The Valley West Hawks will have a female player in their lineup this weekend against the South Island Royals. Head coach Jessie Leung confirmed Amy Potomak, 17, of Aldergrove will play as an affiliate player in the two games. The two teams play at 9 p.m. in New Westminster's Queen's Park Arena tonight (Saturday) and against Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in the Langley Events Centre.
“She can play at this level,” said Leung, who also allowed Canadian national women’s team veteran Meghan Agosta to practice with the Hawks in the past.
Potomak, a forward and a Langley native, currently plays for the Pacific Steelers of the Junior Women’s Hockey League and will play for Canada in a two-game series against the United States later this month.
She will become the third female to play in the Major Midget League, following defender Kaleigh Fratkin (currently with the New York Riveters of the National Women’s Hockey League) and goaltender Kimberley Newell.
Hawks overlooked for Mac’s Tournament
For the first time in several seasons, the Hawks weren’t selected to participate in the Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament in Calgary over the holiday break.
The tournament, which accepts the best teams from across Western Canada each season, had an unusually high number of European teams enter this year’s event and opted to select four teams from B.C. instead of the usual five.
A five-game losing streak earlier in the season briefly dropped the Hawks out of the top four at the same time as the cutoff for selection to the Mac’s.
“It’s always nice to go, but it’s a signpost, not the destination,” said Leung. “We’ll take the holidays off, and we’ll refuel and refocus.”