Fort High to ice girls’ hockey team

Step aside, guys, a Muskie girls’ hockey team may soon be basking in NorWOSSA glory, too.
“We are looking to organize a [FFHS] girls’ hockey team that will play exhibition games against teams in Kenora, Dryden, and possibly Minnesota,” confirmed former NHL’er Mike Allison, co-owner of the AA Developmental Hockey Camp here, who has agreed to coach the squad.
“We are hoping for it, we are working on it,” noted Mark Lafleur, a Bantam/Midget coach with the local women’s hockey league. “NorWOSSA has agreed to run an exhibition season with Kenora, Dryden, and possibly the States.”
The schedule would consist of a dozen games, he said, with hopes of a full season next year.
Allison said Tuesday there’s 75-80 percent chance the girls’ hockey team will be successful this year. “Next year, I think, will be more successful,” he added.
“The OFSSA committee believes [girls’ high school hockey] will soon be offered across Ontario,” said Allison. “There have been tournaments but mainly in southern Ontario, which have had around 90 teams show up.”
“The interest is definitely there,” agreed Lafleur. “A few people have been asking about a female hockey team and we have been looking to see what the interest is.
“About 45-50 girls in the FFHS district have the potential to try out for the team. There are a lot of girls coming from around the area to play hockey here,” he noted.
Allison said the FFHS administration would like to start–and be able to support–a program like this but due to budget cutbacks, the extra funding is not available to support it financially.
“They will support it any other way possible,” he added.
“[Having a girls’ hockey team] is absolutely positive. With the new high school, the new arena, and the new millennium, there couldn’t be a better time to get it started,” said Amy Marchuk, whose daughter, Krystine, has been playing hockey for the past five years.
Lafleur mentioned that if the female hockey team worked out, a blue line club to support and cover some of the costs of the team would be organized.
The idea for a girls’ high school hockey team in Fort Frances was sparked by conversations with a Dryden woman, Lafleur said.
“A lady from Dryden has been keeping Jim McMahon and I informed about what has been going on throughout the high schools,” he noted. “After talking with her, we approached parents and kids to see if there would be interest . . . there was.
“We then approached Mike Allison about being the coach for the team,” he continued. “Currently, we are trying to completely organize the program.”
As much as those involved wish women’s hockey could be as big as the men’s, they openly admit it won’t be.
“[Girls’] hockey won’t be as big as boys’ hockey but it will be close,” said Lafleur. “Women’s hockey in the Olympics was the turning point for the sport.
“In women’s hockey, the thing you can’t do is open ice hits but what you do have is slapshots, rub-outs, and amazing goaltending.
“Women’s hockey isn’t just a finesse game. It is very physical. They can get rough and tough when they want to,” Lafleur stressed.