Eastman Selects preparing for start of U18 season
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This article was published 23/09/2023 (638 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Eastman Selects boast a solid roster of returning and new players to their women’s U18 team this season, and it showed in an exhibition game against the Central Plains Capitals.
The team came out with a 5-1 victory inside the T.G. Smith Arena in Steinbach. The day before the two teams finished with a 4-4 tie.
Head coach Todd Mason is optimistic the team will have a good season. Last year the Selects finished fifth in their league, and lost a tough first round series to the Yellowhead Chiefs.
“We feel we’re stronger than we were this year,” Mason said after the game against Central Plains.
“Buy in is huge. This is our second skate, so we saw a lot of improvement even from our first skate. But it’s a work in progress.”
Eastman boasts a strong roster of experienced forwards, with seven players returning. Only two players are returning on defense.
Players both old and new were hard at work over the summer to ensure they showed up to the season ready to play. The Selects announced their 2023/2024 roster in early June.
“We have a pedigree of competitors that have joined this group, and they do not like losing,” Mason said.
“They will work their butts off just to get the job done.”
Eastman’s season will start in early October, after a pre-season showcase tournament in Portage la Prairie this weekend.
“It’s a very tough and competitive league,” Mason said.
“We felt if we had two more months to last year, that we would have been a different team and a different program. That’s where we’re kind of building off this year.”
It will be an exciting season for women’s hockey in North America, as the Professional Women’s Hockey Leauge (PWHL) begins play, and that energy has even been felt inside the Selects locker room.
“These girls are all pumped about the PWHL, they’re all talking about it,” Mason said.
“(Playing hockey) doesn’t just end at college or maybe team Canada, it can be something else.”
Ste Anne’s Jocelyn Larocque was taken second overall by Toronto in the PWHL draft held Sept. 18.