DeVlieger, U15 girls riding high of senior night

Senior night hit Brittyn DeVlieger a little harder than she expected.

The 15-year-old alternate captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings U15 AAA girls squad took a moment to soak it all in as she and her six fellow seniors were honoured with bouquets of flowers and framed photos, sharing their favourite memories from the past two seasons before skating onto the ice one by one and capping the night with a 4-0 victory against the Pembina Valley Hawks at the Sportsplex last Saturday.

For DeVlieger, it was a full-circle moment and one she’d been thinking about for a while — and the win was just the icing on the cake.

“It was a good night to remember,” DeVlieger said. “A lot of these girls are my best friends just growing up playing hockey with a lot of them, so I just like to have that night to remember.”

And just in storybook fashion, DeVlieger got on the scoresheet with two assists on Brandon’s last two goals scored by her linemate, best friend and team captain Shayla Duncalfe. The two have been piling up points for years together and this season, have also taken new responsibilities as culture carriers on and off the ice. It’s a role DeVlieger said she’s been looking to embrace since last year after seeing the impact her seniors had on her along with the rest of the team.

“I was really excited because I always wanted to be one of the leaders because last year the leaders, I thought they were so cool for leading and they did a good job, so I just wanted to be like them and lead the team,” she said. “I feel more comfortable speaking up, trying to lead the team and just lead by example.”

DeVlieger has found her voice this season and with that her scoring touch, as she currently sits fourth in team scoring with four goals and 17 points in 23 games — trailing only Duncalfe (18) and rookies Mila Kaktins (19) and Fergie Bertholet (34) — after putting up just two goals and six points in 25 contests last year.

The five-foot-five, right-shot forward has fully embraced her power-forward role this season thanks to her physical edge and speed which has her dictating the pace of play with her heavy forecheck and grit to go to the hard areas to win puck battles. She’s also earned 28 penalty minutes, but nonetheless, her role has proved to be effective, and even more so with her two linemates Emily Garrioch and Duncalfe.

DeVlieger believes they’re the perfect fit.

“I always want to be the hardest worker on the ice, so I just bring a lot of energy and speed and Shayla is one of my best friends, so we grind together, we can pass the puck well and Emily’s awesome to play with too. She can take a pass well and we work really good together as wing partners and we’re just a hard-working line, so it’s really fun to play with them,” DeVlieger said.

Together, the two seniors and rookie have amassed 51 points and have helped power their team to a five-game winning streak — the longest of the season — which they will hope to uphold as they finish off their season on Sunday with a trip to Portage to face the Central Plains Capitals (16-5). Win or lose, though, they’ve still locked up the fourth seed in the Manitoba Female Hockey League standings with 27 points thanks to a 13-9-1 record, meaning they will have a rematch of last year’s series with the Yellowhead Chiefs.

Yellowhead dispatched Brandon in the first round, but, DeVlieger is confident this timearound. She believes this team is pushing with a different purpose.

“I think it’s going to be really good,” said DeVlieger, who posted on goal in three playoff games last season. “We’re working hard every practice, going hard and we’re ready, so I’m really excited.

“We just gotta all work as a team, not just one player, but all work together and just outwork the other team.”

Since beginning hockey at age 10, DeVlieger’s identity has been built off having a strong work ethic. That’s what’s helped her get to the AAA level and it’s also what she hopes her younger teammates will remember most about her once she closes out her U15 tenure for good.

“Just always remember to have fun and work hard,” she said. “You only have a couple years to play hockey, so you might as well use time while you can.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com