By Mitchell Fox
With a hard-fought playoff loss still on their mind and many fresh faces on the squad, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s hockey team is looking to carve out a blue-collar identity for this year.
The team has a new look with flashy redesigned blue and gold jerseys, a new TMU mascot—Frankie the Falcon—and seven first-year players joining the roster.
Yet, the changes on the squad have not lowered the team’s intention of being competitive this season.
“I don’t think that anybody should take us lightly,” said Bold head coach Lisa Haley. “We’re a team that’s got some things to prove.”
Haley said the one thing the team expects of themselves every night is to be the hardest-working team on the ice. They understand how quickly they can be pressed against the wall in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) if they don’t work for their opportunities.
“It really is all hands pushing the bus,” the coach said. “It’s definitely going to take a community and I think we’re excited for that opportunity.”
That mentality is one the team will hope to harness in the blue-collar playing style they intend to embrace on the ice.
“We want to be a very aggressive, pressure-minded type of team [and] be ready for the physicality that comes along with it in the OUA,” she said.
Five of the Bold’s top eight scorers from the 2022–23 season have departed, including top scorers Erika Crouse, Olivia Giardetti and Dani Fox, as well as last year’s captain Madison Lalonde. This year, new players will look to move up the lineup and fill those roles, on and off the ice.
“I don’t think that anybody should take us lightly”
Defender Tori Butler is the lone fifth-year player on the team, making her an effective leader as a consistent defender and experienced locker-room presence.
She said there is a big opportunity for somebody to step up into goal-scoring roles in particular.
“Someone just has to take that role [and] I’m excited to see who it is,” said the North Saanich, B.C. product.
In the pre-season, first-year forwards Neely Van Volsen and Kayla Kondo helped the Bold fill the offensive gap left by the graduated players. Kondo especially was able to produce, as in TMU’s final exhibition game she potted two goals alongside another in the shootout.
“We’re seeing here already that some of our first-year forwards are able to beef up the offence,” Haley said.
However, outside of Van Volsen and Kondo, the Bold have at least two returning candidates for that job.
Fourth-year forward Emily Baxter and third-year defender Megan Breen are the highest-scoring returning players, with 13 points each in 2022-23. Breen’s clutch ability stands out with three game-winning goals last year, while Baxter is a dynamic offensive player looking to succeed despite the departure of linemates Crouse and Brooklyn Gemmill.
Haley said it has been fun to see Baxter show up this season with a lot of ambition, which has played a part in her earning this year’s team captain badge.
“[Baxter has] come into this season with a really cool focus and very determined to make sure that this team is just as successful as past teams,” she said of the fourth-year Oakville product.
Though it’s early in the season, Baxter has elevated her game through training camp and pre-season. In their opening matchup against the Nipissing Lakers on Oct. 14, Baxter netted the Bold’s only marker in a 4-1 defeat.
“I think she’ll definitely be one of our top players,” Butler added.
With the whole squad looking to take on bigger roles, Butler said being young does not mean the team cannot be good.
“We might not be the most skilled or oldest, [most] experienced team, but we’re gonna have our work ethic there,” she said. “Hopefully, with that, we’ll win a lot of games.”
Haley said every team enters the season intending to win a championship but the Bold also expect to build chemistry as the season goes along. With 15 players recruited in the last two off-seasons, they have a young team likely to stay together for multiple seasons.
“It might take us a little bit of time to come together on the ice and in our systems. But I think there’s a huge potential for this program this year and next,” Haley said.
Haley said getting to where the team wants to be is all about process and committing to the way they know they need to play.
“There’s been a standard established in this program by some of the great leadership that’s recently moved on,” she added. “We want to measure up to that standard.”
Sophomore defenders Ahalya Julien-Medeiros, Lauren McEachen and Jess Pollard are primed to fit larger shoes this season. The Bold will also turn to the young goaltending trio of second-years Lauren Griffin and Alexia Stratos, as well as first-year Shannon Harris to backstop them on their journey this year.
“I don’t think there’s any fear factor”
On defence, only Claire Banks graduated, leaving a strong core to lead the squad from their own zone. Haley said there is a lot of skill on the Bold blue line that can kickstart the offence from the rush, which was evident during the team’s preseason tournament in Montreal.
“I think our [defence] will carry us in many ways on both sides of the puck, to be honest,” the Bold coach said, pointing to Breen and Julien-Medeiros as players who could build off strong seasons.
In 2022-23, the Bold finished 10–13–4 in the regular season, good for the last playoff spot in the OUA East. The result was a tough matchup with the eventual McCaw Cup champion University of Toronto Varsity Blues, who were dominant all season.
Though they were one of five teams eliminated on the Bold’s darkest day, as Haley previously told The Eyeopener, the squad made it difficult to tell which team was ranked second in the country.
Butler said it felt like the team outplayed the Varsity Blues in both games but pucks did not bounce their way.
“This year, our chances will hopefully be better. And we’ll show them that we do have [what it takes],” she added.
Haley said she thinks the team played their best hockey of the year in that playoff series. This year, though they have “a ton of respect” for the Varsity Blues, the squad knows there is a way to win every hockey game.
“I don’t think there’s any fear factor there,” Haley said. “Whether you’re facing a team that’s a perennial national contender or a team that’s trying to get into the playoffs, there’s always ways to a victory.”
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