Ash ready to raise Bisons from dust

Her favourite player’s on-ice days are behind him, but Heather Ash has a promising future as a bona fide goalie.
The 21-year-old Fort Frances native watched her NHL hero, Patrick Roy, hang up the skates for good when he announced his retirement last month.
But Ash is only just getting started with what she hopes will be a starring role as the No. 1 goalie with the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey team this fall.
“The coaches have basically told me the starting job is mine to lose,” said Ash, who just completed her first year majoring in exercise and sports science at the U of M.
“Next year is going to be a building year for them. It was not a good season for them this year,” she noted. “But I feel really comfortable with knowing they have confidence in me. Yet, I still don’t want to take it for granted.”
The Bisons will be glad for any change in their fortunes after posting a dreadful 4-13-3 mark last season. What they do have going for them, though, is a goalie who came off a very productive season this past year with the University of Winnipeg Lady Wesmen women’s club team.
“We did really well in the regular season, where we played mostly exhibition games against other teams since we’re a club squad without a conference affiliation,” explained Ash.
“Then we went on to win the women’s ‘AA’ provincials in Tuelon, Man. and qualified for the nationals in Saskatoon this past April for the third-straight year,” she added.
Her prairie experience did not go as well as she would have liked. The Lady Wesmen won only one of six games against top-flight competition which included 11 different members of the Olympic gold medal-winning Canadian women’s team that ruled Salt Lake City in 2002 scattered throughout their opponents’ rosters.
“It was definitely a real eye-opener,” recalled Ash. “We played against the likes of Geraldine Heaney and Sami-Jo Small. We didn’t fare too well, but it was a real enjoyable experience.”
After three years of playing Midget ‘AA’ hockey in Thunder Bay, Ash suited up for the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association for the 2001-02 season.
While in Wisconsin, she performed admirably in a back-up role to Yellowjackets starter Kelly Timm, registering a 5-2 record overall with a goals against average of 1.71, a save percentage of .928, two shutouts, and an assist thrown in for good measure.
“It’s probably close to the same level as Canadian university hockey,” said Ash. “But down there, they have a lot more people to draw from. While on teams up here you have a few really great stars, down there everybody on the 25-person roster is strong.”
The Yellowjackets went 11-5 to finish second in the regular season of their seven-team conference that year, and 18-8 overall.
They eventually beat University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 6-5 in their post-season finale to capture third place for the year—just missing out on making it to the NCAA Division III nationals.
Ash wanted to join the Bisons’ line-up this past season, but was forced to sit out a year due to regulations involving athletes who transfer schools.
She was directed by the university to the Lady Wesmen to get some playing time while she bided her time to officially join the Bisons.
“It was a really well-run team,” Ash said of the Lady Wesmen. “Because we were playing against full-fledged university teams with not near the practice time they had available to them, and still doing well against them, we felt we were the equivalent of any CIS [Canadian Intercollegiate Sports] team.
“The only thing I’m looking forward to more at the university level is the amount of dedication on the part of the players,” she added. “On the Lady Wesmen, we had players ranging in age from 17-29, and it was tough to get everyone out for practices and games because of work and school schedules.”
Ash considers her aggressive nature in challenging shooters as her biggest attribute as a goalie while her puck-handling skills bear room for improvement by her own admission.
As for playing the sport’s most hazardous position, she doesn’t fear the risks of throwing her body in front of the fast-moving frozen rubber.
“I got hit by enough pucks in the head when I was little,” Ash recalled with a smile. “It doesn’t even bother me any more.”