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
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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.”