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and I ended up on Prairie Blaze , playing for Dale Bear . I ’ m pretty lucky . I really like Dale as a coach . He ’ s really awesome .”
Whitney Is pretty awesome herself She was the leading scorer on her team – and the 11th leading scorer in the league - with nine goals and 17 points in 26 games .
At the MWJHL ’ s Windup , she was one of the nominations for the league ’ s Rookie of the Year , won the Manitoba Pork Peak Performer of the Year by her team and coaches and was a recipient of a PAL Bursary .
“ I had an awesome year ,” she said . “ Winning Peak Performer was pretty surprising and getting a scholarship was really exciting .”
Scott started to play hockey in Thunder Bay when she was six . Her parents got her involved with the Ice Girls program and later , as she improved , they helped her get involved with the Thunder Bay Queens .
“ I got into the Queens program when I was a Peewee ,” she said . “ It ’ s an awesome
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program . We ’ re kind of secluded in Thunder Bay so we always had to travel to get good competition . So we played a lot in the States , but we came to Winnipeg a couple of times and also played in Brandon . I loved the Queens ’ program and I played in it until I graduated from high school .”
League President Kirk Kuppers is thrilled with the MWJHL ’ s relationship with the Thunder Bay Queens . One of the best players in the league last season – and one of the Stars for the league champion Manitoba Silvertips – was former Queens star Serena Daniels , another university student who got to the MWJHL from the Queens .
“ Whitney is a power forward and is a rising leader with the Blaze ,” said Kuppers . “ We love the Thunder Bay connection . In fact , we ’ ll have two teams go to this year ’ s Caribou Classic in Thunder Bay from Nov . 3-5 .”
Prairie Blaze head coach Dale Bear , the man who guided Manitoba ’ s provincial aboriginal women ’ s to the old medal at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship in Cowichan
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Valley , B . C ., was more than just a little impressed with Scott ’ s play last season .
“ That girl is a good player ,” said Bear enthusiastically . “ She ’ s such a strong skater and is so smart , I can ’ t understand why she ’ s not playing at the Canadian university level . She listens well , she has an awesome attitude and as a coach , I couldn ’ t ask for a better player .
“ And we have something in common . We both started in the league together last year . It was my first year as the coach and her first year as a player and we learned about the league together . She ’ s just a great young player from a great family who is trying to balance going to school , working part-time and playing junior hockey , but she ’ s always there . She never misses practice and she ’ s become a team leader . It ’ s hard for a coach to ask for more .”
This year , Bear and his provincial team assistant coach Tina Keeper , will be back for a second year at the helm of the Prairie Blaze while their supporting coaching staff is Samantha Hunt and
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Frank Hunt while Samantha ’ s sister – Frank ’ s daughter -- Kristen Hunt plays goaltender for the team .
“ Hopefully we ’ ll have a very competitive team this year ,” said Bear . “ We ’ ll definitely be better than we were last year . For me , it ’ s no different than playing at the NAHC . Just give me some time . I ’ ll get to that championship .”
Scott expects Prairie Blaze to be better this coming season , as well . Regardless , she loved her team last season .
“ Yeah , I loved playing for this team ,” said Scott , who stayed in Manitoba this summer to work full-time at Sport Chek at St . Vital Centre . “ The coaches were great and I had a lot of fun .
“ I decided to stay in Winnipeg after I got offered full-time work at Sport Chek ,” said Scott , who is studying criminology and native studies . “ Going to school and playing hockey can be expensive , so it was great to have a job this summer . I ’ m just so excited to play hockey again . I wasn ’ t on the ice very much this summer , I ’ m excited to be playing hockey again .” ❍
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