Game On Magazine 2017 March 2018 | Page 134

Bianca Zak GoalieÉ MOUNT ALLISON “B had to overcome a pretty major setback last year when her former team folded and she took on a red-shirt position with our team,” said Balmoral Hall’s head coach and director of hockey Sarah Zacharias. “This meant not playing a single game for her Grade 11 season. But Bianca never once quivered in her positive attitude and work ethic and then stepped into her Grade 12 year with force. She won goaltender of the week for the JWHL, was on the JWHL All Star team, and, in my opinion, could be on track to win more awards at the end of season banquet in Detroit.” Zak started playing hockey in Stonewall when she was five. And she started for quite a popular reason. “I started playing because I have three older brothers and they all played hockey and I was at the rink every single day, so I thought I might as well play,” she said with a smile. “I was a skater until I was 10 and then switched to goaltending. “When I was little, I always wanted SHYIAK STARTED SKATING AT AGE FOUR 1 3 4 | G AME ON | PL AYOFF ED ITION 2018 ZAK STARTED PLAYING HOCKEY WHEN SHE WAS FIVE to be a goalie and my parents said, ‘No way.’ But I wanted to be a goalie because every time my brothers had their friends over, they needed a goalie. So I was like seven, and they’d say, ‘B, you’re going in net here,’ and they’d just rip shots at me. And then I’d be the goalie for them when they played street hockey and that’s why I wanted to be a goalie.” In Grade 9, Zak played for the now- defunct Shaftesbury girls prep team until the team folded in her Grade 10 year. So then she moved to BH. “When I got here, the roster was full so I had a red-shirt year and I just concentrated on my schooling,” said Zak, who will also play for Dale Bear’s provincial aboriginal team this spring. “I loved it, so I stayed, and I’m on the team this year. I really like it here especially with the schooling. It’s a big workload so it’s getting me ready for university. “I committed to Mount Allison University and on my visit, I really liked it. It’s in a really small town and everything is based on the university so it just felt like home. Everyone knows everyone and it was a really good atmosphere. It will be a big step from high school and I want to go into medicine in the future, but right now, I’m just going to keep all my options open. Sidney Shyiak ForwardÕ UNIVERSITY OF REGINA “Sid the Kid has been my favourite player to watch develop this season,” said Coach Zacharias. “She has a work ethic- both in the gym and on the ice that is tough to match. This season, not only has Sid been one of our most improved players, her confidence in her play has come along with it.” Shyiak started skating at age four and then played ringette in Portage la Prairie. “When my family moved to Yorkton, I took up hockey because they didn’t have ringette,” she said. “I was born in Winnipeg, lived in Portage for a few years and then we moved to Yorkton so I was five or six when I started playing hockey. I moved back to Winnipeg in Grade 11 and came straight to BH. The BH program is unbelievable. It taught me a lot, for sure. I love it. I try to do well in school. “So I chose (to commit to) Regina because it was like going home.”