SAHA women’s team ready for new CSSHL season
By JAMES TUBB on September 29, 2023.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb The South Alberta Hockey Academy U18 women’s team has some new faces with the same winning mindset. The SAHA women’s team gets their CSSHL season underway today with the first of four games at a B.C. showcase, as they take on the Delta Hockey Academy’s green team. Head coach Evan Vossen says there’s been a lot of excitement getting the group together, and on the ice, adding in nine new faces to the roster. He says a lot of that integration happened over the summer and the rest is made easier with the skill of the new additions. “We were real fortunate heading into last season we only had three or four new faces, so it was a real solid returning group and we were able to hit the ground running a little bit faster,” Vossen said. “A little bit of a different part is the girls we have coming in, the calibre of their play is pretty strong. So there’s been a few adjustments, just some structural pieces and just getting them on the same page with that. But for the most part, it’s obviously a little challenging at times because we were so spoiled last year without really having to go through a headache or two. But that’s part of the process. “We’re happy with where we’re at … A good three to four weeks to get to play meaningful games again is what we’re looking at.” SAHA was able to get into some games earlier in September, playing at a Calgary Firestarter showcase and leaving with a 1-1-2 record. Vossen says they went into the tournament looking to get back into game speed and just to see what they have with their team. “We pretty much rolled four lines, getting everybody opportunity to play in situations to see how they handle them, if they excel at it or whatnot,” Vossen said. “But at the end of the day, it’s just some games to shake some rust off and really get a solid evaluation of where our team is at, some situations we might have and some areas that we have to just keep a little bit of focus on.” After the season opener against Delta, SAHA faces Shawnigan Lake School on Saturday, RINK Kelowna on Sunday and wraps up the showcase against the host, Okanagan Hockey Academy. Vossen says the four-game set gives them an early test and allows them to see some B.C. teams they don’t get to see a lot. “That’s kind of the beauty of the schedule this year, we’ll see Okanagan who we didn’t see at all last year, Shawnigan we didn’t see until our last game of the year,” Vossen said. “So getting some of those B.C. teams or the different opponents is nice to spread out across the schedule, that’ll be good. We’re going to see good teams and that’s where we want to be. It’s a good measuring stick right off the bat again, kind of like the Calgary tournament, it’ll show some things we were good at, what we need to work on and keep moving forward.” 12-11
