PROFILE
ALEX ANDERSON
A FORCE
BY CARTER BROOKS Photos by Jeff Miller
The University of Manitoba Bisons women’ s hockey team is a force to be reckoned with. If sitting alone atop the CIS standings isn’ t good enough, imagine doing so without the services of the team’ s most experienced player, forward Venla Hovi – who left the Bisons to attend the 2018 Olympic Games with Team Finland in Pyeonchang, Korea this past February.
In boasting a 21-5-1 record with a win percentage of. 778, the University of Manitoba women’ s program has clinched the Canada West regular season champion title. The Herd are currently in the midst of their secondlongest winning streak of the season, at eight games. Yes, you read that correctly. The
Bisons have already won nine straight games this season, dating back from Oct. 21 through Nov. 25, 2017.
With 14 Bison players in their fourth or fifth seasons with the program, the 2017-18 squad is an older, more mature group of dedicated young women. Leading the way on the back-end is fourth-year defenseman Alex Anderson.
The former member of the West Kildonan Collegiate Wolverines and Winnipeg Avros, Anderson had herself a tremendous 2016-17 season statistically, and has carried her offensive prowess forward this year.
“ Playing an offensiveminded game all the time definitely has its benefits, but
it also can come with some drawbacks too,” the 21-yearold defenceman said candidly.“ I like to have my head up and make passes if I see them there; I like to battle a lot, and I feel like I’ m an aggressive player, which also has some benefits. Playing physically and with the offence-first mentality I can pick up points, but that sometimes leads to bad pinches or turnovers, so that’ s something I have been working on this year.”
She didn’ t start playing hockey until the age of nine and yet Anderson has since been selected to play on the Canada West All-Star Team, the U-Sports All- Star Team, and has skated at Team Canada’ s 2017 Summer Showcase Camp
128 | GAME ON | PLAYOFF EDITION 2018