careers. They can all be agitators. They can all be scorers. They can all be great defenders. They have figured out to feed who’s going. If somebody’s flying on offence, they’re feeding that player. If somebody’s great defensively, they’re just sliding into their role.”

Brown described the provincial qualification as the product of the team’s evolution.

“They’re a really tight group. They do everything together. All the conversations in the room are all together. There are no splits in the room. They’re from all these different regions, but when they get into the dressing room, they totally exemplify what a team is.”