Four ‘Tobans on axed UND hockey team

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THE University of North Dakota is eliminating its women’s hockey program — and many female players, including some from Manitoba, are paying the consequences.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2017 (3124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE University of North Dakota is eliminating its women’s hockey program — and many female players, including some from Manitoba, are paying the consequences.

UND will eliminate its women’s hockey program and its men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs at the end of the 2016-17 academic year. University administrators held a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Grand Forks, N.D., however, news of the demise of the programs leaked out on social media earlier in the day.

The UND women’s hockey team has been around since 2002.

The UND women's hockey team has been around since 2002. (UND Media Relations / File)
The UND women's hockey team has been around since 2002. (UND Media Relations / File)

Four Manitobans — blue-liner Halli Krzyzaniak, forward Ryleigh Houston and goalies Kristen Campbell and Annie Chipman — are on the UND Fighting Hawks’ 2016-17 roster, although the season ended earlier this month.

Krzyzaniak, a Neepawa product currently set to play for Team Canada at the 2017 IIHF women’s world hockey championship in Plymouth, Mich., and Chipman, the daughter of Winnipeg Jets co-owner Mark Chipman, graduate this spring and are finished their UND hockey careers.

Campbell, originally from Brandon, and Houston, a Winnipegger, would have returned to play for UND in the fall. As well, Ashton Bell of Deloraine committed to join the Fighting Hawks program this fall, while Hailey Karbonik, who is in Grade 11 at St. Mary’s Academy, had committed for the 2018-19 school year.

Reached by phone, Teresa Bell said the news caught her 17-year-old daughter Ashton — a high-scoring forward for the Westman Wildcats midget squad — and the rest of the family completely off guard.

“We found out much like all the other players and staff — on Twitter,” she said. “It’s very much a shock. We haven’t thought that far ahead, yet. It’s a hurdle she’s going to have to get over.”

The Wildcats of the Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League compete this weekend in the western regional playdowns in Prince Albert, Sask.

“That’s her focus right now,” Teresa said.

Members of the Fighting Hawks coaching staff, who were blindsided by UND’s decision, too, reached out to the Bells late in the day.

“Really, it’s very unclassy the way (the college) handled things,” said Teresa. “Now, the coaches have to clean up the mess. They know we put our trust in their program, so they are trying to do the best they can. They feel badly.”

The cuts are part of a school-wide effort to trim budgets — reportedly by as much as US$1.3 million — because of an anticipated drop in state funding.

UND president Mark Kennedy said the cuts were difficult to make.

“This is a painful step to take for all parties involved, including me, but it is necessary given today’s budget realities. My heart goes out to all those who are disrupted by this change,” he said, at a news conference. “We are proud of the way they have represented UND.”

Krzyzaniak couldn’t be reached for comment, but she tweeted a message late Wednesday afternoon: “The past four years, I wore my UND jersey with pride. I gave blood, sweat and tears, and countless hours of time to the university and I was happy to do it because I believed it was an honour & that it would leave a legacy. But I have never been more disappointed than I am today.

“Shame on you UND,” she went on to say. “It was extremely disrespectful for you as an institution to not notify the players and coaching staff before notifying others, to let them find out through Twitter without having the decency to sit them down first, and to call the league and tell them there won’t be a team next year before telling the team itself. The way you handled the situation was embarrassing & I am no longer proud to be part of UND.”

The news came as a shock to Gerry Wilson, hockey coach at Winnipeg’s Balmoral Hall School — Houston’s alma mater.

“It’s so unfortunate and very sad,” said Wilson. “Many female players in Manitoba aspire to play for UND, although they don’t all end up going there. When they’re younger, they play tournaments in Grand Forks and they play (at the Ralph Engelstad Arena) and tour all the facilities.

“I think a lot of dreams have been dashed, and there’s a bit of a reset now as to where kids in Manitoba will go for their NCAA careers.”

Wilson said he fielded calls and texts from NCAA coaches inquiring about Houston.

“She’s a free agent,” he said. “They know about her hockey skills but they’re checking on her character, those intangibles. She’s going to play somewhere. A lot of teams will want to scoop her up.”

UND had one player in the 2006 Olympic Games, three in the 2010 Games and eight in 2014. The program, which has female players from the U.S., Canada, Finland and Hungary, might have had as many as 10 at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell

— with files from the Grand Forks Herald

History

Updated on Wednesday, March 29, 2017 10:11 PM CDT: Full write through

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