Wells, Wildcats gear up for U15 playoffs

Lily Wells has never been so ready for something she almost wishes wouldn’t happen.

Wells and her U15 AAA Westman Wildcats (15-5-1) cap off what has been a superb season this weekend with back-to-back games against the Norman Wild (0-21) at home in Deloraine, where she and her fellow seniors will be in for an emotional tribute prior to Sunday’s matinee.

“I think it’s going to be pretty special,” Wells said ahead of the Wildcats senior night. “You just get to share some moments you’ve had with your teammates and even last year with those girls, so you’re kind of almost passing a torch to the minors for their major year, and it’s just a good warm goodbye.

“Last year I was sad and happy for those girls, and then I thought about how sad I’d be when I had to leave and leaving the younger girls behind, so it is sad having to leave those friendships.”

Wells, an alternate captain for Westman, will be joined by nine fellow seniors to mark two years of hard work and dedication to the program: captain Georgia Koop, other alternates Loulle Jasper, Jaelyn Mann, and Abbey Oliver, and teammates Mya Jones, Emma Cornock, Ivy Nelson, Aubree McKinnon, and Maisie Green.

The five-foot-two, left-shot forward who sits top three in team scoring with 17 goals — including three game-winners — and 32 points in 21 games said she already got a preview of what the bitter-sweet moment will feel like during Norman’s senior celebration last weekend after Westman outscored it 25-2 through two games. Regardless of the result on the score clock, though, Wells said she felt moved watching commemorations of people she didn’t even know, so she can’t even imagine what wave of emotions will hit her in a few days.

She’s most excited to hear from others about how far she’s coming along, not just on the ice, but as a person too.

“I’m exited just to see what other people say about us and see how they think we’ve grown from their perspective,” said Wells. “It will be cool to see how everyone else kind of reacts and I just feel like it’s a good way to say goodbye.”

And with the playoffs looming, the cherry on top of it all would be a Manitoba Female Hockey League championship.

The Wildcats have had lots of trouble getting out of the first round of the post-season over the last number of years, but if there was ever a chance to get over the hump, it would be now. They currently sit second in the league with 31 points, one behind the Eastman Selects (16-5) and one ahead of the Central Plains Capitals (15-5), who they played on Wednesday night in Portage, but the game ended after deadline.

All three top teams still had a chance to finish first in the standings, meaning they would earn themselves an immediate pass into the semifinals with a first-round bye, so the importance of Westman’s last few games can not be understated.

“The Wildcats program hasn’t gone past the first round in a while, so I’m very excited for playoffs because we have a really good group of girls and I believe we can for sure get past the first round and do well,” Wells said. “We’re in a really good spot right now, so we have a really good chance and I feel like we could definitely go all the way.”

They certainly have the offensive fire power to do it. While rookie Demi Hodson leads the forward group with 29 goals and 46 points, a lot of their offence has come from Wells’ line with Koop and Green, as the trio’s combined for nearly 100 points. The triple threat played together last year in their minor seasons which is exactly why their chemistry comes together so smoothly and effectively, but they first needed to prove it to first-year head coach Jamie Hodson, a former Brandon Wheat Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick.

Wells said it didn’t take very long until he caught on.

“We were really good together last year and have always worked really well together on a lot of teams so we obviously told our coach that and then he was like, ‘Okay, we’ll try it out’ and it’s worked really well,” she said.

The three click together because of their cohesion, which comes from Green going to work on the walls and in the corners to retrieve pucks, before feeding either one of Wells or Koop, who both have the skill to put the puck in the back of the net. It’s simple, but it works. That goes for the rest of the team too, as Hodson’s built a successful mentality around hard work and relentless puck pursuit.

Wells believes that’s what stands out about their group.

“It’s the hard work that I’ve done and that everyone else has done,” she said. “If I make a pass they will work hard to finish it, or someone else will work hard, and then I’ll finish it. Especially with these coaches, my team is very encouraging, so I always encourage me to do the best that I can. Every time I make mistake they help me not do it again and they say it’s okay and every time I do something good, they make sure I know that I did something good.

“We’ve come a long way on and off the ice. Went from strangers to best friends, and on ice, we’ve developed as a team a lot and you can tell through the season just in the plays we make now. It’s just now the seasons coming to an end, so I could not play with some of these people again, which is really sad.”

Wells admits stepping away from her U15 tenure won’t be easy, but she said it’s a little easier knowing how lucky she is to have been part of something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

“Every time we do anything together, It’s like we’re making new memories,” she said. “Every bus trip together, every tournament and every meal we go to and the team bonding activities are all really good memories.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com