>ÀV ÊÓ䣣ÊÊUÊÊ6ÕiÊ{]Ê ÕLiÀÊÎ "iÊ}>ÊLi `Ê>ÞiÞÊ7Vi iÃiÀ\ ,>iÊ7} ÌÊÕÃÌÊà ÀÌÊvÊ >>`>Ê7iÃÌÊ}>ÊÌÌi BY BRIAN RODGERS Unfortunately, Wight wasn’t Among some of her peers, Ri- able to carry her personal best anne Wight has been nicknamed season into the post-season, as the the Wawota pond hockey cham- Cougars fell several points short of pion. a playoff spot. This is quite a compliment, con- Still, Wight’s breakout season sidering her peers make up the has already put her into elite com- University of Regina Cougars’ wo- pany. Wight’s 16 goals is the fourth mens’ hockey team. highest single-season tally in Cou- “She has tremendous hands, gars history. Who should occupy she’s very tricky with the puck and the top three spots? Why, none she would definitely excel in pond other than Brandy West, Wight’s hockey,” Cougars head coach Sar- childhood hero. ah Hodges jokes. But what was it actually like be- Nicknames aside, Wight is tak- ing on the ice with Hayley Wick- ing all of the skills she picked enheiser—another one of Wight’s up on those frozen ponds in her early influences, and perhaps the hometown, and is making a name biggest name in Canadian wom- for herself at the university hockey en’s hockey history? level. “I thought she’d be more classy This past season, Wight led the on the ice,” Wight says frankly. Cougars in goals. Even more im- “She’s a different player than pressive is the fact that, of every you’d expect. She likes to talk; she four goals the Cougars scored, likes to get into people’s heads . Wight was responsible for at least . obviously she’s going to be the one. best player in our league—she Her 16 goals placed her in sev- knows it, and she kind of beaks enth place among all Canadian In- other people about it.” teruniversity Sport (CIS) players, “Wickenheiser definitely trash and were the second most of any talks a bit,” adds Hodges. “She’s a player in the CIS’s Canada West competitive person.” division. Not bad, considering the Robert Weitzel/Sportshoooter.ca “I really wanted Rianne to beat only western player to score more Wawota’s Rianne Wight in action with the University of Regina Cougars her,” the coach says, referring times than Wight was Canadian to the race to the top of the goal hockey legend Hayley Wicken- standings. “I didn’t say anything heiser. And, the superstar only Growing up in Wawota, Wight able to play strictly female hockey. only missed two games all sea- to Rianne on the last weekend of topped Wight by one goal. was the lone female hockey player She spent her first year playing in son—so I wanted to stay close to the season, because I thought she In fact, when Wickenheiser and of her age. Despite this, she spent a Melville, and then moved to Wey- home.” might put too much pressure on the University of Calgary Dinos great deal of time honing her skills burn, where she spent two years The decision appears to have herself, but unfortunately in the visited Regina to open the season, on any ice surface she could find. playing with the midget AAA been a good one. end she was just one goal off.” Wight stole the show. Coming up through minor hock- Weyburn Gold Wings. In her three years as a Cougar “At the end of day, it’s not that With most of the attention being ey, due to a lack of female players Wight led the Gold Wings in so far, Wight’s game has been im- important, but it would have been placed on Wickenheiser, who was in the area, Wight was forced to points in each of her two seasons proving constantly. By the end of nice for her; a feather in her cap. It playing in her first ever CIS game, play on the Wawota boys’ team. with the club. In her final year her first season, she had already just wasn’t meant to be.” the Cougars’ left winger scored Although playing on a boys’ team of midget, her 37 regular season made a splash, finishing with 10 Now that it’s the off-season, four out of her team’s five goals in gave her an opportunity to play points were the sixth highest of points and being named the Uni- Wight can focus on another one of the two-game series. Wickenheiser, the game, Wight always felt like any player in the league. versity of Regina Athletics’ Female her lifelong interests, nursing. on the other hand, also scored four she just didn’t quite fit in. That year, Wight was also cho- Rookie of the Year. Wight is currently in her first points, but could only muster up “It was difficult at times, because sen as a member of Team Saskatch- Wight rode that momentum year as a nursing student at SIAST two goals. I was the only girl, so I didn’t get ewan at the Canada Winter Games, through her second year, and fin- in Regina. She expects the school “I outshot [Wickenheiser] in to dress with the team, and I didn’t and at the National Women’s Un- ished the season with 17 points, workload to get heavier as she both of those games too, and that feel so much a part of the team. der-18 Championship. tied for the team best. heads into her program’s second was probably the highlight of my But, the hockey was definitely fast- With her midget career com- Heading into the 2010-11 season, year, but she’s still going to try her season,” Wight says. “When play- er and I think it was good for me to ing to a close, the Cougars offered the 20-year-old made it her mission best to make time for the Cougars ing against her, you know you play with the boys for as long as I Wight a scholarship to the Univer- to be the Cougars’ go-to player on next season. have to step your game up, so I did,” she says. sity of Regina. offence. “I usually kind of work around think it was mostly the adrenaline During her peewee and bantam Up until then, Wight had been “It was a goal of mine to be up in hockey,” she says. “If I have to that got me going . the level of seasons, Wight began making the weighing her options; she could the points this year,” Wight says. choose between school or hockey, excitement in our room was just 75 km trip east to Elkhorn, where continue playing in Saskatchewan “Since we don’t really have very I’ll go to hockey.” unreal.” she was able to play girls’ hockey. or try to pursue the game at a col- many goal-scorers on the team, I And, as for what she hopes to Perhaps it was a bit of a “full All the while, she continued to lege in the States. was thinking that would be a role bring to the table for next season, circle” moment for Wight, who, play with the Wawota boys’ team. However, when the scholarship I was going to have to step up Wight says there’s always work to like most Canadian hockey fans of Pulling double duty between offer came, the decision was easy. into.” be done. her era, grew up watching Wick- the two leagues kept the young- “When I was younger I always And that’s exactly what she did. “I usually set a goal at the start enheiser play for Team Canada. ster busy. Wight recalls playing wanted to be on the Cougars. I re- Wight scored six more goals than of every season for what I want “I looked up to her for sure. I re- multiple games a day; playing in member as a kid I used to look up the next closest Cougar, former to achieve, but I haven’t really member playing out on the pond Elkhorn in the afternoon and then to Brandy West,” she says of the Weyburn Gold Wings teammate thought about it yet. There are with the boys —they’d be Joe Sak- racing back to Wawota to play with former Cougars superstar. Paige Wheeler, and finished the definitely things I want to improve ic, and I’d always be Hayley Wick- the boys’ team at night. “My parents are also really in- season just one point shy of Wheel- on—there are lots of them,” she enheiser,” she recalls with a laugh. By midget, Wight was finally volved in my hockey—they’ve er for the overall team lead. laughs. CREASY HOT TUBS, BILLIARDS & PIANOS Õ}iÊiÌâ>ÊÀ>`Ê*>Ê->i 5' to 7' Grands available iÛiÀÞÊEÊÃiÌÕ« / ÕÃ>`ÃÊvÊ`>ÀÃÊÊÃ>Û}ÃtÊ } i`ʵÕ>ÌÞÊ ÜÌ Ê}Ài>ÌÊ«ÀV}Ê>`Ê ÜÌ ÊiÛiÀÞÊ / iÊLiÃÌÊÛ>ÕiÊÊÌ iÊ`ÕÃÌÀÞt ÃiV`ÊÌÊiÊÃiÀÛVit iÌâ>Ê«> 1Ãi`ÊÀ>`ÃÊÃÌ>ÀÌ}Ê>ÌÊfÎ]ää ÛÃÌÊÜÜÜ° â«>°VÊvÀÊÀiÊvÀ>Ì » 2500 Park Ave, Brandon, MB. Toll Free: 1-877-241-9580 Phone: 204-729-8827 After Hours: 204-728-0731 www.creasys.ca « 2 Plain and Valley March 2011 NEW 2011 VEHICLES IN STOCK! 2011 Chev Colorado Ext. Cab. 4x4 2011 Chev 2500 Ext. 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