REGINA – Spaghetti and meatballs, mac and cheese, even Don Cherry and Ron MacLean; sometimes things just fit together.
The Regina Cougars Women’s Hockey team is currently reaping the rewards of its own dynamic duo: fourth-year forward Kyle Gavelin and rookie Jaycee Magwood. A quick glance at the Canada West scoring leaders shows the pair of Cougars sitting at the top with 17 points each.
“I think they work very well together. They both work extremely hard and they both have good vision. So, they’re using each other, but also working hard to create opportunities for one another,” Said Cougars’ head coach Sarah Hodges.
“We just go out there and try to get the job done. Sometimes we might want to call it luck, but we try to work hard,” explained Gavelin. “We make our own luck.“
This is familiar territory for Gavelin, who led the University of Regina in scoring last season with 21 points in 27 games.
“I guess when I go out there I just kind of make a goal every shift. Get at least one shot, maybe try to get two if I’m lucky,” she said. “That’s usually how I know if I’m having a good game is I just keep shooting.”
“She’s a good scorer and works hard, so she leads by example in that way,” Hodges said of Gavelin. “She’s a little bit different in the dressing room. She’s very demanding of herself and her teammates, so she can be a difficult player to play with and I think Jaycee’s the right kind of player for her to play with because she also demands of herself. It’s a good match that way.”
Magwood is having an immediate impact in her first season of post-secondary hockey after playing for the Westman Wildcats of the Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League from 2010 to 2015, where she racked up 114 goals and 198 points in 159 games.
“I think the experience from the older girls has really helped with just doing the little things right,” said the first-year forward. “The girls have really helped out making the transition a little easier.”
“She brings a complete package. She skates pretty well, so she can get where she needs to be. She’s an extremely smart player and I like that’s the separator,” explained Hodges.”Then she’s got the stick skills to finish and create plays.”
And it’s not just Magwood and Gavelin who have been filling the net lately. Throw in Emma Waldenberger (fifth with 12 points) and Alexis Larson (15th win nine points) and there are four Cougars in the top 20 in Canada West scoring. Regina is also the highest scoring team in the conference with 41 goals in 14 games.
The ladies will look to continue their goal-scoring ways this weekend when they travel to Manitoba to plays a pair of games against the Bisons starting Friday night.
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