Dynamo from Deloraine having brilliant season

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This article was published 03/04/2021 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ashton Bell is in the midst of the finest season of her hockey career and it’s not over yet.

Last month, the 21-year-old blue-liner from Deloraine earned All-American honours for the first time while captaining the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs all the way to the NCAA’s Women’s Frozen Four semifinals before losing in overtime to Northeastern.

Now, she’s planning to defy the odds by earning a spot on the roster of Canada’s veteran laden national team to play at the world championship next month.

Bell is one of 47 players invited to training camp in Halifax, which is scheduled for April 15-23. The worlds will be held in Halifax and Truro, N.S., May 6-16.

Younger players right out of college are usually hard pressed to make Team Canada.

“There’s so many great players here and yes it’s a tough to get in there but I feel I’ll just go in and giving it my best every day,” said Bell from Deloraine where she began a two-week quarantine period Friday. “That’s all I can really ask for at the end of the day — just knowing I did everything I could.”

Bulldogs head coach Maura Crowell said Bell has all the tools to earn a spot on the worlds team and the national team that will compete at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

“I think she did just about everything she could have done in her college season,” said Crowell. “She had a fantastic year, won just about every award except for the Patty Katzmaier (Memorial) Award. She was an USCHO first all-American, AHCA second team all-American, so that means she’s the top defenceman in the country, one or two, depending on who you ask.

“She did everything she could from a college standpoint and I think that college players actually going into these events have some advantages just from playing somewhat normal season, being in the weight room, with our strength coaches and practising on a daily basis.”

Bell will be off ice until she arrives in Halifax but she will be able to use the home gym on the family farm near Deloraine. The layoff isn’t a big concern for her. She skated one last time in Duluth before driving home Thursday.

“Leading up to that I was still working out and skating every day with our assistant coach Laura Bellamy, just stay on the ice to hopefully prepare for the worlds coming up and the camp that we’re going to be attending soon,” said Bell.

“Most of college kids are going in cold and they obviously know that we haven’t skated to two weeks. I’ve been skating a lot this year and play lots of games so I think that will be an advantage for me.”

Crowell said Bell will excel when it comes to the fitness testing at the start of training camp. Being right-handed and an explosive offensive force should also serve her well.

“Her game is so dynamic,” said Crowell. “She’s not just a shutdown defensive defenceman. Her skating is off the charts and her offensive ability really makes her a unique defenceman. So that’s what it’ll come down to for the coaches putting the team together — what kind of defensive corps are they looking at? Are they in need of an offensive defenceman?”

Bell, who served as captain of Team Canada’s under-18 and developmental teams in past years, is familiar with many of the veteran on the squad including fellow Manitoban and UMD alum Jocelyn Laroque. Laroque, 32, is a two-time Olympian with a gleaming hockey resume.

“I met her at camp for the first time last September and then she’s actually reached out quite a bit this year — congratulating me on the awards I’ve won and on our season,” said Bell. “That was really nice of her. I definitely look up to her as a role model.”

If Bell does not centralize with Team Canada prior to the Olympics, she will return to UMD for her fifth season. Due to the pandemic, the NCAA granted all athletes an extra year of eligibility.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14