Last hurrah for special SFMAAAHL grad class

Allison Hayhurst has been the heart and soul of the Prairie Fire.

    This might be one of the most bittersweet playoffs in the history of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League due to the final hurrahs that will take place.

    As the SFMAAAHL post-season kicked into motion on Thursday night, the players from arguably one of the circuit’s most special grad classes are skating their final handful of games in their midget AAA careers. While these grads will be moving on after their various teams conclude their playoff runs, these games provide a great chance to see and salute a fantastic group of individuals.

    These playoffs feature five of the league’s top nine all-time leading scorers in regular season play. It is highly likely the SFMAAAHL won’t see something like this again during the rest of its history, or it will be a very long time before something like this happens again.

Taylor Lind left her mark as one of the SFMAAAHL’s all-time bests.

    The SFMAAAHL’s graduating class this season includes a well-respected defender who will likely be the last to hit a lofty games played total.

    The graduating class includes Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats star captain Taylor Lind.

    Lind finished her regular season career as the second all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL in regular season play. She piled up 93 goals and 77 assists for 170 points in 83 regular season games. The Shaunavon, Sask., product is the Wildcats all-time leader in career regular season goals, assists and points.

    For the second time in three seasons, Lind won the SFMAAAHL scoring title posting 29 goals and 31 assists for 60 points this season. Her assist and point totals are career highs.

    Next season, Lind is slated to the join the Lindenwood University Lions women’s hockey team in St. Charles, Missouri, in the NCAA ranks. She has one season of midget AAA eligibility remaining but is set to graduate high school a year early.

Grace Shirley has come through in many clutch moments for the Stars.

    If she did play another season, odds were good that she could have overtaken Olivia Howe as the all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL. Howe piled up 107 goals and 100 assists in 106 regular season games played with the Notre Dame Hounds from 2008 to 2012.

    A trio of stars from the Saskatoon Stars make up the special grad class.

    Captain Grace Shirley finished up as the third all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL in regular season play. She collected 97 goals and 69 assists for 166 points in 107 regular season games. She is the Stars all-time leader in career regular season goals and points.
    Anna Leschyshyn concluded regular season play as the fifth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL. 

Anna Leschyshyn piled up 152 career regular season points.

    She recorded 72 goals and 80 assists for 152 points in 115 regular season games. Leschyshyn is just the fifth player in the history of the SFMAAAHL to record 80 or more career regular season assists.

    Joelle Fiala closes regular season play as the eighth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL. She posted 47 goals and 83 assists for 130 points in 112 regular season games. She is the Stars all-time leader in career regular season assists.

    Shirley, Leschyshyn and Fiala have been key contributors in the Stars success over the last four seasons, which included appearing at the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament in 2016 and winning a silver medal at the Esso Cup last season. They will try to make the Stars march to the Esso Cup for the fourth time in five seasons.
    Prince Albert Northern Bears captain Abby Soyko finished as the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL. 

Joelle Fiala is the Stars all-time leader in career assists.

    She posted 65 goals and 63 assists for 128 points in 136 regular season games played for the Bears over five seasons. Soyko is the Bears all-time leader in regular season games played, goals and points and shares the team career regular season assists record with former Bears captain Kaitlin Willoughby.

    Willoughby, who plays professionally with the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, recorded 34 goals and 63 assists for 97 points playing in 96 career regular season games with the Bears from 2008 to 2013. At the moment, Willoughby is the captain of Canada’s women’s hockey team competing at the FISU Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

    The valedictorian of the class might be defender Allison Hayhurst from the Melville Prairie Fire.

Hayhurst became the third person in the history of the SFMAAAHL to play in 139 career regular season games. The other two players to hit that mark are both former Prairie Fire defenders.
    Karli Reeve suited up for 139 regular season games playing for the Prairie Fire from 2007 to 2011 collecting seven goals and 23 assists. Erin Armstrong, who was one of Hayhurst’s former teammates, played in all 140 of the Prairie Fire’s regular season games from 2013 to 2018 collecting six goals and 18 assists.

Abby Soyko pushed the Bears to new heights in her career.

    Hayhurst became a player who was sound at both ends of the ice. While being great defensively, the Wapella product had 22 goals and 47 assists for 69 points in her 139 career regular season games. She quarterbacked the power play for the Prairie Fire and was “the franchise” of that team.

    As the rules will be changed next season to further limit underage players from playing in the midget AAA ranks, Hayhurst might be the last player to play in 139 career regular season games. She will depart to the U Sports ranks next season playing for the Nipissing University Lakers women’s hockey team.

    The exploits of this grad class is special. Together, they ensured and are continuing to ensure in the post-season that the SFMAAAHL had an amazing and unique campaign in 2018-19. It is a campaign the likes of which the SFMAAAHL will never see again.

    NOTES – All three of the SFMAAAHL’s best-of-five quarter-final series began on Thursday. In Prince Albert, the visiting Hounds slipped past the host Northern Bears 3-2, the host Wildcats in Swift Current downed the visiting Battlefords Sharks 6-2 and the host Regina Rebels blanked the Prairie Fire 5-0. The Stars have a bye into a best-of-five semifinal series.

Hilltops’ “Sarge” named Sask Sport’s coach of the year

Tom Sargeant was named Sask Sport’s coach of the year.

    The Canadian Junior Football League’s coach of the year award has eluded Tom Sargeant since 2003, but Sask Sport named him tops in the province for a second time.

    On Wednesday, Sargeant, who is the legendary head coach of the Saskatoon Hilltops, was named the coach of the year by Sask Sports. The honour is given by Sask Sport to an outstanding coach in province’s amateur sport scene each year.

    This marks the second time Sargeant was named the coach of the year by Sask Sport. He took that same honour after the Hilltops CJFL championship campaign in 2012.

    In 2018, Sargeant led the Hilltops through what will go down as one of their most storied seasons in team history. On November 17, 2018, Sargeant guided the Hilltops to a 58-21 victory in the CJFL’s championship game – the Canadian Bowl – at Saskatoon Minor Football field.

    The win allowed the Hilltops to complete a perfect 11-0 season and become the first club ever to win five straight CJFL titles and eight CJFL championships over a nine year period.

    The 11-0 campaign marked the fourth time in team history the Hilltops posted a perfect season. The 2018 Hilltops had the distinction of only trailing on the scoreboard for a combined 81 seconds over the whole campaign.

    The championship win mark the 21^st time the Hilltops captured the CJFL title. During his career with the Hilltops, Sargeant has 12 national championship rings as the Hilltops head coach, two as an assistant coach with the team and one as a player. His first championship ring as a player was earned way back in 1985.

    Besides holding down the duties as Hilltops head coach, Sargeant has been the Hilltops offensive coordinator in each of the past two seasons.

    Sargeant was deserving of the Sask Sport coach of the year award, and the honour is that much greater considering how many outstanding coaches there are in Saskatchewan across all amateur sports.

    Sargeant was the coach of the year for the Prairie Football Conference in 2018. He was named the CJFL coach of the year in 2000 and 2003.

Blades alum Holtby second fastest to 250 NHL wins

    Saskatoon Blades alum Braden Holtby hit an impressive milestone in his NHL career.

    On Wednesday, Holtby made 27 saves to back his defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory over the Flyer in Philadelphia. The 29-year-old product of Lloydminster, Sask., earned his 250^th career NHL regular season victory that night.

    He hit that mark in his 409^th game making him the second fastest player in the history of the NHL to reach that milestone. Legendary Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden was the only netminder to reach 250 fasters hitting that milestone in his 381^st game.

    In his 409 NHL regular season games all with the Capitals, Holtby has posted a 250-105-39 record, a 2.47 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and 34 shutouts.

    So far this season, Holtby has record a 25-16-4 record, a 2.94 goals against average, a .909 save percentage and two shutouts.

    During his time in the WHL, Holtby played for the Blades from 2006 to 2009 posting an 82-75-15 record, a 2.87 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and seven shutouts. He was selected by the Capitals in the fourth round and 93^rd overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

    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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Stars’ Fiala realizes dream with Hockey Canada camp invite

Skilled forward to compete for spot on women’s under-18 team

Joelle Fiala will try to crack Canada’s under-18 women’s team.

    Joelle Fiala wasn’t sure if Hockey Canada would come calling.

    Since joining the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team at the start of the 2015-16 season, Fiala regularly watched two to three of her teammates get called away to a national team camp. This year, Fiala received her first ever invite to Hockey Canada camp.

    The 16-year-old skilled forward was one of 43 players chosen to attend the selection camp for Canada’s under-18 women’s national team. The under-18 camp starts this coming Monday and runs through to Aug. 11 in Calgary, Alta.

    “This has been ultimately my goal throughout my whole entire hockey career,” said Fiala. “Ever since I started playing hockey, I wanted to make Team Canada and play in the Olympics or at worlds.

    “For me to have this opportunity is pretty amazing. It is everything that I worked for, so hopefully, I can just do my best in everything and wish for the best.

Joelle Fiala has piled up the points offensively for the Stars.

    “All I can ask for is for me to do my best, and then after that, it is out of my hands.”

    Fiala will be joined at the under-18 camp by Stars teammate in 17-year-old forward Grace Shirley. Shirley was a member of Canada’s under-18 team last season, when Canada won a bronze medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Under-18 Women’s World Championship in Dmitrov, Russia.

    “I wouldn’t want to go there with anyone else,” said Fiala about Shirley. “She’s pretty awesome. It is exciting to be able to experience it not only myself, but to have a friend there as well.”

    Wapella product Allison Hayhurst, who is a 17-year-old defender from the Melville Prairie Fire, rounds out the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League representation at Hockey Canada’s under-18 camp. 
    The camp also includes 17-year-old forward Kennedy Bobyck, who played three seasons from 2014 to 2017 with her hometown Regina Rebels. Bobyck played for the Calgary, Alta., based Edge School Mountaineers female prep team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League last season.

Stars C Joelle Fiala, left, battles for the puck in the offensive zone.

    The Under-18 camp is part of the Team Canada Summer Showcase that began Thursday and runs through to Aug. 11 in Calgary. The selection camp for Canada’s National Women’s Development Team stars Friday and runs through to Aug. 11.

    Stars alumnae Sophie Shirley, who is a 19-year-old forward and Grace’s older sister, will attend the National Development Team camp. The elder Shirley played last season with the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

    Plenty product Jaycee Gebhard, who is a 21-year-old forward and another Stars alumnae, attends the National Development Team camp after spending two seasons with Robert Morris University Colonials women’s hockey team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ranks in Moon, Pennsylvania.

Joelle Fiala helped the Stars win two SFMAAAHL titles.

    Kaitlin Willoughby, who is an alumnae of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, is already at the Summer Showcase with 19 other players that are training as part of the U Sports all-star team. The U Sports camp, which operations under the Hockey Canada umbrella, runs for the entire duration of the Summer Showcase.

    Fiala expects the under-18 camp to be tough both mentally and physically.

    “I know that I have competed against some of the girls that will be there,” said Fiala, who stands 5-foot-6. “I know that I just have to do my best and play my game and work hard and hopefully, that will pay off.”

    In three complete seasons with the Stars, Fiala has appeared in 84 regular season games piling up 36 goals and 59 assists for 95 points. Last season, she recorded 18 goals and 22 assists appearing in all 28 of the Stars regular season games.

Joelle Fiala celebrates scoring a key playoff goal for the Stars.

    She helped the Stars finish first in the entire SFMAAAHL for a fourth straight year with a 24-3-1 record. In the playoffs, the Stars won the SFMAAAHL title for the third time in four years and advanced to the championship game of the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament in Bridgewater, N.S.
    In the Esso Cup title game held last April, the Stars fell 2-1 to the Alberta based St. Albert Slash, who claimed the national title for a second straight year.

    Fiala began turning heads in her rookie year with the Stars in 2015-16 netting six goals and 14 assists appearing in all of the club’s 28 regular season games. Due to have a late December birthday, Fiala was 13-years-old for sizable chunk of that campaign.
    The Stars won their second SFMAAAHL championship that season and finish fourth at the Esso Cup in Weyburn, Sask.

Joelle Fiala (#27) netted playoff goals for the Stars as a rookie in 2015-16.

    “That year was a really big learning year,” said Fiala, who has committed to join the Robert Morris University Colonials women’s hockey team for the 2019-20 campaign. “It just kind of set me up for the years to come with maturity and what I have to learn.”

    The skilled forward admits she pretty much grew up in hockey rinks. After watching her father, Eddie, play in men’s leagues, her older sister, Jordan, play some minor hockey and her older brother, Evan, play minor hockey, Joelle decided she wanted to play to have fun with a team like Eddie and Evan were having.

    Joelle’s younger sister, Jocelyn, also took up the game and is currently a standout bantam aged player.

    Last season, Evan was the overage captain of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. Evan encouraged Joelle’s big national team dreams. 

Joelle Fiala comes from a family that is deeply connected to hockey.

    Joelle said Evan told her to play like she was on one of those big national teams and like it was her last game as opposed to where she is now.

    “Their game is kind of implemented into my game,” said Joelle. “I think our little sister, Jocy, has the best of it, because she gets to see even more hockey than all of us did.

    “It is pretty cool that we can all share that together.”

    Joelle said her hero is Emily Clark, who is a member of Canada’s senior national team program and also a family friend. Clark, who is a power forward, helped Canada win silver at the Winter Olympics last February in PyeongChang, South Korea.

    Clark helped out with a Stars practice last season and was on hand at the Agriplace Arena last March to watch the Stars win their third SFMAAAHL title.

Joelle Fiala, right, looks up to Emily Clark, left, as a role model.

    “Ever since I’ve known of or met Emily (Clark), she has always been a huge role model in my life,” said Fiala. “I’ve always looked up to her not only as the amazing hockey player that she is but the even more extraordinary person that she is.

    “That is the kind of person I strive to be as a person and as a hockey player. She is definitely a huge role model in my life.”

    The 43 players at the under-18 camp will be split into two teams and participate in practices, intrasquad games, off-ice training, fitness testing and classroom sessions. Following the camp, the 43 players will be cut down to make up a team that will play the United States under-18 team in a three-game series running from Aug. 16-19 in Calgary.

    When everything wraps up, Fiala hopes to earn a roster spot for when the Canadian team heads to the upcoming Under-18 Women’s World Championship, which runs Jan. 6-13, 2019 in Obihiro, Japan.

Joelle Fiala aims to impress at her first Hockey Canada camp.

    “It would be obviously everything that I had hoped for,” said Fiala. “It is still a long way until that will happen.

    “I just have to focus on where I am right now and be in the present and work hard so that I can get the reward in the end.”

    The 41 players at the National Development Team camp will be split into two teams. Starting on Monday, those two teams will participate in a series of intrasquad games against each other, Japan’s national women’s team and the U Sports all-star team. Those games run through to Aug. 11.

    Following those games, the 41 players at the National Development Team camp will be cut down to one team to face the United States in a three-game series that will run Aug. 16 to 19 in Calgary.

    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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