NCAA playoff race heats up for Red Deer defenceman

Rob Gilgan

Published

8 years ago

9 minute read

by Rob Gilgan

It’s all on the line Saturday for Abagael Thiessen as the 18 year-old guards the blue line to start the second round of the NCAA playoff drive. Her team, the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks (UND), won the best-of-three first round, taking out the Ohio State Buckeyes, but now face a much tougher foe, the top-seeded University of Wisconsin Badgers in a must-win WCHA semi-final.

When the Fighting Hawks faced the Badgers last month, they held them to the fewest shots on goal all season, but bowed out by a single goal. Both January meetings, on the road for the Fighting Hawks, were one-goal games, upping the ante for Saturday’s matchup.
If the Fighting Hawks (16-15-6) get past the Badgers, (29-2-4), they’ll suit up Sunday against the winner of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, who ride 26-6-5 and 24-5-5 records, respectively, into the playoffs. Two wins this weekend and the Fighting Hawks punch their ticket into the NCAA quarterfinals, where they’d compete to make the 2017 Final Four and a national championship.

Abagael believes UND saw her as a steady defenseman who could come in and play right away, and she’s done that, playing in 34 of the team’s 37 games. “They saw a lot of potential, I think. They knew some of my goals, and it wasn’t ‘Come here and you’ll play’, it was ‘Come here and you’ll get better’. They knew that I could be a better player than I was, coming out of Midget.”

The journey to Abagael’s first NCAA playoff started in Red Deer, when, as a Bantam player, she switched to girls’ hockey. “I became aware that there was an opportunity for me afterward. Some of the girls, like Amanda Young or Kendice Ogilvie went to Cornell, which is another NCAA division one school. Seeing that they could do it, I started making that a goal of mine,” she explained. “I would say my hockey is kind of driving my education, just because I picked my college based on it being a professional career, I guess I chose (UND) for hockey first, for education second.”

She played four years of Midget in Red Deer, culminating with a silver medal in the Esso Cup, hosted by her Sutterfund Midget AAA Female Chiefs. She’s also been part of the U18 Team Alberta and has competed with the Canadian national team. “There are lots of national team players in our conference so playing against them game in and game out makes a huge difference. It forces you to be better. I’ve gotten a lot more confident, making plays that maybe I wouldn’t have made in Midget, getting stronger and just getting better, in general. As a young kid, you can’t come in and expect to be on the top line, especially at such a competitive school. The coaches were pretty honest and said I’d be coming in and competing for spot, that I wouldn’t have a spot given to me, I’d have to come in and work for it.”

Abagael is in her freshman year, studying business with a Pre-investment major, with a double minor in economics and sport business. She travelled to North Dakota in May of 2016, moving into an apartment and taking classes through the summer. Having 3 months to get used to the change before hockey started in September eased her into her new home and team. She and eight other girls got together over the summer, to skate and stay in condition.

Arriving in North Dakota, she was one of the younger players and needed to get used to that role and not get discouraged, plus make the adjustment to living away from home for the first time. “The girls really help with that,” she says,” adding, “They welcome you, they help you out, same with the coaches, they did a really good job of taking care of us right from the start, making sure we were ready.”

Statistically, she’s had a good year so far, picking up 4 assists in 34 games and getting 21 shots on goal. On December 20, she was named Rookie of the Week, having recorded a career-high two-point outing in a 5-0 win at Lindenwood four days earlier. On paper, Saturday’s game is a bit of a mismatch, but that doesn’t dampen Abagael’s aspirations. The Fighting Hawks might be guilty of a little complacency with a weaker opponent, but come to play when the competition picks up. “We’ve struggled a bit against the lower-end teams, but we always give the higher-end teams a run for their money.”

Half way through the season, Abagael was confident the team could go deep in the playoffs. “I think we should go pretty far, hopefully. We’re a pretty good team, we have a tough conference, it’s always a team from our conference that wins the national championship.”

Abagael is on a full-ride scholarship at UND and maintains that with five courses per semester, which translates into about 10 hours per week of classes. Add out of class study time and 15 hours per week of practice and conditioning and a pair of games pretty much every weekend and it’s a busy, involved schedule. “The big difference is how much time you spend on the ice. I was never on the ice every day in high school; we’re on the ice every day and we work out two times a week, depending on when we play. It made me realize how much work goes into being a high level athlete.”

She plans to spend three more years at UND, completing her degree, but also moving ahead as a player. Her current role, as a freshman, is to play the game simply and maximizing her impact defensively. “Hopefully, in the next couple of years, I can transition into a more involved role, but for now it’s stay at home, steady, consistent.” She doesn’t have a specific academic game plan, but knows she will have plenty of options, potentially going on to law, or the financial side of sports. The four-time honour roll Notre Dame High School graduate continues her academic performance at UND, on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for Fall 2016.

The WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) includes teams from North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio and is the perennial NCAA women’s hockey champion. The team has also travelled out of conference for games and hosted other out of conference teams at Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks play in an impressive arena and attract 500-1000 fans to games, depending on the opponent. “I think some of us younger girls realized how privileged we are to play at the rink we’re at and the town we’re at; we get good crowds and we have a spectacular rink, we go to some other places and really appreciate what we have at home.”

Check out Abagael’s game Saturday: CLICK HERE

Visit the Fighting Hawks on the web: CLICK HERE

UND Women Hockey v Minnesota State Mankato 10/14/2016 at Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, ND.

Photos courtesy UND Sports

#UNDPROUD

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NCAA playoff race heats up for Red Deer defenceman

Alberta

“A Really Special Place” – Why the Wild Rose Motocross Track is One of a Kind

Published on July 2, 2020

Meghanne Uptigrove

This summer, as you wander between the breweries and activity centers located in southeast Calgary, pause for a moment – if you listen closely, you may hear the distant rumble of motocross engines as bikes of all sizes careen over jumps and around corners at the Wild Rose Motocross Track.

Located just off Blackfoot Trail in Southeast Calgary, the 88-acre park is backed by the Calgary skyline, a prime piece of land located just minutes from downtown. Founded in the 1960’s as the Blackfoot Motorcycle Park, the track has deep roots in the city of Calgary, and according to WRMA board member David Pinkman, “Few sagas can compete with the wild west history of Calgary’s Wild Rose Motocross Association and its hard-core motocross lovers.”

Photo Credit Eden Schell

In 1984, The Wild Rose Motocross Association (WRMA) was officially formed, and the Blackfoot Motorcycle Park became the Wild Rose. Acting as a major host for a number of national motocross events since the 70’s and nurturing some of Canada’s best professional riders to date, Pinkman argues the “course of Canadian motocross history may not have been the same but for this unique piece of dirt and hills.”

With 7 tracks available including the full-sized Main, East and Hill Tracks, as well as the Extreme Beginner, Mini, Pee Wee, and Enduro Tracks, Wild Rose welcomes riders of all ages and skill levels. “This is the only track of its kind in Canada,” says Michelle McCarthy, newest member of the WRMA board, “It’s right in the centre of the city; it’s got 3 big bike tracks, the smaller tracks and the enduro park. This is a really special place.”
Whether it be your first time on a bike or the day you’re finally going to clear that 15-foot tabletop, the track encourages everyone to come out and ride. “People want to see new riders,” says McCarthy, “they want to see the community flourish. Plus, dirt biking is really, really fun,” she laughs.

Photo Credit Eden Schell

Like countless other Canadian businesses, the Wild Rose Track has taken a hit due to COVID-19, with day pass riders and memberships being significantly down. Open year round – weather permitting – the track normally sees up to 30,000 visits per year. However, due to the pandemic, numbers are currently far lower as the park operates within capacity limits.

As a recreational park on city property, track management wanted to set an example for taking action to reduce the spread of COVID-19, responding rapidly to Alberta Government guidelines by implementing a number of new precautions and preventative measures. This includes constructing wash stations at every track, implementing paperless transactions and COVID-19 symptom screening upon entry to the park, as well as establishing an online scheduling system to limit the number of riders at the track at one time.

In the midst of the new normal, the park remains committed to growing and supporting the motocross community in Calgary and beyond, staying on top of updates that will allow them to return to racing and regular operation as soon as possible. While all spring and summer race series have been cancelled by COVID-19, the WRMA is actively monitoring pandemic updates with the goal of hosting a successful race series this coming fall.

To learn more about the Wild Rose Motocross Association, visit https://www.wildrosemx.com.

For more stories, visit Todayville Calgary.

Alberta

Alberta Juniors Choose Positive Path

Published on June 1, 2020

John Short

Alberta Juniors Choose Positive Path

Everywhere there is gloom. Well, almost everywhere.

A welcome exception is the 15-team Alberta Junior Hockey League, which lost much of its gate revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic arrival at playoff time, and now waits for permission from Hockey Canada and Alberta Health Services to go ahead with its 2000-2001 season.

President Ryan Bartoshyk confirmed on Monday that his league is “in the process of drawing up our schedule right now. We’re aiming (to have teams on the ice) by Sept. 1 and we hope to get the season started by Sept. 18.” Any and all final decisions must meet with at least two levels of official approval, of course, but operators have expressed their confidence by agreeing to put in the work, recognizing that later starts (or no start) are still possibilities.

To an outsider, the clearest declaration of league independence is this: the schedule, with various possible opening dates pencilled in, is being drawn up for all 15 teams. This is most impressive when it is known that several franchises – no names provided by president Bartoshyk or any team spokesman – have expressed serious concern about the cost of business in the coming season.

We have lost at least one league camp for tryouts,” said a spokesman. “We know we’re going to lose more.”

Not included are the Blackfalds Bulldogs, who will replace the former Calgary Mustangs at the start of the 2021/2002 season. Bartoshyk was pleased to say “work on the new arena for Blackfalds is due to start this month.”

Among the established teams reported to have mentioned their problems outside of league meetings are the Canmore Eagles, but the team’s two captains and a pair of assistants have already been named for the coming season. At least a couple of promising signings have also been announced. As a result, pessimism has shrunk a great deal.

Also optimistic about the coming season are the Olds Grizzlys, whose attendance averaged well over 1,500 a game when they dominated Junior A ranks several years ago but dropped to about 600 a game last year. “This is a great sports community, a great place to be,” said club governor and vice-president executive Trent Wilhauk. “We know the fans will come back; they love their Grizzlys.”

Population of the community is slightly more than 10,000. “It’s a happening place when the team is going good.”

After wiping out last year’s playoffs and destroying some of the regular post-season increases at the gate, COVID-19 has continued to harm the AJHL, just as it has damaged so many other areas of the economy. “We have lost at least one league camp for tryouts,” said a spokesman. “We know we’re going to lose more.”

Those financial setbacks may have been dwarfed by the loss of some appealing playoff matchups. “Some of the teams that drew above-average numbers for us (Okotoks Oilers, Brooks Bandits, Sherwood Park Crusaders) didn’t have a playoff game before we had to stop,” Bartoshyk said. “They all had byes in the first round.”

Other teams with relative season-long success at the gate also missed money-raising opportunities. “It’s obvious that our league relies on corporate sponsorship and support at the gate,” Bartoshyk added, mentioning a handful of promising pending post-season clashes — Drayton Valley and Sherwood Park, the Whitehorse Wolverines and the Spruce Grove Saints, Camrose Kodiaks and Drumheller Dragons – that could not take place.

At this point, the day’s general feeling that the AJHL future remains bright surfaced again.

Said Bartoshyk: “We’re ready. We’ll do what is necessary.”

https://www.todayville.com/edmonton/hundreds-of-young-athletes-grow-more-anxious-by-the-day-acac-season-a-series-of-options/