Game On Magazine - April 2017 Game on Preview Edition | Page 8

MERIT M WJ H L P L AYER O F THE M O N TH
S t e fa n i e
9 Leslie
HEIGHT 5’3 | W EIGHT 125 | AGE 18
GOALS 8 | ASSISTS 9 | POINTS 17
Gray Owls’ Stefanie Leslie a
Prime Example of MWJHL’s Reach
In a season of great rookies, Stefanie Leslie might have
been the most pleasant surprise of all.
The former Balmoral Hall and Shaftesbury Prep
Joined the Manitoba
forward stepped into the Manitoba Women’s Junior
Gray
Owls of the MWJHL
Hockey League right out of high school last season
in
2016-17
out of the
and as an 18-year-old, announced her presence
Shaftesbury
Titans
High
with authority.
School
prep
program
Drafted by the Manitoba Gray Owls, Leslie,
who played boys hockey until she was seven,
joined a team with familiar coaches -- head
coach Jayne Heggie, who works closely
with former MWJHL player and Stefanie’s
sister, Nicole Leslie, along with her father,
Howard Leslie.
Eight goals and 17 points
It was a very comfortable way for this
in 27 games for the
Rookie of the Year nominee to step into
her first season as a junior By
hockey
player.
Scott
Taylor Gray Owls in her rookie
season of 2016-17
“I really like our team a lot,”
said Leslie,
Photos
by Tannis Esquivel
who is a Faculty of Science student at
the University of Manitoba majoring in
genetics. “The girls were great, I loved my
coaches and I really enjoyed my year.”
Called by league president Kirk
Kuppers, “one of the top forwards in the
league,” in 2016-17, and was the third leading
Aggressive and fearless
scorer on her team (11th leading scorer in the
player, Leslie had a team-high
MWJHL).
28 penalty minutes and two
“I like the league and I like that it’s even more
blocked shots in 2016-17
competitive than when my sister played in it
three years ago,” Stefanie said. “It’s so good,
that’s it’s going to be a very competitive year for
us this year.”
8
28
By SCOTT TAYLOR
Photo by Lynda Wray
8 | G AM E ON | SE P T EM BER 2 0 1 7
From Winnipeg
Manitoba