Game On Magazine 2017 February 2017 | Page 120

Mom , this is where I want to go , it was just the atmosphere and how amazing the city was . It ’ s so close to home . My mom will be able to make it to my games and I love having my mom at my games
ST . MARY ’ S FLAMES
Mom , this is where I want to go , it was just the atmosphere and how amazing the city was . It ’ s so close to home . My mom will be able to make it to my games and I love having my mom at my games
State for a visit last year that it was where her future lies . “ I went down with my mom to visit and as soon as I walked on campus I said ‘ Mom , this is where I want to go ,’” she said . “ It was just the atmosphere and how amazing the city was . It ’ s so close to home . My mom will be able to make it to my games and I love having my mom at my games . “[ Bemidji ] is a small city which I thought I would never want because I ’ m a Chicago kid and I ’ m big city everything . But when I got there everyone knew who the hockey girls were and that just seemed like the place I wanted to be . The school is amazing and the girls on the team and the coaches just made me feel so welcome .” Cheveldayoff is the latest in a long line of current and former St . Mary ’ s players who have been recruited by Canadian and U . S . college teams since the school ’ s prep program was established six years ago . A total of 23 Flames players have signed on to play collegiate hockey in that time including Cheveldayoff and current teammates Logan Angers ( Quinnipiac ) Hailey Cloutier ( Windsor ), Hailey Karbonik ( North Dakota ), Karlee Mazor ( UBC ), Ashley McFadden ( Penn State ), Holly Reuther ( Calgary ) and K . K . Thiessen ( Mercyhurst ). In the last three years alone , the program has placed at least one player at an Ivy League school each year . Bumstead says while St . Mary ’ s has been blessed with a wealth of talent during that time , he believes it ’ s a credit to all the work that has been invested in the program by the players , coaches and the school ’ s support staff .
120 GAME ON 2016 - 17 ROSTER DEADLINE EDITION
“ We try to run our program like a college team ,” he says . “ We practice four days a week . We also have cardio in the morning before school . And then we play a 50-game schedule . At the same time the girls have to keep their marks up . They ’ ll sometimes write exams when we ’ re on the road and they have to get homework done too . “ I think a lot of the reason these girls ( move on to the college ranks ) is these schools realize that not only are they good hockey players , they ’ re academically going to be sound and be good students for those schools .” This season is the first year for the Flames prep program as a member of the Canadian School Sport Hockey League , where they are competing against the likes of the Okanagan Hockey Academy , Edge School and the Notre Dame Hounds . Despite having one of the youngest teams in the league with just five Grade 12 players , the Flames have managed to hold their own . They had an 8-6-1 record after 15 league games and were just five points out of top spot in the CSSHL ’ s female prep division .
“ We ’ re not really surprised ,” Cheveldayoff says of the team ’ s early success . “( Coach Bumstead ) is always trying to bring out our potential on the ice . And the Grade 12s all make us feel like equals . I think team chemistry ’ s been very important for us . We get along together on the ice and the communication is great .” n
Winnipeg hockey fans can see Lexi Cheveldayoff and her St . Mary ’ s teammates in action from March 16-19 , 2017 , as the Flames play host to the Female World Sport School Challenge at MTS Iceplex .