Glover finds new level with Pandas

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This article was published 16/04/2025 (183 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a sensational second season with the University of Alberta Pandas, Grace Glover can’t imagine being anywhere else.

The 19-year-old goaltender, whose family lives southeast of Boissevain on a small farm where they keep cattle and horses, has found life in Edmonton pretty fulfilling, especially after leading the team to its first Canada West championship since 2020.

“It’s been absolutely amazing,” Glover said. “Winning CanWest, I can’t even put into words how grateful I am to be part of this program. It’s something really special and it’s not something many girls get to experience.”

She is returning to the farm in late April after she finishes exams, and will be there for a couple of months before heading back to Edmonton to prepare for next season.

Glover began her hockey journey at age five in a recreation league in Ninga. She started as a player but when she took her turn in net, she proved to be pretty good at it. She alternated between goal and playing out until she was 12 or 13 and then made the move into the crease for good.

“It was the nature of the position and being the last line of defence,” Glover said of the appeal. “I was more of a defensive player than an offensive player when I started out, so I always had that defensive mindset and really enjoyed that style.”

Boissevain has a well-earned reputation as a factory for high-level young athletes, with a seemingly endless stream of hockey, softball and baseball players being produced.

Glover has noticed the same thing.

“We have a very good athletic program growing up in school and it’s also the history of it,” Glover said. “People really like to stick around so those athletes have kids and it drives them to follow in their footsteps. It’s the nature of the town.”

For young female athletes like Glover, there is also a shining local example of what can be achieved with hard work. Zoe Hicks is a mainstay on the Canadian women’s softball and baseball teams, and has inspired the young women who come behind her.

“It gives all of us athletes someone to look up to,” Glover said. “It shows that just because we’re from a small town, doesn’t mean that the resources aren’t there for us and our journey isn’t possible. Having those people to look up to drives you to know that could be a path for you too.”

She is also a product of the Westman Wildcats system, in which she played two seasons of under-15 and three with the U18 squad that won a league title in 2022 and earned her a playoff MVP award. She was the league MVP in 2023.

At the time, the U15 program was still double rostered, which meant they played for their local club and the Wildcats too.

“Having that kind of ability to play on two teams at once and just to have so much training time and practice was really good,” Glover said. “You would get together with the Wildcats team and go to showcases and tournaments but we never played any league play with them.

“Moving on to midget, it was a big jump but I had a COVID year in my Grade 10 year so I only got to play a couple of games and then we got shut down. That year honestly had a major role in the success I’ve had and the success our team had everyone out in their individual work and grew as a person as well.

“And then the coaches, I had Guy (Williams) all throughout midget and he’s just an amazing coach. He pushes us all to be our best every day and cares about us as people as well. That was just amazing too.”

In an era when nets are increasingly patrolled by larger athletes, Glover is a throwback at five-foot-five. She said her size simply allows her to do things some bigger goalies can’t.

“It’s definitely kind of challenging with the way the game is going now,” Glover said. “It’s a lot more prevalent to have taller goalies but my approach is taking advantage of things that smaller goalies can do that other goalies can’t. I would say I’m a really quick goalie and I would say I’m pretty athletic in net … I can stay at the top of my crease and make up for it in other ways in being fast and agile.”

With the success she had in U18, Glover had some decisions to make when it came to choosing her post-secondary destination. She toured a couple of other schools, but her search was over after she toured the University of Alberta.

“It was just an amazing culture,” Glover said. “Everyone went out of their way to get to know me, even in the short time I was here. I just really felt like I was at home. The team environment was amazing and it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced at any other school. The people here are just outstanding and the academics are top notch.”

Glover, who is studying elementary education, said she is a good student but that it requires a lot of work. That means hockey and academics both require substantial amounts of time.

“Time management is definitely one of the skills I like to keep on track because if you don’t, you’ll fall off the rails with this busy schedule,” Glover said. “I like to think my time management is pretty good.”

When she joined the Pandas for the 2023-24 season, she found herself behind sixth-year veteran Halle Oswald, the former Pembina Valley Hawks netminder from Sanford. Oswald got 19 starts, with second-year netminder Misty Rey getting six.

That left the rookie Glover with three appearances, but she made them count, stopping all 47 shots she faced and posting three shutouts. The farm kid wasn’t exactly just sitting on the couch when she wasn’t starting, so she found a way to get better.

“I was able to follow in (Oswald’s) footsteps,” Glover said. “Being able to develop under her and watch her work ethic and the way she takes on the game was really beneficial. When you’re not playing, we have scratch workouts and scratch ice so you get extra workouts in different ways than playing in a game, and honestly, that was really beneficial towards my development, being able to gain that strength and that experience practising against my teammates.”

With Oswald’s departure, Glover was battling Rey and third-year Lakeland College transfer Mackenzie Dojahn for playing time.

“It was hard to get used to at the start, having three goalies, but the nature of the team and the people that this program attracts, we all get along very well. We all work off of each other … We push each other to be better every single day and we have a huge impact on each other’s development.”

Glover continued her shutout streak into this season, blanking MacEwen and Manitoba before finally surrendering her first goal in league play in a 2-1 victory over Saskatchewan. She ended up appearing in 15 regular season Canada West games, posting an 0.73 goals-against average, .962 save percentage and seven shutouts with a 12-1-0-1 record. Rey appeared in the other nine games.

“It was amazing,” Glover said. “You just want to break it down game by game or shot by shot even. It was really good. Looking back at it now, it was really amazing the success we had as a group even because at the start of the three of us were rotating.”

In the playoffs, Glover went to another level.

After falling 3-2 to Mount Royal in double overtime in the playoff opener, the Pandas tied the series with a 1-0 victory and won the series in overtime in Game 3 with a 3-2 decision.

That vaulted them to the league final against perennial power UBC. Glover was outstanding in Game 1, stopping all 33 shots she faced and Abby Soyko scored 2:40 into overtime for a 1-0 victory.

The next night, March 7, Alberta tied the game in the third period and Soyko was the overtime winner again, sniping 9:46 into extra play to clinch the Canada West title.

“It was just absolutely amazing,” Glover said. “I can’t even put it into words what I was feeling , it was just pure excitement and happiness and joy.”

Still, Glover admits she was shocked when Canada West named her goalie of the year on March 11, even after stopping 70 of the 71 shots she faced in the final. Overall, she was 4-0-1-0 with a 1.10 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage in the playoffs.

She was on her way to school when the news dropped, and by the time she parked, her phone was almost overheating.

“It was ‘Oh my gosh, I have to send this to my family,” Glover said with a chuckle. “My phone was blowing up after that.”

Unfortunately for the Pandas, the wheels came off at nationals in Waterloo, Ont.

They fell 3-0 to the host Waterloo Warriors in the quarterfinals on March 20, and after beating St. Francis Xavier University 3-0 in the consolation semifinal, they lost 5-1 to UBC in the consolation final.

Glover said Alberta, which last won the national title in 2017, has been clawing its way back to the tournament even before she arrived, and they still have unfinished business.

“This year we got to go to nationals and obviously it didn’t go as planned, but I think even the success of getting there with this team put some fire in our system for next year,” Glover said. “Now we just want to go there and prove ourselves that we deserve to be there and we’re going to win it.

“Waterloo is actually hosting again next year so we have a lot of returning players next year and the experience of being there and getting to know the place and the rink and the teams and the performance that is going to be there.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com