Nichols, Maguire prep for last playoff run with Chiefs

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This article was published 05/02/2022 (1505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The old adage of time flying when you are having fun most certainly applies to Yellowhead Chiefs alternate captains Josie Nichols and Callie Maguire.

The pair first joined the Chiefs as members of the under-15 program in 2017 and will conclude their run in Shoal Lake later this spring as third-year veterans on the U18 team.

“There’s only three games left before the playoffs and I think it’s starting to hit me a bit that this is my last year here,” Nichols said after a 4-1 home triumph over the Westman Wildcats on Thursday night. “It’s kind of a happy and sad feeling to be honest. I don’t want to leave this part of my life behind but I’m excited about getting one last chance at a championship run with these girls.”

“It honestly feels like we should be just wrapping up the first half of the year and not be gearing up for the post-season,” Maguire added.

“My time here has been an unreal experience and I couldn’t have asked for anything different. The entire team has been like a second family for me and the coaches treat you like you are their daughters.”

The duo became key players for the Chiefs since they moved up into the Manitoba Female Hockey League U18 AAA circuit in 2019.

Nichols has 15 points in 61 career games, with 10 of those markers coming this year.

The Onanole product — who played at both forward and defence before moving to the blue-line on a full-time basis at the U13 level — credits her improvement to the strides she’s made with her overall foot speed.

“As you grow as a player from the first year to your third year, you really tell just how much you can control the game by setting the pace,” Nichols said.

“You and your teammates really start to push each other to get to where you want to go. It’s a lot different from when you are a rookie and you are kind of shifting from being in the U15 league to the U18 league. A lot of that first year is trying to find what kind of pace you need to be at.”

Maguire — who calls Minnedosa home — has posted 35 points in 64 games for the Chiefs.

The left winger is also enjoying a career year as she has 19 points in 24 games going into a home matchup with the Interlake Lightning Sunday.

“I’ve really learned how to use my size to my advantage since I came here,” Maguire said. “Being a smaller girl (at five-foot-four) I learned pretty quickly that I need to be able to outwork the players that are bigger than I am.

“During my first year, our veteran players taught me the ropes about how to play with your body more, which is something that we really didn’t use all that much playing in U15.”

After the 2020-21 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chiefs have solidified themselves as one of the top teams in the league this year.

They enter this weekend with a 20-5-0 record and are five points behind the Winnipeg Avros for the top spot in the standings.

When asked what the key to their success has been, Nichols and Maguire both believe it’s due to the strong bond the team has with each other.

“The way we all clicked together might have been the fastest of any team I’ve ever played for,” Maguire said. “We hadn’t seen each other in a long time because of COVID and we were just so excited to be back together and playing again.

“There’s an incredible bond in our dressing room and we all love to push each other to go further with our play,” Nichols said. “We keep striving to do better and there’s been a ton of improvement with our overall game since the season started because of that.”

While their current goal is to help the Chiefs win their first league championship since 2016, the duo are also preparing for their journey into the post-secondary world.

Nichols committed to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Ooks in Edmonton. She took a campus tour there prior to the pandemic and liked what she saw.

“I talked to a few Chiefs alumni and some other girls I knew that we’re going to the school about what to expect and then I reached out to the coach (Brendan Jensen) this spring to get the conversation started,” said Nichols, who has applied to the X-ray technician and MRI technician programs.

“Other schools started to contact me this year, but NAIT was the perfect fit for me. They had the programs I wanted to apply to and from talking to the other girls on the team, I think it will be a great balance for me between school and hockey.”

Maguire heads to Fremont, Neb., to play for the Midland University Warriors.

“It had been a goal of mine since Day 1 to play college hockey, but I had never thought about going to the States until their coach (Jason White) came up to me at our pre-season tournament in Portage la Prairie this fall,” said Maguire, who has enrolled in the athletic training program.

“I know a few of the girls already and I think it’s going to be another great family like the one I’ve experienced here with the Chiefs. It’ll be a huge adventure, but what’s life if you don’t have those once in a while.”

Although their surroundings will be different, Nichols and Maguire both plan to use the lessons they’ve learned over the last few years with the Chiefs to help them adapt to a faster level of hockey.

“My off-season training has always been about making sure that I’m ready to go when training camp starts, especially when it comes to the overall pace, so I don’t plan to make any huge changes there this summer,” Nichols said.

“I also have one of my teammates (goaltender Sidney McMullan) coming to NAIT next year and I know that we’re going to be bouncing things off of each other on our new adventure.”

“I’m probably going to watch the veterans a lot early on and ask them a ton of questions, as the league I’ll be playing in (the American Collegiate Hockey Association) is one that I’m not familiar with,” Maguire said.

“When I first started here with the Chiefs, I worked a lot with the other girls to get adjusted to the speed and the strength of the U18 league. I’m going to be doing the same thing down there in Midland and I know it’s going to be one of the best experiences ever.”

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