Soyko takes long and winding road back to hockey

P.A. Bears all-time great makes strong comeback with Pandas

Abby Soyko is putting up points with the Pandas.

Abby Soyko was never going to give into the setbacks in her hockey career even when they came in bunches and were often out of her control.

The 21-year-old alumna of the Prince Albert Northern Bears under-18 AAA female hockey team experienced enough downs over a two-year period that would have knocked most out of the sport and into another stage of their lives. The string of adversity for Soyko started in earnest in April of 2020.

Having finished playing one season with the Northern Alberta Xtreme under-18 female prep team in Edmonton, Soyko was finishing up her Grade 12 studies in high school and looking forward to joining the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Women’s Hockey Team in September of 2020 along with one of her triplet sisters in Alli. The two sisters had played together on the Xtreme and the Bears.

On April 20, 2020, the University of Lethbridge axed the Pronghorns Men’s and Women’s Hockey team’s due to budget cuts. On May 28, 2020, Abby found a new team and she officially joined the storied University of Alberta Pandas Women’s Hockey Team.

Abby Soyko went over two years between competitive games.

With the world in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Pandas weren’t able to take the ice for game action in 2020-21 due to the Canada West Conference cancelling its season and U Sports cancelling all its national championships.

 In June of 2021, Soyko tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee and had to undergo reconstructive surgery. Due to the one year long rehabilitation to it took to comeback from that injury, Soyko was forced to miss the 2021-22 campaign, when all leagues under the U Sports umbrella returned to action.

Even during the worst of the down times, Soyko was not going to give up on playing hockey.

“I just always knew that hockey is what I wanted to do,” said Soyko, who also took part in lacrosse and track and field growing up in P.A. “I just kind of looked at this as more opportunity to just focus on my school and just rebuild myself kind of from the ground up.

Abby Soyko missed the 2021-22 season rehabbing a knee injury.

“I just kind of changed from how I was from (under-18 hockey) to how I am now, because in my opinion, I think I’m a more well-rounded player than I was in (under-18). I just kind of tried to rejuvenate myself.”

These days, Soyko is well into her first season playing full-time with the Pandas. In 20 regular season games with the Pandas, the power forward sits fifth in team scoring with seven goals and six assists for 13 points.

Taking up position on the right wing, Soyko had a goal Saturday helping her Pandas down the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies 3-1 in a U Sports regular season game played before 626 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place. In skating through her first campaign with the Pandas, Soyko is focused on improving and admits she still had to go through her on-ice growing pains with regards to adjusting to the game at the university level.

“I feel like I’ve had my ups and downs,” said Soyko, who stands 5-foot-4. “I expected that completely.

The first U Sports team Abby Soyko committed to folded.

“My coach Howie (Draper) has been really understanding and just really pushing me to be better. That has been really helpful in my mental block. He made it kind of easy for me actually.”

Draper, who has been the Pandas head coach since U Sports started awarding national titles for women’s hockey in the 1997-98 campaign, said one of Soyko’s biggest moments this season was when she scored in the team’s first regular season game back on September 30, 2022. Soyko netted the Pandas first goal of a 3-2 overtime victory over the Mount Royal University Cougars at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

The tally was a nice one too. Soyko took a drop pass from linemate Megan Wilson at the top of the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, passed the puck to herself around a Cougars checker and roofed home a shot short side to the top left corner of the Mount Royal goal.

Soyko came to the Pandas with a reputation for putting up points. She is the all-time leading scorer with her hometown Bears piling up 128 points on 65 goals and 63 assists in 136 career regular season games played over five seasons from 2014 to 2019. Soyko is still the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League.

Abby Soyko scored a goal in her first U Sports game.

During her one season with the Xtreme, Soyko topped her team in scoring posting 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 23 games.

When Soyko scored her first goal with the Pandas, she had gone over two-and-a-half years without playing in a competitive regular season or post-season contest. Draper said you could tell it meant a lot for Soyko to get that first goal after all that she had been through.

“It was great to see her score the goal,” said Draper, who has guided the Pandas to all eight of their U Sports national championship wins. “She hadn’t done it in a while.

“She kind of mimicked pulling the monkey off her back. That is the kind of person she is. She got really excited, and we all got excited for her.

“She is going to have a great career here.”

Abby Soyko is the P.A. Northern Bears all-time leading scorer.

When Soyko was dealing with her two-year stretch of multiple adversities, Draper was certain she would be playing full time for the Pandas one day. Draper said Soyko’s passion for the game is too strong to give up on it.

Last season when she was rehabbing her knee, Draper said Soyko was as locked into the game as the players that were on the ice for the Pandas were. The legendary Pandas bench boss said he could feel Soyko’s energy coming from the stands.

Draper said Soyko helped out with statistics and gave good feedback to her teammates trying to help guide them towards a win.

Now that Soyko is on the ice playing for the Pandas, Draper said she aids the team in so many ways.

The Pandas celebrate Abby Soyko’s first period goal on Saturday.

“I think one of the things that we were missing last year was just an extra threat offensively, and she provides that threat,” said Draper. “You can see how she can drive the puck to the net.

“She has tremendous power and the ability to explode just from a standstill and get around the corner. She has a great shot. She is tough and rugged.

“When she plays the game, she doesn’t play it in a dirty way by any stretch. It wasn’t lucky what happened down in Lethbridge with them losing their program, but we were extremely lucky to have her come to us.”

Soyko is happy she has landed on her skates with the Pandas. The opportunity to join U of A’s perennial powerhouse women’s hockey squad kind of came out of the blue.

After the Pronghorns folded, Soyko said things were quiet on the hockey front as restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic had shut down large aspects of life in North American and the world. One day, Soyko got a call from her head coach with the Xtreme in Tyrel Spitzer asking if she wanted to go to the U of A and play for the Pandas.

Abby Soyko has seven goals and six assists in 20 games this season.

The wheels were put in motion from there, and Soyko officially joined the Pandas about a couple of days later. She said it meant a tonne to have her teammates around when she was coming back from her knee injury.

“Everyone was there for me when I was struggling with just not being on the ice,” said Soyko, who is an arts major looking to get into the education at U of A. “They didn’t treat me any different from any other player.

“I was just as included as everyone else. My coach made sure that I knew I was still part of everything. We’re a really tight knit group.

“I live with a couple of girls on the team. I didn’t feel left out at all, and they just made me feel really a part of the team still.”

Abby Soyko aims to keep improving her game with the Pandas.

In Saturday’s game with the Huskies, Soyko opened the scoring in the first period and a single from second-year centre Jadynn Morden allowed the Pandas to exit the opening 20 minutes with a 2-0 edge.

Second-year defender Emily Holmes scored on the power play for the Huskies at the 4:48 mark of the second to cut the Pandas lead to 2-1. Before the second period ended, Pandas second-year right-winger Kallie Clouston netted a single to put the visitors ahead of what would be the 3-1 final score.

Halle Oswald stopped 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pandas, who improved to 18-5-1 with their ninth straight win. Colby Wilson turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies, who fell to 12-9-3.

The Pandas return to action this coming Friday, when they travel to Regina to take on the University of Regina Cougars at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre.

Abby Soyko loves how her Pandas are playing overall.

The Huskies are off until Saturday, February 4, when they host U of R at 5 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

Soyko said she loves how the Pandas are playing overall as a team and is pumped for what the rest of the season has in store for her squad.

“Coming back from Christmas break, I can say we’re definitely a different team,” said Soyko. “Everyone is on the same page.

“Everyone knows their roles. Everyone has bought in. We’re just kind of flowing right now.

“Everyone is just super excited.”

When her playing days with the Pandas are done, Draper believes Soyko will continue to be in hockey in some capacity.

That led to asking Soyko if she could see herself returning to Prince Albert one day to coach her old Bears team she won a SFU18AAAHL title and earned an appearance at the Esso Cup national female under-18 AAA championship tournament with in the 2016-17 campaign. Soyko enjoyed playing for long time former Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby, and the idea taking on his former role has crossed her mind.

Abby Soyko hugs Huskies centre Kate Ball.

“I don’t know, maybe,” said Soyko with a chuckle. “I have definitely thought about coaching.

“I’m not sure if I’ll go back to P.A., but if need be, I know I could probably make that happen. I have started doing some coaching and on-ice instructing in Edmonton. I definitely could see myself coaching in the future.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Hermann will always cherish year as Hilltops starter

Club celebrates 2019 CJFL title season with ring day

Tyler Hermann, left, shows his championship ring to his father, Craig. 

    Tyler Hermann’s one campaign as the Saskatoon Hilltops starting quarterback turned into a dream season.
    After being a reserve quarterback for four years, Hermann was tabbed with taking the controls of the Hilltops offence for his fifth and final campaign with the club. While there were growing pains in the first four weeks of the season, Hermann signal called the Hilltops to a perfect 12-0 record to capture the Canadian Bowl and become CJFL champions for a sixth straight year.

    The Hilltops downed the host Langley Rams 11-6 last November in the CJFL title game to win a 22^nd national title.

    Hermann had a good personal campaign too in 2019 completing 123-of-192 passes for 1,908 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions appearing in all of his club’s eight regular season games.

Tyler Hermann, left, receives his championship ring.

    “It was awesome,” said Hermann, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 205 pounds. “That is something I will have for the rest of my life.

    “It is one of those priceless memories that I will look back, and I will just cherish every moment of it. I remember at the end of the season I was almost sad thinking back. I should have been happy.

    “I remembered that this was the end of something that was such a big part of my life and all friendships I made along the way. This was a spectacular year.”

    On Saturday on the practice field outside the Hilltops clubhouse, Hermann received his championship ring at the team’s ring ceremony.

Tyler Hermann, left, and Jesse McNabb show off their rings.

    Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Hilltops ring ceremony was a modified one.

    Usually, the Hilltops ring ceremony is a social event that brings together their CJFL championship team from the previous season as part of a reunion night.

    With government regulations currently in place to combat COVID-19, the Hilltops ultimately did a ring ceremony to give a nod to their 2019 season with a group of six players, who were in their final campaign with the team in 2019.

    The graduating players that made it out included Hermann, Connor Graham, Tristan Hering, Logan Kelsey-Stern, Ryder Klisowsky and Jesse McNabb.

    Team officials will distribute the rest of the championship rings to the 2019 title winning team.

    With that noted, Hermann was happy with the reunion that did happen considering the circumstances that surround the current day.

Jesse McNabb, left, gets his championship ring.

    “We usually do it right after May camp too, so there is a little buzz around the new season,” said Hermann, who recently turned 23-years-old. “Everyone is kind of chatting.

    “It is definitely different. I like the way they did it having the fifth year guys here. Those are the guys we traveled our whole five years together with, and we shared such similar experiences kind of starting as that rookie and then finishing the way we did.

    “That is good enough for me. That is really all you can expect in times like this is something like that.”

Jesse McNabb checks out his championship ring.

    McNabb’s eyes got really big, when he opened his ring box and saw his championship ring. The star defensive tackle, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 245 pounds, said a big part of the 2019 campaign was gutting out a 4-0 start.

    The Hilltops had a huge turnover in their starting ranks, and many players were adjusting to new roles.

    The venerable CJFL club opened the season with three straight road victories. The Hilltops took their home opener 28-21 over their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder thanks to a touchdown with under a minute to play.

    The home win over the Thunder and a 24-22 win in Week 3 over the Huskies in Edmonton required fourth-quarter comebacks.

    “It was big, because it really showed the character of the team,” said McNabb, who recorded 26.5 total tackles and three sacks for the Hilltops in the 2019 regular season. “We weren’t just rolling through everyone like some teams in the past have.

Jesse McNabb shows off his championship rings.

    “It was more hard fought games. It was really good for the group morale to see that we could get through the tough times together. As the season went on, things developed better, and it was good.”

    On Aug. 25, 2019 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Hilltops legendary head coach Tom Sargeant picked up his 200^th career victory in a 34-16 win over the host Thunder.

    Sargeant later moved past retired Regina Rams head coach Frank McCrystal to become the all-time leader in head coaching victories in Canada’s amateur post-secondary football ranks.

    After the Hilltops won their sixth straight CJFL championship, Sargeant’s career record sat a 210-30-2 including action in the CJFL regular season and post-season.

Ryder Klisowsky shows off his five championship rings.

    McCrystal had a 208-104-2 record in the regular season and post-season in both the CJFL and U Sports. He was the head coach of the Regina Rams from 1984 to 2014, and they played 15 seasons in the CJFL and 16 campaigns in U Sports over that time as the University of Regina Rams.

    McNabb said helping Sargeant get those milestones was a sweet part of the campaign.

    “It was great just to be able to do that for him and get things done right and then be able to lift him up in B.C. at the end of the year and give him the trophy,” said the 22-year-old McNabb.

    Hilltops linebacker Jadyn Pingue was named the CJFL defensive player of the year for his efforts during the 2019 season.
    The Hilltops have also captured the Canadian Bowl in nine out of the last 10 seasons to become CJFL champions.

Ryder Klisowsky, left, and Logan Kelsey-Stern enjoy ring day.

    The 12-0 campaign in 2019 followed up the Hilltops posting an 11-0 overall mark in their 2018 CJFL title winning season.

    The Hilltops 2019 CJFL championship rings have the initials “J.F.” written on the side to honour late former star Hilltops linebacker Justin Filteau. Filteau, who played for the Hilltops from 2010 to 2014, passed away in a plane crash on June 1, 2019.

    The 2019 rings, which were designed by the Hilltops graduating players, contain 22 sapphires symbolizing the club’s 22 CJFL championships. The word “trust” is written on the underside of the ring to recognize the trust the Hilltops players had in their teammates over the course of the season.

    There are six Canadian Bowl trophies on the side and six sapphires on the top of the ring to symbolize the Hilltops sixth consecutive Canadian Bowl championship win.

    “Obviously, it is beautiful, and it is something to be proud of,” said Hermann. “When I look at it, I just kind of think of the comradery of the team.”

Soyko takes her talents to the Pandas, other notes

@PandasHockey is proud to announce that @abbysoyko_10 has committed and will be wearing green and gold in 2020/21. Welcome to the PHamily Abby! pic.twitter.com/1IP4dlwTTe

— UofA Pandas Hockey (@PandasHockey) May 28, 2020

    Abby Soyko has found a new hockey home with the most storied women’s program in the history of U Sports.

    On Thursday, the University of Alberta Pandas, who have won the most U Sports national women’s hockey championships at eight, announced Soyko has committed to joining the Edmonton-based squad for the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
    The Prince Albert, Sask., product originally committed to joining the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey team in January along with her sister Alli. Abby and Alli are two parts of triplet siblings.

Abby Soyko in action with the Bears in October of 2018.

    On April 20, the University of Lethbridge cut both the men’s and women’s Pronghorns hockey teams citing a lack of provincial government funding.

    Due to that development, the two 18-year-olds became free agents with the ability to join any other post-secondary team of their choosing.

    On Thursday, it became official that Abby was going to be a member of the Pandas.

Alli found a new hockey home too. On Thursday, the Red Deer College Queens women’s hockey team, who play out of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association ranks, announced Alli had committed to joining their program.

    Both Abby and Alli played major roles in helping the Prince Albert Northern Bears win the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League championship in 2016-17 and win a Western Regional playdown series to advance to the Esso Cup national championship tournament.

    Abby would be viewed as the big catch due to her scoring prowess. She is the quintessential power forward.

    She played for the Bears for five seasons from 2014 to 2019 appearing in 136 regular season games piling up 65 goals and 63 assists for 128 points. She is the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFU18AAAHL and the Bears all-time leader in goals and points.

    Abby is tied for the Bears all-time regular season record in career assists with Kaitlin Willoughby, who went on to star and become the second all-time leading scorer for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks.

    Abby was also the Bears captain in her final season with that team.

Queens Hockey is proud to introduce our newest member: @allisoykoo of @NAXHockey. Alli joins us from Prince Albert, Sask. We are excited to see you wear the Crown to start your college hockey career! Welcome to the family @rdcathletics! #mykingsmyqueens

— 🏒 RDC Queens Hockey (@rdcqueenshockey) May 29, 2020

    Last season, Abby and Alli played for the Northern Alberta Xtreme Female Prep team in Devon, Alta.

    Due to their late October birthday, they had exhausted their under-18 AAA eligibility, but still needed to finish their Grade 12 studies in high school.

    Abby was the leading scorer for the Xtreme this past season posting 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 23 games.

Alli Soyko in action for the Bears in November of 2018.

    She will be a big addition to the Pandas, who won the Canada West title last season. The Pandas didn’t get a chance to play a game at the U Sports national championship tournament in Charlottetown, P.E.I., which was called off after two games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Alli will be a strong addition to a team at the Canadian college level, and she also has all the physical tools to play at the university level possibly one day.

    In her final season with the Bears in 2018-19, Alli recorded career highs in all offensive categories with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 26 regular season games.

    She had another solid campaign this past season with the Xtreme posting five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 23 games.

    Last season, the Queens fell 3-2 in double overtime in a series deciding Game 3 to the NAIT Ooks in an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference semifinal series.

    Both Abby and Alli will be great additions to their respective teams.

• On Thursday, the Boston Marathon, which was scheduled for Sept. 14, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has originally been slated for April 20 before being pushed back to Sept. 14. This will mark the first time in history the Boston Marathon has been cancelled after running for 124 consecutive years.
• On Friday, the DUBNetwork, which is a website platform dedicated to covering the WHL, announced it was taking a step back and stopping coverage due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Run by chief executive officer Paul Figler, the DUBNetwork has been in operation since 2015.
• On Friday, long time Medicine Hat, Alta., radio broadcaster Jim Duce announced he will be retiring. Duce has been on the radio waves for 47 years. He currently works for CHAT 94.5, and his final day on air will be Friday, June 26.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Heidt, Yager expect smooth fits with their new WHL teams

Riley Heidt is pumped for his future with the Cougars.

    They were wanted by many WHL teams, and when the dust settled, Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager said they ended up with the clubs that they had maybe a little extra connection with.

    Going into Wednesday’s WHL Bantam Draft, the two skilled 15-year-old forwards were highly touted to go in the top three.

    With the first overall selection, the Regina Pats picked phenom forward Connor Bedard, who became the first person to be granted exceptional player status to play full time in the WHL at age 15. The league allowed the Pats to sign Bedard to a WHL Standard Player Agreement the day before the draft.

    Heidt was picked second overall by the Prince George Cougars. Yager went third overall to the Moose Jaw Warriors. The WHL Bantam Draft was held in an online format due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    On Thursday, Heidt signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Cougars. Yager followed signing his WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Warriors.

    In both cases, there is a mutual expectation on the sides of both player and team that these unions are going to work out in a big way.

Brayden Yager is excited about his future with the Warriors.

    Both Heidt and Yager played as 14-year-old underagers with the Saskatoon Contacts helping the Contacts finish third overall in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League with a 30-12-2 record. WHL scouts came out in droves to Contacts games to see Heidt and Yager perform.
    Heidt, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 160 pounds, appeared in all of the Contacts 44 regular season games posting 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points. He suspected he might be chosen by the Cougars feeling just a little extra upbeat in his dealings with the Prince George side.

    The Cougars happened to win the WHL Bantam Draft lottery on March 25, which allowed them to move up two positions to pick in the second overall spot in the first round.

    “I was obviously talking with teams before that,” said Heidt. “I talked to Prince George, and I had a pretty good clue that I was going there.

    “I was very excited. Just hearing my named called so it was official was an awesome feeling.”
    Yager, who stands 6-feet and weighs 163 pounds, also appeared in all of the Contacts 44 regular season games piling up 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points. 

Riley Heidt, centre, sets to take a draw for the Contacts.

    He thought he hit it off really well with Warriors management and felt they would do what they could to get him to Moose Jaw.

    “I talked to a lot of those teams,” said Yager. “Moose Jaw was kind of one that kind of stuck to our family.

    “They have such a good group with (general manager) Alan Miller and (assistant general manager) Jason Ripplinger and (director of hockey administration) James Gallo and all of the rest of the support staff and trainers. It was a team that kind of stuck out to us. It is close to home, which is pretty important to us.”
    Heidt and Yager have been best friends since first playing spring hockey together at age eight. They have played together on the same team since that time and believe they are ready to skate out on their own when that time comes.
    Now that they have been drafted and officially committed to WHL teams, they both know they have more work to do in order to make an impact on the major junior circuit.

    Heidt believes he will get good guidance on that front from Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb and his staff in Prince George.

Brayden Yager can play a strong two-way game.

    “It is going to be awesome,” said Heidt. “It is obviously going to be a learning curve, and you are going to have to go through bumps on the way.

    “I’m very excited to get going here, and I think it is going to be a great challenge. I’m ready for it. I think coach Lamb he is obviously going to help me along the way. He is a great coach, and obviously, all the other people involve in their organization.

    “I am very excited.”
    Yager is looking forward to working with Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary and his staff. The gifted two-player said he has already been working hard to prepare for life in major junior hockey, and he said he didn’t let the daily situation the COVID-19 pandemic affect the thrill of WHL Bantam Draft day or his training.

    “It is unbelievable,” said Yager. “This is just one of those days that will stick with you for the rest of your life.

    “It is what your future is going to be like. I’m super excited. Moose Jaw is obviously an unbelievable program.

    “With the pandemic going around, it has been a little tough. Most of us are still working out at home and shooting pucks and doing all that kind of stuff just to stay engaged in the game and get ready for next year.”

Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager celebrate a goal last season.

    When it comes to transitioning to the WHL, both Heidt and Yager received high praise from Marc Chartier, who worked with both as head coach of the Contacts last season. Chartier stepped down from his position with the Contacts after working 13 seasons with the club.

    Chartier said both Heidt and Yager have the drive to earn positive outcomes in the sport.

    “They are very mature players, and they took the right approach coming in,” said Chartier. “They were first year players, and we had some older players on our team too.
    “They earned their position of where they played on that team. It is one thing to have the skill that they did, but they are pretty committed to the game, and they are always looking to get better. There are no shortcuts with them.

    “They are both a lot of fun to watch. They are very skilled hockey players. You put two skilled players together like that and there are positive outcomes all the time.”

Soykos become prized free agents with ’Horns demise

Abby Soyko in action with the Bears in 2018-19.

    If you are a university level women’s hockey team and you haven’t called Abby and Alli Soyko, you better be picking up that phone.

    The two sisters and two parts of triple siblings had committed to play for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks back in January. The Prince Albert, Sask., products are now free agents due to the fact the University of Lethbridge cut both the men’s and women’s Pronghorns hockey teams citing a lack of provincial government funding.

    Both Abby and Alli would be great additions for any women’s hockey team. Both played major roles in helping the Prince Albert Northern Bears win the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship in 2016-17 and win a Western Regional playdown series to advance to the Esso Cup national championship tournament.

    Abby would be viewed as the big catch due to her scoring prowess. She is the quintessential power forward coming from a city in Prince Albert that is home to the WHL’s Raiders, which is a club that prides itself on its scoring and toughness.

    Actually, Abby made a huge name for herself in her hometown playing for the Northern Bears in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.

    She played for the Bears for five seasons from 2014 to 2019 appearing in 136 regular season games piling up 65 goals and 63 assists for 128 points. She is the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL and the Bears all-time leader in goals and points.

    Abby is tied for the Bears all-time regular season record in career assists with Kaitlin Willoughby, who went on to star and become the second all-time leading scorer for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks.

    On top of all that, Abby was the Bears captain in her final season with that team.

Last season, Abby and Alli played for the Northern Alberta Xtreme Female Prep team in Devon, Alta.

Alli Soyko in action with the Bears in 2018-19.

    Due to their late October birthday, they had exhausted their midget AAA eligibility, but still needed to finish their Grade 12 studies in high school.

    Abby was the leading scorer for the Xtreme this past season posting 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 23 games. She has the combination of strength, power, speed and explosiveness few female players have.

    Before being cut, the Pronghorns women’s team, which had struggled in recent years, took a huge step to being more respectable posting a 9-16-1-2 regular season record this past campaign.

    In his one full season with the team, head coach Doug Paisley was set to bring in a strong recruiting class for his second campaign, and Abby was at the top of that class.

    She was viewed as a major land for that program and someone who could have potentially turned the balance of power in the Canada West Conference.

    Abby could have easily played for a top women’s program in the NCAA ranks.

    I believe Abby has the potential to have a better career in the U Sports ranks than Willoughby had with the Huskies.

    If a program is able to successfully recruit Abby, that program will likely get Alli as an addition as a package deal.

    Alli has all the physical tools to play at the university level. She will likely be pegged to play a more defensive and energy role at forward, but has the potential to be a sound two-way player.

    In her final season with the Bears in 2018-19, Alli recorded career highs in all offensive categories with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 26 regular season games.

    She had another solid campaign this past season with the Xtreme posting five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 23 games. Like Abby, Alli still has more potential to reach in the game.

    Besides their exploits on the ice, Abby and Alli are the perfect players you want in your dressing room. They have the ability to bring their teammates up and believe that the impossible is possible.

    They are able to bring their teammates up while still always giving off that best friend type feeling.

    If you are a university hockey women’s team coach in Canada and the United States and you want win and bring your program up to the next level, you need to have Abby and Alli Soyko on your team, and that is the bottom line.

NWHL lands in Toronto, won’t go away, other notes

Words can’t express how proud I am of this pivotal moment for the NWHL.

Everyone in the Toronto hockey community can be sure that this first-class team of professionals will make bold strides for the women’s game.

Let’s go @TorontoNWHL!! https://t.co/GQnyrXG6lN

— Dani Rylan (@DaniRylan) April 22, 2020

    It looks like the National Women’s Hockey League won’t go away.

    I know I likely will upset friends or potentially end friendships with individuals in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association by saying that.

    In a world that has a lot of fear and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NWHL announced on Wednesday it was expanding to Toronto. The Toronto squad will be the sixth team in the NWHL and the first squad located in Canada.

    The release announcing the new Toronto team included a statement from Mayor John Tory. The NWHL is looking towards playing its sixth season.

    The NWHL used to have a competitor in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League that was founded in 2007 and folded on May 1 of last year.

    After the CWHL folded, the PWHPA was formed as a non-profit, and its members include most of the high-profile players that skate for senior national teams in Canada, the United States and Europe.
    The PWHPA said it was boycotting the NWHL and any other women’s professional hockey league in North America until players received health insurance and a livable salary.

    Basically, the PWHPA would like to see the NHL come in and have the same relationship the NBA has with the WNBA, where the NBA fully backs the WNBA.

    In the process of this standoff between the PWHPA and NWHL, the PWHPA appears to have encountered an extremely tough foe in NWHL founder and commissioner Dani Rylan.

    While the NWHL doesn’t have the world’s best female players that are part of the PWHPA, Rylan is showing she might be the Kelly McCrimmon of women’s hockey when it comes to the business side of the game.

    McCrimmon is the general manager of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and the owner of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, and he is well respected for his ace skills in the business world.

    Rylan founded the NWHL in 2015 from nothing and the fledging circuit keeps getting stronger and keeps adding more sponsors even when encountering down points. Its momentum just keeps going and going.

    Rylan, who is 32-year-old product of Tampa, Florida, is proving that she is not someone you can easily push around.

    As a player, she was a 5-foot-3 grinder type forward who was told she would never make it in the NCAA Division I ranks. She played one season in the Division II ranks for the Metro State University of Denver men’s team in 2009-10 just to keep playing the game.

    Rylan made the Northeastern University Huskies women’s hockey team in the NCAA Division I ranks as a 23-year-old junior walk-on in 2010-11. She became a scholarship athlete and the Huskies captain in her senior and final season in 2011-12.

    This was impressive as Northeastern is traditionally a top eight program in the women’s NCAA Division I ranks. During her career with the Huskies, Rylan was known by her teammates as being a gritty grandma.

    Rylan comes off as one of those who sleeps just four hours a night and works and works and works at building her be all and end all life consuming venture in the NWHL. She is like a fictional Terminator robot that will not stop.

    She comes off as being gifted in business and has become a mini celebrity in building her league.

    At the moment, the NWHL splits its revenues 50 per cent with the players on the circuit. When the COVID-19 pandemic passes, it is possible the NWHL could grow to the point revenues coming in will see the players making more than just a living wage.

    If the NHL was smart, they would make an alliance with Rylan to expand the women’s game. Actually, I am surprised the Golden Knights haven’t brought her on board and cut her in as a part owner of the team.

    By expanding to Toronto, Rylan and her NWHL are showing they will not go away.

    It will be interesting to see how the standoff between the best female players in the game unfolds against Rylan, who is the best and most driven business person on either side of this standoff.

    Sportsnet put together a solid long form story on Rylan, which can be found by clicking right here.

• The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey announced a trio of strong recruits from the WHL ranks on Friday. The recruits include Saskatoon product and defensive defenceman Parker Gavlas, who played for the Medicine Hat Tigers, Saskatoon product and defenceman Ty Prefontaine, who was the captain of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Lloydminster, Alta., product and forward Jaxan Kaluski, who was the captain of the Swift Current Broncos.
• On Thursday, Baseball Canada announced it was cancelling all its national championship tournaments in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Baseball Canada was set to hold 11 different national championship tournaments.
• On Thursday, the Calgary Stampede’s board of directors announced the Calgary Stampede was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Calgary Stampede was slated to run July 3 to 12.
• On Wednesday, the British Columbia Hockey League, which is a junior A circuit, put out a release asking for financial assistance from the Government of British Columbia to offset major losses from the circuit’s member teams suffered due to the shutdown of the league from the COVID-19 pandemic. The release cited loss of revenue due to teams not being able to hold spring camps and uncertainty regarding ticket sales and sponsorship support in the 2020-21 campaign due to COVID-19.
• On Thursday, the Government of Saskatchewan released a five phase plan open the province up for business again. Most of Canada has gone about six weeks observing massive shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following that announcement, Baseball Saskatchewan released a frequently asked questions document on Friday noting the organization was still hoping to hold a season. That frequently asked questions document can be found by clicking right here.
• The University of Alberta Pandas women’s hockey team put out a fun pass the puck video on Twitter as part of a #SocialDistancingChallenge. The Pandas players were inventive in how they passed the puck along.

#SocialDistancingChallenge Thanks @WesternWHKY for the nomination! The gals had to get a little creative as a lot of our equipment is still locked up at the Drake! We nominate @DinosWHKY and @HuskiesWHKY !! pic.twitter.com/VyAnBOOk8l

— UofA Pandas Hockey (@PandasHockey) April 24, 2020

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Kushniruk rises from nowhere to be key member of Bears

17-year-old forward set to play at U of Regina next season

Jadyn Kushniruk became a Bears assistant captain this season.

  PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Jadyn Kushniruk was a diamond in the rough the Prince Albert Northern Bears found.

    During her 13-year-old season, Kushniruk was playing female house league bantam hockey in Saskatoon, where she was discovered by Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby. Willoughby liked Kushniruk’s skating and physical strength and invited her to come to training camp with the Bears.

    From that invite, Kushniruk hasn’t looked back. She made the Bears, who are one of the top teams in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League, as a 14-year-old underage player in the 2015-16 campaign.

    As a 15-year-old sophomore in 2016-17, Kushniruk recorded 11 goals and seven assists appearing in all of the Bears 28 regular season games.

Bears C Jadyn Kushniruk, left, checks Wildcats F Carissa Hogan.

    She helped them win the SFMAAAHL title, a Western regional playdown series and appear in the Esso Cup national championship tournament.
    Kushniruk, who stands 5-foot-4, had a solid third season posting 10 goals and five assists in 26 regular season games with the Bears. This past summer, she committed to playing for the University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks starting in the 2019-20 campaign.

Currently in her 17-year-old and final midget AAA season, Kushniruk is helping lead the Bears as one of their assistant captains.

    “It is awesome,” said Kushniruk. “I love being here.

Jadyn Kushniruk smiles after scoring a first period goal.

    “Spending my fourth year being a leader on the team is really awesome. I am hoping to have the young girls look up to me and just do my best and leave my mark on the team as I am graduating.
    “Before I came, I played a lower level of hockey that I shouldn’t have, and Jeff (Willoughby) found me. It was really nice that he showed confidence in me early, and it is helping me to build confidence as I go on through my last year and move on to next year.”

    On Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre, Kushniruk gave the Bears a 1-0 lead against the visiting Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats in a SFMAAAHL regular season clash just 3:10 into the first period. She drove hard to the net on a rush into the offensive zone and tipped home a beauty setup pass from linemate Alli Soyko on the backdoor of the Swift Current goal to put the Bears ahead.

Alli Soyko (#22) set up the Bears first goal by Jadyn Kushniruk.

    That quick start helped propel the Bears to a 5-2 victory.

    Kushniruk broke an eight-game goalless drought with her tally against the Wildcats.
    “It was really nice,” said Kushniruk. “I had been looking to score a goal for a couple of games now.

    “Alli (Soyko) made a perfect pass, a perfect feed and I couldn’t have asked for a better setup to start the game.”

    Kushniruk has four goals and five assists appearing in all 11 of the Bears regular season games in the current campaign. Willoughby is pleased to see how far his hard-working forward has come in her midget AAA career.

Rhea Peterson scored the Bears third goal on Saturday.

    “She is not the typical bantam AA that moves on to (midget) AAA,” said Willoughby. “To see her from start to finish committing to Regina now, it is just a real good feel good story. You don’t hear them all the time.

    “We’re just proud of her. Everything she has gotten she has earned. She is just one of those consistent players that just sets a good example every night.

    “We’re lucky to have her.”

    The Bears expanded their lead to 2-0 with six minutes remaining in the first on a near identical play to Kushniruk’s goal only with 16-year-old forward Brookyn Anderson sending a beauty feed to linemate Kailey Ledoux, who notched her third goal of the campaign.

    Anderson set up the Bears third goal at the 6:13 mark of the second hitting sophomore forward Rhea Peterson with another backdoor setup pass to give the Bears a 3-0 edge.

Brooklyn Anderson had two assists for the Bears on Saturday.

    “We’re happy with the start we’ve had,” said Willoughby, who team’s previous game was a 3-2 overtime loss to the Stars in Saskatoon back on Nov. 11. “Obviously, we were off for a couple of weeks.

    “We didn’t know how the feel would be, but I think the girls made a connection right away, made some nice passes, had some puck possession and scored a couple of quick goals. I think that just helped set the table for the rest of the game for us.”

    The Wildcats answered back just 23 seconds after Peterson’s tally, when 16-year-old forward Sara Kendall roofed a shot past Bears netminder Lexi Beuker to cut the Bears lead to 3-1.

    Before the second period ended, sophomore 15-year-old forward Paris Oleksyn tipped home a point shot from defender McKenzie Mayo to give the Bears a 4-1 edge. Bears star forward Kate Ball expanded that advantage to 5-1 scoring 79 seconds into the third period.

    The Wildcats rounded out the game’s scoring with 12:33 to play in the third period with a short-handed goal coming from Crystal Wale.

Taylor Lind picked up assists on both Wildcats goals on Saturday.

    Beuker made 24 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Bears (6-4-1). She made a least three huge saves on Wildcats star forward Taylor Lind including a sprawling stick paddle stop on a breakaway with 11.4 seconds remaining in the second period.

    Lind picked up assists on both Swift Current goals.

    Harper Davey turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wildcats (3-5-1).

Both teams face each other again on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Looking to the future after this season, Kushniruk is looking forward to playing at the university level with the Cougars. Near the end of this past summer, she received an email from Cougars head coach Sarah Hodges regarding interest about joining the Cougars.

    Kushniruk said she was in right at the start. She was brought in to visit the U of R campus.

Lexi Beuker holds on to one of her 24 saves in goal for the Bears.

    During that visit, Kushniruk went to lunch with Hodges, and the veteran bench boss told the young forward she definitely had a spot on the team and gave Kushniruk time to think things over. Kushniruk said she didn’t need to think things over and wanted to go ahead full steam in joining the Cougars.

    Kushniruk’s mom, Tracey, is originally from Regina.

    “It is exciting,” said Kushniruk. “It will be nice to have the support of my family there.

    “(Bears alum) Ireland (South) is there too, so it will be nice to play back with her again and have a couple of familiar faces on the team that will welcome me in.”

    Before she heads off to join the Cougars, Kushniruk hopes to enjoy a special season to conclude her time with the Bears.

The Bears celebrate their win over the Wildcats on Saturday.

    “We just want to continue to push ourselves to be better and better,” said Kushniruk. “Winning league and Esso is not too far out of our reach, so I think that is what we are all kind of hoping for.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.