The Barrie Jr. Sharks are playoff bound for the first time in club history and they did so by winning a dramatic final regular-season game on home ice Tuesday night.
The Sharks will now head to the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) playoffs in Mississauga later this month. Win there and the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) is next.
After last night's game at the East Bayfield Community Centre, head coach Ed Mauro says the Sharks will be ready for the post-season.
“We’re excited and these girls are ready. There will be some tough competition, but we know what we’re capable of and I’d put this team against anyone," he said.
And while many strides have been made in women’s hockey, there's still work to be done, Mauro said.
“The PWHL is the women’s equivalent to the OHL. This is the most competitive form of junior hockey these girls will play,” he said. “I have three boys, I was a part of the boys hockey system for years, and I can easily say that they get everything where the girls don’t. Talking to radio people I know and they had no clue there was a junior girls team and league and we are going to change that.”
Win or lose, five veteran Sharks have played their final home game for the club and will look to write a storybook ending on their junior career.
Eighteen-year-olds Sierra Moreau and Carson Lean, as well as Macy Piche, Georgia Babcock and goalie Calli Hogarth, all of whom are 17, will all be heading off into different directions, with some not focusing on hockey after the PWHL playoffs.
After their 1-0 playoff clinching win against the Toronto Aeros (lone goal scored by forward Taylor Battaglia), we talked to the players who will move on about what lies ahead and what their Barrie career has meant to them.
Babcock, who plays defence, said she's graduating from high school in Orillia this year and will head off to university, but will likely hang up the skates after this season, which will make the final playoff whistle that much harder.
“I don’t think I’ll play after this. I think it will be time to move on and focus on school and life,” Babcock said. “It was a lot of fun to play for the Sharks; I’ve learned a lot and made a lot of friends. Even though this is likely my last year of high-level hockey, I am focused on the playoffs and winning the championship.”
Lean is originally from Fergus, but billeted in Barrie starting last year to be with the club. The forward, who will also be ending her hockey career after the playoffs, said it will be very difficult to do so.
“It's weird knowing I’m almost done playing hockey at an elite level. It's sad to think that 14 years of your life is over just like that,” she said. “I love hockey, but I really want to focus on grades and becoming a psychiatrist.”
Lean acknowledged the advancement of women’s hockey since she started playing and credited the Sharks for what they do for players.
“This is still a new team (the junior Sharks started in 2004) and the league is fairly new but is getting so many good teams who want to help grow the game,” she added. “The game is getting there and it has been exciting to watch over the last 14 years of playing.”
One of the players committed to continuing her hockey career is Piche, who left Kapuskasing in Grade 10 to play in Etobicoke before making the switch to the Sharks. The talented forward has committed to Adrian College in Michigan after she graduates from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School this year.
“After those four years of collegiate hockey I will be done with competitive hockey. I will still play on teams with friends, but that's likely it,” Piche said. “It will just be time to move on from the game and go forward with my life.”
Piche said she was told about the Sharks organization by former teammates and was glad she finished her junior career with the local club.
“I think they give us a lot of good opportunities and really care about what our plans are going to be after juniors,” Piche said. “The women’s game has grown so much and here in Barrie it just feels like that next level is already there, making us feel like the players we deserve to feel like.”
The current Sharks are the youngest team in the PWHL this season, which adds to the success story of making it to the playoffs.
Hogarth grew up in the Barrie hockey system and has been on the ice since she was five, wanting to do so when seeing her brother play the game.
“I basically lived at the rink, so it was just always a part of me. Playing at this level for the city I grew up in was unbelievable and I'm so happy to be ending my time here with a chance to win a championship,” said Hogarth.
The goaltender, who will be heading off to Merrimack College in Boston, said she hopes to continue playing hockey after that, “wherever I can.”
Right now, though, Hogarth is focused on the PWHL playoffs.
“Playing after college would be a lot of fun, but for now I can’t wait to get to the playoffs and do what we can to win a championship for this team and everyone who has supported us,” Hogarth said. “I know that so many people see boy’s hockey as being bigger, but to win a championship and maybe get more people to come out and watch the Sharks play in future games would be amazing.”
Moreau, who also plays defence, finished high school last year from St. Theresa’s in Midland and is weighing her university options before committing, but said she will continue to play post-secondary hockey.
“I was a call-up for the Sharks in 2019-20 and started obviously when we had a really crazy season because of COVID. It was one of the reasons I stayed back with the team this year; I wanted to get a somewhat normal season with my teammates,” she said.
Moreau played boys hockey for about 10 years before making the switch to the girls' game and said she's glad to see the progression being made, but also knows there is still work to do, at least according to her grandmother.
“I was talking to my grandma and she asked me why the Colts games get announced on the radio but never our Sharks games. I told her that was something our club was looking to change,” said Moreau. “Little things like that would make a difference. Having even a little bit of media coverage would go a long way.
"People driving to work in their cars listening to the radio hearing about a game we have coming up could really help girls hockey and girl players gain confidence in what they do," she added.
Mauro was proud of the team for the regular-season accomplishment and was also proud of the five players heading off after March.
“I don’t think it's hit them yet, that this is their last few moments with the club. In a few weeks when we clean out the locker room, I’m sure it will become real and get emotional for everyone,” he said.
The head coach was looking ahead to continue growing the women’s game and said it will take a community to further the women’s game and is hoping that sponsors will see the value in what the Sharks are doing
“These girls deserve everything the boys have. The games are just as exciting and they put all they can into every game day and practice. We don’t have an owner, they (the players and families) pay for everything,” Mauro said.
“We don’t get revenues from the building like the Colts do. We need sponsors and that's what we’re trying to get as we move forward to continue to build this club.”
The top 12 teams in the PWHL league play for the league title in the championship weekend in Mississauga on March 25-27. There will be three games on the Friday/Saturday, with the top four squads advancing to the semifinal and final on the Sunday.
The OWHA provincials are April 7-10 in the Greater Toronto Area.
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