The Lakeland Rustlers women's hockey team for this year - courtesy team instagram
The Lakeland Rustlers women’s hockey team opens its home schedule Friday, Oct. 16, at the Hub in Lloydminster, chasing a third straight ACAC title.
Puck drop against Northwestern Polytechnic, a team new to the league, is 7:15 p.m. The teams meet again Saturday, Oct. 17, at 2:30 p.m.
Last season, the Rustlers finished 23-2 and trailed the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens 2-0 in the best-of-five final. They won three straight, clinching with a 1-0 double-overtime victory at home.
Head coach Morgan Mann said none of that carries over.
“I think we approach each year as its own team and we make a conscious effort not to focus on success of the past,” Mann said.
Seven players are new this season.
“Last year is over and we have a new group and seven new players to our group, so it’s a brand new team,” Mann said.
Depth over stars
Mann would not name the biggest losses from last year’s roster. He said a score sheet shows only part of a player’s value.
“There’s lots of characteristics in a hockey player that don’t get noticed on a score sheet,” Mann said.
He pointed to teammates who set the tone in the dressing room and players who block shots.
“I have players that were like the best teammates, glue people in the room that I could count on to make sure the energy was great,” Mann said.
He also declined to name a newcomer for fans to watch Friday.
“They each bring an element that I think will be integral to the success of our team,” Mann said.
Mann said every player will play the same number of games. He said the goal is depth.
“You can only do that when you develop a team, not individuals,” Mann said.
A rugged first home opponent
Northwestern arrives with momentum. Mann said the new program has already split a home series against a formidable league opponent.
He said the community has embraced the team, which sold more than 500 preseason tickets.
“They’ve had a great response in their community to their new program,” Mann said.
Mann expects a physical weekend.
“We’re in for some tough games, which we look forward to,” Mann said.
Opponents have had a year to study the Rustlers. Mann said he does not plan to rebuild the team around that.
“Evolve, sure, but change not,” Mann said.
“We just want to do what we do well.”
The Rustler advantage
Lakeland is a community-sponsored team. Mann said that shapes what the players do away from the rink.
“We’re a community-sponsored team,” Mann said. “And so it is very important that we are active and give back in the community.”
The weekend shows how that works. The Rustlers host Northwestern Polytechnic on Friday and Saturday, then head to Unity.
“Sunday we’re up at 5:30 a.m. and we’re off to Unity for 12 hours to put on a camp there until 6 o’clock at night,” Mann said. “So our players have to give a lot and they can be proud of that.”
The team played 50 games last year, Mann said, more than any other program in the country. It also takes a major trip every year.
He calls the commitment the Rustler advantage.
“Not everybody can be a Rustler because we ask a lot of our players,” Mann said. “But in turn, we think we’re growing really good people that will give back in their community someday.”
Local recruits get to help young girls in minor hockey, Mann said. That could be a former teacher’s daughter now playing U13.
“This is a destination I think that they can be proud to be part of,” Mann said.
Fans have noticed. Mann said Lakeland led the league in attendance last year, the team’s first in the new rink at the Hub.
In the playoffs, he said, the stands were full and the concourse was “filled to the brim.”
“What an atmosphere to play in,” Mann said.
Japan calls
This season’s big trip is to Sapporo, Japan, in the country’s north. The Rustlers will play six games against pro-league teams, each with national team players.
Japan’s national team just returned from the world championships, so Lakeland will not face it. Mann said the team sits near the top of the B pool.
The Rustlers had hoped to play it anyway.
“We were really hopeful that that would be the case because we think we could compete with them,” Mann said.
Behind the bench
Mann is also in a new role. He taught full time with the Lloydminster Public School Division last year. This season he coaches full time and teaches one class at Lakeland.
More time has not turned into spare time, he said.
“I don’t find I have any more time than I did before, for whatever reason,” Mann said.
Room to grow
Mann wants a national women’s college championship. There are no set plans at this point, and he said it needs a push from the ACAC and Quebec’s league.
He credited former athletic director Alan Rogan for the early work. That push is why Lakeland played in a collegiate invitational in Quebec last season, with top teams from Alberta, Quebec and the Maritimes.
Mann pitched the team as a good fit for student-athletes. Lakeland offers a full nursing degree through a partnership with the University of Saskatchewan, he said. Students can also earn an education degree through the University of Calgary.
“I think it’s just an excellent place or option for young hockey players looking to be student-athletes,” Mann said.
The ACAC is getting tougher from top to bottom, he said.
“The ACAC is a strong league, and it continues to grow,” Mann said.
That growth is closing gaps inside the league, and Mann said this weekend will show it.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any easy weekends,” Mann said.
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