Goaltender Hayley Whelen of the Medicine Hat Rattlers women's hockey team slides to her left to make a save in the second period of the Rattlers' 5-0 loss Sunday afternoon at the Moose Rec Centre against the SAIT Trojans.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
What was once a dream became reality when the Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s hockey team took to the ice this weekend.
The Rattlers made their official Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference debut with a two-game set at the Moose Rec Centre, marking their first season as an athletic program.
They opened their 2023-24 season with a 2-0 loss Saturday night against the NAIT Ooks before falling 5-0 Sunday afternoon against the SAIT Trojans. Kinlee Fahselt made 42 saves in Saturday’s game and Hayley Whelen stopped 39 shots Sunday.
There were 350 fans in attendance for the home opener Saturday and another estimated 150 for Sunday’s matinee. That turnout meant a lot to head coach Chad Baron.
“Just to see it all coming to fruition finally, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes from a lot of people at the college and it’s literally been years in the making to have that happen,” Baron said. “It was great to see the crowd come out and know we have that support. Even to pull against the Cubs who were playing, the Tigers were playing, so to have 350 people here, it was great. Our girls worked hard, they overcame those nerves and it was probably the best effort we’ve seen them give. They really took pride in putting on a good show Saturday.”
Baron was on the bench for the Rattlers’ exhibition season last year, when they played against teams in the ACAC as well as other clubs in southern Alberta. On May 31 they were given the approval from the ACAC to offer a women’s hockey program, the first of its kind for the college and the first time a hockey team of any kind has competed in the city at the collegiate level since the 1986-87 season.
Baron was named the head coach not long after the team was approved. Having gone through the work in the exhibition season and pushing for the program, Baron says there were some nerves Saturday and he tried to take in the moment while also coaching.
“It’s more about making sure our girls enjoy the moment and having that experience – watching them enjoy it, that was more rewarding for me,” Baron said. “My kids were here, they had signs, so I made sure I could see them.”
In that exhibition season, Baron worked alongside Terry Ballard, MHC’s manager of Athletics and Recreation. Ballard was all around the Moose in both games, taking in the atmosphere and hanging on every shot. He says there were a lot of discussion during the games about it finally coming to be, and he described the weekend as a special moment for himself, the college and the community.
“It’s three-plus years in the making, getting the support from our college to make this reality, our president Kevin Shufflebotham, who’s an incredible supporter of not only women’s hockey, but of all athletics,” Ballard said. “For it to come together Saturday night, to have that many people to support the college hockey team was just phenomenal, very exciting. It was a really fun game, too.”
Shufflebotham was also in attendance for both games and, like Ballard, was reacting to every shot by the Rattlers and clapping after every save. Having the early support of the community and fans showing up in the yellow and black, cheering on the new team, meant a lot to Ballard, who says the program has been a long desire within the city.
“I’ve been getting emails and calls for years. ‘How come you don’t have hockey,’ they never said men’s or women’s, but they always asked why we don’t have hockey,” Ballard said. “It’s always an expensive sport, there’s other avenues for it in the community, but once you put it together and to just have people that support it, that’s why they we’re here.
“A lady came in really early Saturday night, she was the first one here and we were talking to her. We asked what she was doing and she said, ‘Well I saw it on Facebook that you’re having this game and I played long time ago as a youngster and I just wanted to come.'”
The Rattlers look to get their first goal and win next weekend when they head to Olds College for a two-game set against the Broncos. Baron says they will work on their play with speed and improving condition to be able to keep up playing back-to-back days. Coming out of the opening weekend, he’s proud of his group, the steps they’ve taken and he’s looking forward to the next step they make.
“We are building towards something and there is some of that belief, they can see it, too,” Baron said. “They see we have some promise and it’s all up to them on their effort how our season is going to go. We’re proud they came out and didn’t give up and made sure that we continue to push through.”
