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| Grace Shirley will play for Canada at under-18 worlds. |
Christmas came a few days early for Grace Shirley.
On Friday, the 16-year-old skilled forward with the
Saskatoon Stars was added to Canada’s roster for the International Ice Hockey
Federation’s Under-18 Women’s World Championship, which runs this coming
January 6-13 in Dmitrov, Russia. Shirley joins current Stars teammate Mackenna
Parker and former Stars teammate Willow Slobodzian on the Canadian squad.
Parker, who is the Stars captain, lines up at forward, while Slobodzian, who
plays for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team in the National
Collegiate Athletic Association ranks, is a defender.
The fourth Saskatchewan product on the team comes from Gull
Lake in defender Taylor Kirwan, who is the captain of the Swift Current Diamond
Energy Wildcats.
For Shirley, this has to come as a nice surprise after
finding out she had been left off the original roster that was announced back on
Nov. 16. She follows in the strides of her older sister, Sophie, who played for
Canada’s under-18 team at two worlds and is currently a member of the national
development team.
Older brother, Collin, is a rookie forward with the
University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.
With the Stars this season, Grace Shirley has piled up 20
goals and 14 assists in 16 regular season games to sit second in the
Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League’s scoring race with 34 points.
 |
| Grace Shirley is second in SFMAAAHL scoring this season. |
In
75 career regular season games with the Stars, Shirley has posted 60 goals and
44 assists. She is only the eighth player in the history of the SFMAAAHL to
score 60 or more goals in regular season play during her career.
Shirley, who stands 5-foot-4, turned heads as a 14-year-old
rookie in the 2015-16 campaign with the Stars netting 18 goals and 14 assists
in the regular season helping the Stars post a 24-4 record.
In the playoffs, she enjoyed her signature moment with the
Stars netting the overtime winning goal that clinched the SFMAAAHL championship
series in March of 2016. Shirley’s winner over the Diamond Energy Wildcats in
Swift Current game the Stars a 4-3 victory in Game 4 of the series and a 3-1
win in the best-of-five set.
Shirley is eligible to play for Canada’s under-18 team again
next season, so she could have the rare opportunity to play twice at the
under-18 women’s worlds just like Sophie did.
For now, Grace Shirley will likely enjoy what is in store
for her this coming January, when she plays on a Canadian squad that contains a
large number of familiar faces.
Clark makes cut for Olympics
Emily Clark experienced her biggest hockey milestone to date
on Friday, which will allow her to fulfill a huge dream.
Clark was one of the 23 players named to Canada’s women’s
team that will play in the 2018 Winter Olympics, which run Feb. 9-25 in PyeongChang,
South Korea. The 22-year-old forward is the youngest player on the Canadian
women’s team that will play in the Olympics.
The Saskatoon product is also the only player from
Saskatchewan on the Canadian women’s team roster that will play at the upcoming
Olympics.
While Clark has been a member of Canada’s centralized senior
national women’s team roster this season, there were no guarantees she would
make the cut to play in the Olympics. Due to the fact all the players in Canada’s
national team program are highly skilled, the fact Clark made the roster for
the Olympics has to be viewed as a major accomplishment.
Before joining the centralized roster, Clark, who stands
5-foot-7, played three seasons in the NCAA ranks for the University of
Wisconsin Badgers appearing in 113 overall games registering 56 goals and 62
assists. She is expected to return to the Badgers next season to play out her
final campaign of NCAA eligibility.
Clark played for the Okanagan Hockey Academy Female Prep
team for two seasons from 2012 to 2014 before joining the Badgers.
From 2009 to 2012, Clark played three seasons with the
Saskatoon Stars recording 45 goals and 46 assists in 82 regular season games.
She helped the Stars make the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League
championship series in each of her campaigns with the team.
U Sports men’s hockey all-stars make their
mark
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| Logan McVeigh had a goal for the U Sports all-star squad. |
As part of the selection process to make up the Canadian
world junior squad, the prospects looking to make that team faced a U Sports
all-star squad in a two game exhibition series at the Meridian Centre in St.
Catharines, Ont. The U Sports squad swept the series posting a 3-0 win on
December 13 and 4-3 on December 14.
In the Dec. 13 match, the U Sports squad received a first
period power-play goal from Luke Philp, who plays for the U of Alberta Golden
Bears, and third period empty-net tallies from Michael Clarke, who plays for
the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men and Logan McVeigh, who plays for the U
of Saskatchewan Huskies. The U Sports side fired 24 shots on goal.
 |
| Cole Sanford had a two-goal night for the U Sports all-star team. |
In the Dec. 14 match, Golden Bears defenceman Jason Fram
scored on a rebound with 6.5 seconds to play in the third period to break a 3-3
tie and give the U Sports side a 4-3 victory. Golden Bears forward Cole Sanford
scored twice and had an assist for the U Sports side, while Stephen Harper, who plays for the
Acadia University Axemen, netted a single. The U Sports side fired 27 shots on
goal.
Harvey Samuel, who plays for the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda
Huskies, stopped 13-of-15 shots playing about the first 30 minutes for the U
Sports side. Michael DiPietro, who plays for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires,
stopped 11 of 12 shots sent his way. Both Samuel and DiPietro were cut from
Canada’s world junior team.
Alex Formenton, who plays for the OHL’s London Knights, Kale
Clague, who plays for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, and Robert Thomas, who
also plays for the OHL’s Knights, replied with singles for the Canadian world
junior prospects side. All three made the world junior team.
Besides McVeigh, the Canadian squad included three other
members from the U of S Huskies in forward Josh Roach, defenceman and captain Kendall
McFaull and netminder Jordon Cooke.
Saskatoon product Boston Leier, who plays forward
for the Axemen, was a member of the U Sports squad as well.
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| Josh Roach was one of four U of S Huskies on the U Sports all-star squad. |
In the professional game, players that sign three-year NHL
entry-level contracts often see their hockey careers end, when those deals
expire. Usually, those players are focused entirely on hockey, so it is a bit
jarring to transition into a post-hockey career life at that point.
Most U Sports players improve during their careers in the
university ranks. When they graduate at age 25 or 26, they are starting to
reach their physical primes, and the professional ranks would be wise to look
at giving those players contracts.
It seems like major junior players often get ignored, when
they move on to play Canadian university hockey. Having a U Sports all-star
squad sweep a two-game series against Canadian world junior hopefuls helps
bring university players to the forefront.
U Sports men’s hockey is an elite amateur league, and it
shouldn’t be ignored.
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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