Hawks girls head to Christmas break on a high after 14-0 exhibition win

This is a very good team

The girls hockey team is on a rip. Photo by Terrance

By Terrance Gavan

   The King’s Speech is out in a movie theater near you.

   It’s all about King George VI, his speech impediment and how he overcame it with the help of a loopy speech pathologist and some wild and wacky oral gymnastics. “Rubber baby buggy bumpers anyone?”

   Ah too bad women’s hockey was not in vogue back in 1939.

   We might have cured old Prince Albert’s stammer on a Tuesday afternoon, if we shoved him in the Dysart Barn’s scorer’s box  with a microphone and told him to announce every goal with an alliterate wiggle: “She shoots, she scores!”

   Last Tuesday the Hawks beat Gravenhurst High School 14-0 in a friendly exhibition that might have cured or killed the once and future King.

   There ya’ go Albert. Now go have at it with Hitler and those bloody Nazis.

   Lest we get too involved with the lopsided numbers, we should keep in mind that Gravenhurst came to the fray a little undermanned, and co-coach Vince Duchene asked the girls to pass the puck – a lot. And they did. But there was an almost embarrassing discrepancy between the two teams. These Hawks are almost scary good – and getting better - in their inaugural season of Kawartha Hockey League action.

   Thankfully the scorers stalled the clock at 5-0 for the duration of the game.

   Co-coach and Hal High boss Dan Marsden was forced to borrow skates and an orange whistle because the zebras didn’t show.

   Marsden, who had a bird’s eye view of the proceedings said after the game that the team goal centered around, “puck control and team play.” Mission accomplished.

   Duchene said that as soon as they knew what they were dealing with, the pace and pattern of the game changed.

   “We worked on puck movement and tried to distribute the puck to everyone,” said Duchene.

   That was evident in the scoring line. Almost every member of the team contributed.

   Sam Tallman (three goals and five assists) and Megan Allore (four goals and four assists) once again led the way for the Hawks. Marley Gadway had two goals and two assists, Julia Fedeski added a goal and three assists, and Jessica Duchene had a goal and two assists. Paige Roberts and Kate Denniston added a goal and an assist apiece, and the other goal was scored by Breanna Larue. Tammy Everitt had two assists, with single helpers going to Shelby Hunter and Tessa Iles.

   One thing we should note. This team just gets better and better every game. Duchene attributes that to the players getting some on the fly instruction watching Tallman, Fedeski, and Allore. They distribute their playing time between the Hawks and competitive minor hockey teams.

   They lead by example. And it’s infectious.

   The girls now move into a well-deserved break before returning to league play in early January.