Skylar Heinrichs, the new captain of the Lloydminster Steelers, didn’t have to think twice when asked which previous leaders might have influenced her most throughout her years in minor hockey.
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The third-year forward from Lloydminster singled out another hometown captain, Ryann Rekimowich, who led the Steelers last year as they hosted the Esso Cup national U18 AAA girls’ hockey championship.
“She was an amazing captain,” Heinrichs said of Rekimowich, who has graduated to the Lakeland Rustlers of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
“I’ve never had a captain like Ryann. She was so selfless and really put the team first. She really inspires me. I try to be like her every day and I look up to her.”
DEDICATED GROUP OF CAPTAINS
Heinrichs leads a Steelers’ captaincy group that includes three other returning players in blueliners Alivia Foster and Jamie Hensch and forward Esme Loney.
Steelers coach Dan Auchenberg said the foursome earned those letters based largely on loyalty to a program that — despite its high profile and relative success — has lost multiple U18-eligible players to other teams in the Alberta Female Hockey League and elsewhere.
“One of the biggest reasons is they’re the ones that dedicated themselves to coming back to the team,” he said. “The commitment of believing in what we have as a culture.”
Heinrichs and Hensch are third-year Steelers, while Foster and Loney are in their second season of playing U18 AAA.
“Sky brings everything,” Auchenberg said of captain Heinrichs, the team leader with six goals and seven points after five games.
“She brings character, a positive attitude and a commitment to play hard. She’s not afraid to battle and get into dirty areas. She’s got a good stick. She shoots the puck well and creates a lot of offence for us.
“Sky is getting ready to play at MRU (Mount Royal University) next year and it’s going to be exciting to see her play there.”
Foster and Loney are also from Lloydminster, while Hensch is a native of Grande Prairie.
“Liv (Foster) brings a good amount of offence from the back end, and a good head on her shoulders,” Auchenberg said.
“She moves the puck well, shoots the puck well,” Auchenberg said of Foster. “A great skater. A good, active stick.
“Same thing with Jamie (Hensch) on the back end. Another one that works very hard, really takes pride. The girls just love her to death, in the sense of her character and everything. She’s got a good shot from the point. We’re looking for her to go somewhere (after) this year.”
Loney also oozes the kind of character and commitment that makes her coach smile.
“I could talk for days about Esme,” Auchenberg said. “Her commitment to play 200 feet, to play a defensive game, block shots, do the little things, she’s so good at that. Character is the biggest thing with Esme.”
In similar fashion, Auchenberg and company are thankful to have two other returning players in forwards Sydney Klebanosky of Spruce Grove and Peyton Walker of Wainwright. The inspirational Walker, back from her cancer recovery, has played all five games in the regular season.
The Steelers — off to a 3-2 start in league play — haven’t lost in eight games, including a 5-0 run at the Canadian Crown tournament
in Devon.
“They’re learning,” Auchenberg said of his mostly young players. “They’re coming along very well. I’m very surprised, but I’m not. They’ve really bought in to working hard and learning the game properly.
“The one thing I cannot complain about is they’re working hard. From start to finish, they’re moving and they’re skating. Everything is coming into place. When you’re working hard, good things happen.”
LOCAL GOALIES STEP UP
The Steelers showed they were capable of outskating and outworking opponents in winning the latest Crown tourney, in which Lloyd reached the semifinals last year.
In net this year are two newcomers from Lloydminster — Sloane Schaab, 16, and Kenzie Zidar, 15.
“They’re very good,” Auchenberg said. “Sloane, we picked her because of her commitment. She played as an underage with the AA team, and then she played last season as a first year. We also committed to Kenzie early in the year. We just like how she battled and competed against the boys.
“One thing about both (goalies), anytime I ask them to come out and do something, they’re always dialled in and always working. They’re like two peas in a pod. They love each other, which is really good.
“They have big shoulders to share. We don’t have a lot of experience in net, but they’re proving to everybody that they can play. That’s the most important thing.”
‘THAT’S THEIR CHOICE’
As for the ex-Steelers who left the team before their U18 eligibility expired, the coach reasoned that it’s a sign of the times in the hockey world.
“It’s not even the kids’ fault,” said Auchenberg, also the Lloydminster Minor Hockey Association general manger. “It’s just the pressure of playing somewhere else, and thinking it’s better, so they want to kind of spread their wings sometimes.
“Everybody has different opinions of why they’re going, or whatever, but at the end of the day … we knew before the Esso Cup that they were going. I just said, ‘Don’t worry. I’m OK with it. Let’s just make sure we’re focused on the Esso Cup.’ And they played well in the Esso Cup. That’s all we can ask. That’s their choice. We move forward, and we’ve got six (more) new girls that want to play on the team this year to replace them.”
The turnover has resulted in more Lloydminster players on the Steelers’ 20-player roster.
Along with nine players from the Border City, the team has two each from Edmonton, Grande Prairie and Irma, and one skater each from Calgary, Mallaig, Red Deer, Spruce Grove and Wainwright.
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