Game On Magazine - April 2017 GameOn-Apr2017-P001-144-ONLINE | Page 122

UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA BISONS
Europe, and my first time playing hockey there.”
What neither young woman seemed to mention was the fact that
the Bisons went a perfect 4-0 overseas, and allowed only one goal
against in the process.
However, winning games is nothing new for this Bison team, a
group that reached the Canada West final last spring. Coming up
just two goals short of moving on to the CIS Women’s Hockey Cham-
pionship in Calgary, the 2016-17 team was built for success.
While at times it can be tough finding one’s place on a team that’s
already a success, Neduzak and Buchanan found out early that fit-
ting in wasn’t difficult, and it was much less complicated going into
it together.
“There is a lot of chatter and lots of laughs in that dressing room,”
Neduzak said. “It’s such a comedic group of girls. They cheer for
each other and joke around all the time, but they are also always
there for one another, and are a very determined group. In all hon-
esty, I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint just one person that has helped
take me under their wing in my first year – It has been the whole
team; it was easy to adapt to for sure.”
Buchanan echoed Nuduzak’s words. However, she also touched on
the more difficult areas of earning her ice time and remaining in the
right state of mind, even in those tough stretches.
“This season I learned to not get frustrated or down on myself,
and always stay positive through the hard times,” she said. “If things
don’t go your way, you just have to battle through them. We are all
in the same boat, and we all want to help each other – it’s a great
dynamic in that dressing room.”
Coming from the Pembina Valley Hawks, the two 1998s had
been serving on the Hawks as defensive leaders. Now playing
in depth roles on the Manitoba blueline, it has been a learning
experience for both of them. However, that experience has
been made easier by the fact that these two have known
each other ever since their time playing together on the
same baseball team as kids.
“The biggest thing for me is that everybody has a role,”
Neduzak said. “Coming from a team where I was a higher
up player, to now being a rookie, it was definitely some-
thing that I had to adapt to. Each person on the team has a
role, and each role is important. It doesn’t matter if you are
playing every other shift, if you’re on the bench, or if you’re in
the stands, everyone has a role and you just have to learn that.”
“For me, knowing that I’m not the only one in this situation has
been very helpful,” Buchanan said. “Having Megan’s familiar face
alongside me has been really good. And obviously we have a great
coach in Jon Rempel. He wants to get to know us really well, both on
and off the ice. If you have questions, he is really easy to talk to – I
really like Jon.”
Rempel knew what he was getting back when he started pursu-
122 GAME ON
2017 PLAYOFF EDITION
ing the two Southern Manitoba players when they starred with the
Hawks.
“Jenai is tough player that I envision shutting down the opponent’s
top players later on in her Bisons career,” he said. “She is physical,
strong and can really shoot the puck. She has exemplary character,
a good work ethic and comes from a great family – all those things
that matter.
“Megan is such an exceptional athlete. She is extremely fit and is
so good at skating the puck out of trouble. Megan is one of those
players that other players will feed off of down the road, and she al-
ways brings
that kind of energy. Again, she comes from a
great family as well, and is just a plea-
sure to be around.”
For Rempel, the best part about
having Buchanan and Neduzak
on his team this season is that
they’re probably both going be
Bisons for many seasons to
come. For these two young
players, the future is
bright. n