PROFILE
ALICIA PROCIUK
The Rookie
BY SCOTT TAYLOR Photos by Laurie Anderson and
James Carey Lauder
We’ ll have to wait a while to see if Alicia Prociuk wins the award as Manitoba Women’ s Junior Hockey League rookie of the year, but it would be quite surprising if she didn’ t.
Prociuk, is the 18-year-old leading scorer on Polar Ice, the first place team in the league. Polar Ice finished the MWJHL’ s season with a record of 18-6-0, eight points ahead of the second-place Western Predators. Prociuk, who joined Polar Ice right out of high school hockey last fall, finished the season with 10 goals and 25 points in 24 games. She was the fourth leading scorer in the league just behind veteran stars Hope Anderson of the Silvertips, Renee Stevenson of the Northern Stars and Whitney Scott of Prairie Blaze.
For the first-year University of Winnipeg student, the 2017-18 season has been a pleasant surprise.
“ Yeah, it’ s been a really good year,” said Prociuk.“ With so many high-level players in our league, I didn’ t think I’ d be this successful.
“ But our team is playing really well. That’ s a big part of it. I think it’ s because of our hard work and effort. The effort is really paying off. Even if we’ re having a bad game, I just make sure I keep working hard and give my all. I think we’ re like that as a team.” Prociuk has a very interesting hockey story. Shy as a youngster, she used hockey to meet new friends. It helped her gain confidence and become more involved
124 | GAME ON | PLAYOFF EDITION 2018