Wllloughby hoists the Clarkson Cup (Submitted photo/ Kaitlin Willoughby)

By Nigel Maxwell

P.A. hockey star

Prince Albert’s Willoughby on fire

Mar 26, 2019 | 11:56 AM

Prince Albert’s Kaitlin Willoughby has experienced quite a month, winning both a national hockey championship, and winning a silver medal at an international competition.

This past Sunday, the Calgary Inferno won the Canadian Women’s Hockey League Championship. This year marked Willoughby’s first year with the team, which included a lot of players who have played at the Olympic level.

“When you are playing amongst those players, you are just learning so much from them, let alone from your coaches. I think just playing at that next level really made me realize what areas of my game I needed to improve,” she said.

Willougyby played in 27 games for the Inferno this past season and had a total of six points, including one goal and five assists. In the final game for the Clarkson Cup, Calgary defeated Montreal 5-2. Willoughby said her team members, who had led the season series, felt confident entering the final game, but knew it would be a physical battle.

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“When it comes down to just a one game playoff style, you know anything can happen so we knew we could not take them lightly at all,” she said.

The 2019 Clarkson Cup champions. (Submitted photo/ Kaitlin Willoughby)

Just two weeks prior to hoisting the Clarkson Cup, Willoughby won a silver medal as part of Team Canada at the Universiade tournament in Russia. Willougby who proudly donned the ‘C’ was disappointed after the team lost the gold.

“Coming back and winning this championship a couple weeks later really made my season end in a nice way,” she said.

Willoughby who has been pursuing a nursing degree at the University of Saskatchewan often travels back and forth between Saskatoon and Calgary for practices. This spring, Willoughby will graduate and plans to move to Calgary for work, and try out for the Inferno again next season.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell