Krzyzaniak, Bell making marks with national women’s teams

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/01/2017 (3181 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There has been a lot of focus on Brandon Wheat King defenceman Kale Clague and the rest of the Canadian team at the world junior hockey championship for the last week, and it will continue through to the medal games on Thursday.

As much as they deserve some attention, so do a pair of female hockey players from the southwest Manitoba who are also donning the Maple Leaf this week.

Halli Krzyzaniak, a defenceman from Neepawa, is currently in Germany with the national women’s development team as it prepares for the Nations Cup, which begins Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ashton Bell, a forward from Deloraine, is in Czech Republic with the Canadian crew going for gold at the world under-18 women’s hockey championship. She’s joined there by Delaney Collins of Pilot Mound, who is one of the U18 team’s assistant coaches.

Being on the national team is becoming a regular occurrence for the 21-year-old Krzyzaniak. She made her debut with the senior team at the 2014 Four Nations Cup and has worked her way up to earning a lot of ice time, including on the special team units, in recent years.

Despite missing the Four Nations Cup this year — this is Krzyzaniak’s senior season with the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks — the five-foot-seven defenceman rejoined the team for the December two-game series against the United States. She had an assist as Canada swept the series.

Now Krzyzaniak is taking a break from the Hawks, who she captains and is fourth on the team in scoring with 11 points in 20 games, to spend some time with the national development team. She will serve as an alternate captain of the squad.

Canada fell 3-2 to Germany in a pre-tournament game on Monday and begins pool play against Czech Republic on Wednesday. Canada will also take on Sweden on Thursday and Germany on Friday. The top team from the pool advances to Saturday’s gold-medal game.

If everything goes well for Krzyzaniak this week and for the rest of the her season at UND, we’ll likely see her on the ice for Canada again at the women’s world championship in March and April in Plymouth, Mich., where she’ll try to help Canada upgrade the silver medal it won last year to a gold.

Despite playing different positions, it seems like Bell is following in Krzyzaniak’s footsteps. The 17-year-old has committed to play at UND next season and is making a name for herself with the national team program as well.

Bell, the reigning Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League’s most valuable player and current high scorer with 27 goals and 37 points in 17 games with the Westman Wildcats, is back for a second time with the U18 squad.

She had three goals and two helpers and was named an all-star forward in last year’s world championship tournament while helping Canada earn a silver medal.

The expectations may be a bit higher this time around. Bell, who looks up to Marie-Philip Poulin of the national senior team, captained the Canadians in a three-game series with the United States in August, recording one goal in three games, and she’s excited to try to improve on the silver medal she won at last year’s world U18 championship.

“I think that having the experience from last year’s worlds is very valuable as I have a better understanding of what to expect,” she said in an email from Czech Republic. “Last year’s worlds definitely helped me become a more mature player and person and was such a great learning experience for me.”

“I just hope to continue to learn so much from the coaching staff and the players,” she continued. “The entire experience will help me to become a more complete player. My goal is to do whatever I can to help get our team to the final and bring home gold.”

Bell and Canada open the tournament against Sweden on Saturday, followed by games against Russia on Sunday and the United States on Tuesday.

Don’t be surprised if she ends up sporting a letter on her chest and finds a way to be an all-star again while guiding Canada to a medal, hopefully gold this time.

TOUGH SPOT TO BE IN

A lot of eyes will be on Wheat Kings general manager Grant Armstrong this week with the Western Hockey League’s trade deadline on Jan. 10.

There are a lot of questions surrounding the team, especially after taking two of four points from the Eastern Conference-leading Regina Pats and sweeping the Moose Jaw Warriors, who are tied for second in the East Division, last week. Earning those six points is even more impressive with Clague away at the world juniors, Nolan Patrick still out with his injury and other players out with injuries and illnesses, forcing the team to play younger players who have stepped up a lot already this season as well as affiliated player Ben McCartney, the team’s second-round pick in the 2016 draft.

It leaves the question of what should Armstrong do with the deadline looming? Brandon currently holds down a wildcard spot and nobody knows just how good this team can be as it hasn’t played with its regular projected lineup yet this season because of players being at pro camps early in the season and the massive rash of injuries that has plagued the team ever since.

Last week’s results created more hope that Brandon could climb the standings — the team is nine points back of Moose Jaw and Swift Current for second and third in the division — and make a run in the playoffs. But without having seen his team as it was envisioned before the season began, it creates a tough decision for Armstrong to make on whether to become a buyer and push hard for a deeper playoff run or stand pat and see what this team can actually do once it gets healthy.

He’s done a good job bringing in players to fill holes so far this season and there will be a lot of people watching him during the next week to see if he’s willing to make any more deals.

However, I think it’s fair to say that nobody would volunteer to be in his position right now.