Smarz joins Cougars, shines in debut

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

That’s the mentality Veronica Asquith followed when her season was in the balance and push came to shove.

The 21-year-old Gimli product and former Lake Region State College forward had a feeling her season was in jeopardy last month following the news her head coach, Sawyer Diseth, and the Royals organization had parted ways. To no surprise, her suspicions turned out to be true.

Asquith said two days after her club no longer had a coach, she was told her season would be no longer. In just a matter of days, it was suddenly time to find a new home and a new team to play for, and who better than the team who skated her former team out of the rink just days before in the Assiniboine College Cougars.

“They blew us out, all right,” said Asquith. “To be honest with you, I’m kind of used to them slaughtering us, the scores have been kind of like that, so they’ve always been such tough competition … they really don’t have any weaknesses, they have such a strong unit of players that play together. It’s not a one-man show.

“When I heard the team folded and we had just played them, I knew there was only one right answer for me, and it was AC.”

During Lake Region’s uncertain future, it faced off against AC for a final back-to-back set at the Sportsplex before the Christmas break, and the results were far from pretty. The Cougars dominated from start to finish, combining for a 21-4 performance following 11-3 and 10-1 victories, with Asquith scoring half her team’s goals.

From that point on, she knew what a winning team looked like and wanted to be a part of it, which is why she now bleeds maroon and white.

“After just playing against them, I was like, ‘Why not?’” I sent (head coach) Charles (Tweed) a text, and he immediately responded and hopped on a phone call, and from there, I was committed to being a Cougar within a couple hours,” she said.

“It was a very tedious process because I was on a student visa down in the United States, so it was even more of a process getting all their transcripts over and making sure all my credits transferred properly … It was a lot of paperwork, and just when you think you’re done, there’s more, so it was just a very long process, but thankfully, I got it all done.”

After more than three long weeks and a mountain of paperwork, Asquith was finally able to land a spot during the second day of classes for business — a program she said was a bit easier to transfer over to after finishing her liberal arts degree at Lake Region.

Now with her academics sorted out, she’s been able to turn her attention to the ice with her new club.

“I am just so freaking excited,” Asquith said. “When I introduced myself to the whole team, I walked into their locker room on practice Tuesday, and I just told them, I was like, ‘Well, I couldn’t beat you, so I decided to join y’all,’ and they got a pretty good chuckle out of it.

“I am so excited to be on a team knowing that they have my back and I have their back, not even just talent-wise, but just in overall play … I’m looking very forward to seeing how much I develop with them.”

She may have gelled quicker than expected, as it took less than six minutes for Asquith to get onto the scoresheet in her debut after netting a goal against the Jamestown Jimmies Friday afternoon. She added one more on a power play in the final frame to boost the Cougars to a 5-0 victory. Asquith and Assiniboine will try to rinse and repeat today, when they play the Jimmies again at Wilson Arena.

Now, with an already stacked Cougars squad who sits near the top of the American Collegiate Hockey Association Div. 2 standings with a 12-2 record, teams will have to deal with another thorn in their side in Asquith, a proven game breaker.

Through 15 games played, the third-year winger is now up to 18 goals and 28 points this season. Last year, Asquith tallied 48 goals and 75 points in 22 contests. She’s dominant offensively, and she’s also not afraid to play hard down low and in the trenches to make a big hit and win a puck battle. She said it’s part of the power forward identity she takes pride in.

“You don’t want to see me coming down the boards on you.” Asquith chuckled. “I’m a very aggressive player. I want the puck, so I’m going to go get it, and I’m not going to stop until it’s in the net. That’s kind of just how I play.”

It’s an effective style of game she’s adopted from her favorite National Hockey League player growing up, Marián Hossa, a three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks dynasty that won in 2010, 2013, and 2015. He was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020, so he’s certainly not a bad player to model your game after.

The extremely physical part of the game also came naturally for Asquith during her seasons growing up in Gimli, where she played for the Vikings on the boys’ team until she was 15.

“Playing at 15 years old with men who were like 18, it forced me to think really fast and keep my head up and just for me to make decisions really fast to avoid getting hit,” she said. “That’s definitely played a part in my aggressiveness and a big part in why my hockey IQ is where it is right now.”

Asquith’s arrival to AC will also come with some new ice-time usage, as she’d be forced to play over half the game with Lake Region because they never had a full roster. She said her first year with the Royals, they started with 12 players but ended the season with six, began with 10 players last year and ended with seven, and this year, they got down to nine players before the program folded. With only a few subs during a 60-minute game, Asquith said she was averaging around 45 minutes of ice time each season.

She’s confident having to play less with a full Cougars lineup will result in more efficient plays on the ice.

“It was kind of just survival of the fittest at that time, so I’m actually excited to not be playing as many minutes,” Asquith said. “When you’re averaging 45 minutes a game, you’re not playing the best you can. You’re exhausted, you’re tired, and not every shift is your hardest to the max, so I’m really excited to cut down that playing time so I can focus on every shift I go out I’m refreshed, I’m ready, and I can give it my all for the team.”

Following tonight’s game against the Jimmies, the Cougars will return to the Sportsplex to begin a home-and-home series against the Dakota College at Bottineau Lady Jacks next weekend.

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com