Game On Magazine - April 2017 Game on Preview Edition | Page 140

while racking up nine
shutouts, a stellar .942 save
percentage, and a rock-solid
goals against average of 1.65.
The numbers may tell you
otherwise, but it isn’t always
fun and games for goaltenders,
as even the cream of the crop
have to work through difficult
stretches.
“Being a goaltender is
actually really tough,” Oswald
said. “If you have a bad game,
all of the spotlights are on
you, and everyone sees your
mistakes. I struggled with
that earlier in the season,
but I learned rather quickly
that it is something you can’t
control. I do like to visualize
what’s going to happen before
the game even begins, and
if I do get scored on, I think
of how I could have stopped
it, and how I could work on
those things. My teammates
it isn’t always fun and games for
goaltenders, as even the cream
of the crop have to work through
difficult stretches
helped a lot too and were very
supportive if I had a bad game;
they were there for me, and I
knew I always had someone to
talk to.”
The bad games for Oswald
were certainly rare occasions
this past season. The Hawks
finished second through
regular season play, and ended
up sweeping all three rounds
of the playoffs, before finally
running into some difficult
competition at the ESSO Cup.
As far as individual
achievements go, Oswald had
her fair share. Although Player
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of the Month, Player of the
Week and First Star of the Day
awards are all very significant
accomplishments, the award
that meant the most to the
young netminder came in late
April in Morden.
“In the ESSO Cup – our
national championship – I
actually won the MVP award,”
Oswald said. “It was definitely
a highlight of that tournament
for me. I honestly never
expected it. I went to the
awards banquet and we were
just all there having a good
time and then I heard my
name called – it was just such
a great feeling.”
Although having to start
over from square one this
upcoming season, Oswald now
knows what kind of team it
will take to make it as far as
the national championships
once again.
“We were a tight knit group
and we always got along,” she
said. “We all had our role, and
we certainly couldn’t have won
the league without everybody
there. We did have a rough
patch after Christmas, but
during a February tournament
in Calgary, everything just
started to click for us. Our bus
actually broke down on the
way there, and we just spent
so much time together, which
I think brought us even closer.
We did lose a lot of players
this year, but it is going to be
exciting to see what we can
put together. I’m hoping that
we will be able to take it all the
way again.”
With her final year of
midget hockey just getting
underway, Oswald knows the
importance of every little
detail, beginning with her
schooling.
“I am really excited about
the thought of going to the
University of Alberta,” she
said. “Both the campus and
the team are just unbelievable
to see. I was able to watch
a couple of their games this
year, and their program is
just amazing. My primary
focus at this point, education
wise, would be going into
kinesiology, and then
occupational therapy for my
masters. We will have to see if
that changes though.”
In exemplifying the ever-
popular Paul Brandt Canadian
country music song, ‘Small
Towns and Big Dreams’, it
would be a safe bet to say
that Halle Oswald is going
places. ❍