By Jeff D'Andrea

Esso Cup venue nothing new for Bears; Soyko the Swiss Army Knife

Apr 22, 2017 | 8:30 AM

Back in the offseason when Prince Albert Northern Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby chose to enter his team for an October exhibition tournament in Morden, Man., he did so with a lot of thought. He knew the Esso Cup national female Midget AAA hockey championships would be hosted there, and figured if the Bears ended up qualifying for the big dance, it wouldn’t hurt having been in the building.

“You can’t stop the waves, so just learn how to surf.” Morden, we’re coming for ya. pic.twitter.com/s6CXKdgCkF

— Chris Vis (@Cmv081Vis) April 10, 2017

Well now, Willoughby looks like a genius.

The Bears not only qualified for the Esso Cup April 23-30, but did so with winning all nine of their Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League games and sweeping the regionals against the Westman Wildcats.

Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby specifically chose that tournament because it was the Esso Cup venue, and figured it would help his team be familiar with the rink if they quality.

NO GO FOR BUSES

School bus routes outside P.A. canceled due to spring snowstorm

4h ago

Trades in Sask.

Skilled trades need not limited to building homes

19h ago

Weather issues

Old man winter returns for one more round

19h ago

“People won’t believe me, but I did,” Willoughby chuckled at the team’s fundraising barbeque, which raised $4,700. “I thought, ‘you know what, why not? There’s a lot of preseason tournaments out there and a lot of tournaments that are half-Saskatchewan, half-Manitoba, why not? If it turns out that we go back there, at least we’ve been there before.’ It’s going to be a boost for us.”

‘Swiss Army’ Soyko

If games get tight, the Bears can and will rely on their Swiss Army Knife Abby Soyko.

Soyko can play any position on the ice in any situation, with goaltending the only exception.

Soyko was mostly used on the blueline in her first two years with the Bears. But this season, Soyko was thrown up front as a forward and despite being still 15-years-old and playing a new position, Soyko led the Bears in scoring during both the regular season (18 goals, 31 points) and in the playoffs (four goals, 10 points).

Playing everywhere is a challenge that Soyko welcomes and thrives.

“It’s a lot. You get the whole perspective of the ice in every position,” Soyko said. “I think we’re all very confident and have a chance at winning. We’re all taking care of ourselves.”

Although a lot of the offence comes from Soyko, Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby still puts Soyko back on the blueline when needed.

“It’s pretty important to have a player that can do that,” Willoughby said. “Having her being able to be a force up at forward, and if we can protect a lead, we can have her playback. She’s quite a good defender as well. It’s both sides of the ice getting looked after by one player.”

The Bears play their first game Sunday at 6 p.m. Saskatchewan time against the hosting Pembina Valley Hawks.

Jeff D’Andrea is paNOW’s sports reporter. He can be reached at jdandrea@jpbg.ca or tweet him @jeff_paNOW.