Lancers giving full attention to high school success

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This article was published 30/11/2011 (5154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a league loaded with players pulling double duty, the Dakota Lancers are different.

Only one member of the Winnipeg Women’s High School Hockey League team is also playing at the AA level this season — a number far lower than most of the other teams in the league.

But before you assume it’s because of some sort of lack of ability, check the standings. The Lancers are off to a 7-1-1 start, and sit atop the league’s A Division.

Michelle Anderson, a Grade 11 centre who shares the team scoring lead at 14 points with Natasha Esquivel, would have no trouble playing AA, AAA or any level she wanted, according to head coach Brad Johnston.

But the allure of playing with her friends, in a group that emphasizes team success over individual stats, was more than she could pass up.

“I had a friend who played on the team last year that said Dakota was a lot more enjoyable,” said Anderson, a St. Vital resident who joined the team after the season began last winter. “All the girls on the team are absolutely incredible. We all get along; we never fight. You want to go to practice. You’re never dreading the fact that there’s a practice or a game.”

With only three Grade 12 players on the roster, the Lancers are built not only to compete for a championship this year, but for the foreseeable future. Johnston believes one of the team’s greatest strengths is its balance.

“We get scoring from three solid lines, and we’ve got six solid defencemen,” he said. “We have no weak spots. We just try to work hard every night and compete. When we do that we usually come out on top. When we don’t work, we don’t get the results we want.”

Anderson said the coaching staff’s reluctance to assign defined roles to each player is a breath of fresh air. When a power play or penalty kill comes up, the coaches just send out whoever was supposed to be on the ice next.

“For me that’s different,” said Anderson, who along with goalie Taylor Morriseau was on the WWHSHL’s elite team last season, playing in tournaments against top-level competition in the U.S.

“All the other teams I’ve played for have had line one, line two and line three. For this team, we don’t really have lines. Whoever looks like they’re working hardest that day can start the next period.”

Johnston figures at least three more skaters and Morriseau’s cohort, Kelsey Bowerman, will contend for spots on the elite team this season. Although he didn’t have a concrete goal in mind to start the year, the coach has seen enough encouraging signs to challenge his players to earn a spot in the WWHSHL final.

To get there, Anderson and her teammates will be counting on continued support from their Dakota community.

“There’s a great atmosphere here,” she said. “At Dakota, we take sports 100% seriously. Our coaches and teachers and fellow students support us like crazy.”

avi.saper@canstarnews.com