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BY DAVID LARKINS here should be no condo lences for Delaney Collins-Pye, there’s bigger and better things still on the hori zon. The fifth-year member of the University of Alberta Pandas women’s hockey team was denied a second-straight CIS national championship Sunday when the Laurier Golden Hawks shockingly ended the Pandas’ remarkable 110-game unbeaten streak in the national championship game in Montreal. While disappointed over the way her career at the U of A ended, Collins-Pye will likely have more things to cheer about in the near future as she takes her place on the Canadian under-22 national team’s blue line for the world women’s championship in April. The Canadian team will attempt to win its ninth-straight world title, two of which Collins-Pye has had the privilege of being a part of. “We're feeling really good about it,” she said Tuesday from Edmonton. “I really feel like I’ve got a lot of really good team mates and we'll pull together and have fun at this tournament and hopefully be successful.” Disheartened with Sunday’s stunning loss, Collins-Pye was able to put the loss into perspec tive, remembering instead this year’s Canada West conference title, the first-team all-Canadian selection and a national champi onship a year ago. “We're obviously very disap pointed with the loss but I think, for the most part, the girls see this experience in a positive way. “This is how I’m ending my career with the University of Alberta ... We won a national championship last year and this year we helped the team over the 100 (unbeaten games) mark, so there’s a lot of positives that I can take out of it.” Along with Collins-Pye, the Pandas lose all-Canadian Danielle Bourgeois and six other players, making the job of filling holes a difficult one. “Those are the kinds of play ers that come to your program and they don’t really come along very often,” Alberta head coach Howie Draper said. ‘Will we be able to fill her role? I doubt it. She’s an oustanding player on our power play and one of the main reasons our power play was about 35-to-40 per cent effi cient and she’s obviously out standing defensively. I don’t know if we’ll have a player that comes in a full package like that.” Now, the focus is on the world championship which gets started April 2 in Likoping, Sweden. Following that, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy are on the radar. “Tve refocused and am preparing for the world champi onship. Mentally, physically I’m just taking care of myself right now. ... I want to play well in this world championship because the Olympics are next year and that’s a big goal of mine. It’s something that I think about all the time and if I make it to that point, I'll re-evaluate where I’m at and consider whether or not I will continue to play.” Playing boys hockey in Pilot Mound growing up, Collins-Pye didn’t play female hockey until her Grade 9 year at esteemed Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask To come from small-town Manitoba and blossom into one of this country’s finest athletes with an enviable track record of accomplishments, Collins-Pye undoubtedly is a shining exam ple of the growth of women’s hockey in Canada “The game has grown expo nentially and women and girls can now play and not have to worry about how they compare to men because the game has its own identity,” she said. “Young girls have role models now and something to look forward to because it’s an Olympic sport.” Clarkins@brandonsun.com SUBMITTED PHO Delaney Collins-Pye has her focus on a world championship.
Newspaper Details
Brandon Sun
Brandon, Manitoba, CA
Wed, Mar 16, 2005
Page 20
Full Page
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Manitoba H.
CA 17 Aug 2026
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