Rambler Bantam Girls Team Defeat Shellbrook Oil Kings 3 - 1

FTLComm - Tisdale - Friday, March 15, 2002

Play-off hockey time and the Shellbrook Oil Kings were in town Thursday night to face the Tisdale Bantam Girl Ramblers. A good crowd was on hand to give their support to both teams. Something that really made the game special was the national anthem, a live singer who gave an outstanding rendition of our theme but two skaters with flags gave the event a feeling of considerable importance. Woman's hockey is a rapidly accelerating sport and with the brilliant play by Canada's team at the Olympics there is no shortage of girls who want to play like Haley A few years ago I video taped an

exciting ringette game and was impressed with the outstanding quality of the play and skating. Last winter I video taped this team playing against a boys team and once again I was impressed with the exceptional performance. The sport has truly developed and the skill levels make it really entertaining to watch. The rules are the same as other minor hockey below the Pee Wee level so that women's hockey does not include the checking that is in other forms of the game and the result is the game flows much faster and there are fewer stoppages of play. The two teams on the ice last night were very closely matched. Both teams had excellent positional defense and player for player were very similar in capability. The difference and determining factor in the game was the offense Tisdale Ramblers had better attack skills inside their opponent's end. This really showed as the Ramblers out shot the Oil Kings two to one. All the more impressive was the goal tending and in both ends of the rink the goalies were PeeWee players, Tiffany Grypiuk for Shellbrook (in white) and MacKenzie Marleau for Tisdale.

Mid way through the first period Tisdale scored the first goal (above on the left) with their forward well organised in their attack. We had to wait until half way through the second period to see goal number two (above right) as Tisdale's persistent puck control brought them in tight again in a very similar scoring set up as the first one.

It is so important to understand that hockey is a team sport and though a high skill player can make a difference they are much more likely to be successful when they get assists instead of goals. Tisdale's captain Becky Slowski, is seen getting the puck in her own end (above left) and then blasting down the ice (above right) with amazing speed and remarkable puck handling ability. Though her rushes certainly attracted the attention of the opposition their defense were effective in getting in front of Becky and preventing her from getting a shot away on the rush. Where she really made the difference was the wall she and her fellow defensive players put up when they had the puck in the opposition's end. Goal number two was a result of her stopping the puck at the blue line getting the pass to the wing who slipped it in front of the net for the centre to drill in past Tiffany Gypiuk.

Tisdale Middle and Secondary School have retired their old mascot from the TUCs era and the new cat was on the scene Thursday night helping with the cheering and as you can see above left put on a Rambler jersey. Late in the second period Shellbrook made the score two to one as the right wing got the puck from the face off and back handed it past Mackenzie Marleau. We cruised through much of the third period with that one goal lead until just past the half way mark of the third .

Shellbrook was under a lot of pressure and a defense player cleared the puck just as Becky Slowski stepped back on the ice from the box. (Arrow above points to her) She stopped the puck and lobbed it back toward the Shellbrook goal just as the last Tisdale player got over the blue line. The puck hopped a couple of times. Tiffany Grypiuk was at the side of the goal and was not expecting a shot from the red line. That was

the final goal of the game as it ended three to one. As I stood around the waiting room after the game having done so hundreds of times having raised three hockey playing sons it seemed so different to see the players come out of the dressing room after the game and they were all young women. What struck me was the same feelings that my wife and I shared through those hockey years and I could see it last night was the remarkable pride these parent had in having watched their children play a sport and play it so well. Really high class hockey was played last night and next week I am going to see the Tisdale Pee Wee girls play. Five of Tisdale's team last night were actually below age players borrowed from the Pee Wee team and each one was really something. Besides goalie Mackenzie Marleau there was Leslie Jellicoe, Danelle Rottenbuch, Kelsey Olson and Jill Simpson. If you would like to see last night's game a video was made of the game with play by play by Faster Than Light Communications and if you like a copy they are $15 plus shipping.

Timothy W. Shire