Skating with the Devilettes
Out of My League with Jeff Reed
By Jeffrey Reed Special to Londoner
Posted 1 month ago
Like most Canadian parents, my father introduced me to skating shortly after I learned how to walk. But because I was born with club feet, the simple act of lacing up skates was painful. And when my father – with good intentions – pushed me onto the outdoor ice surface at Carling Arena, just a slapshot from our home on Elliot Street, within minutes I was slipping back into my boots and hobbling home.
I didn't recount this story for the London Junior Devilettes when they invited me earlier this month to take part in an intense, two-hour practice at the now indoor, two-pad Carling Arena. But I did tell the girls, ages 15 to 21, about how I sat out a few games after fighting in a church hockey league in the early 1980s. Assistant captains, 17-year-old forward/defenceman Cassidy Gosling, and 18-year-old forward Abbey McRae (whose father, Basil, is a Junior Devilettes assistant coach, and former NHLer and London Knights great), along with the rest of the team almost fell to the ice laughing. Thanks to that icebreaker, we would get along famously for the next few hours.
A big reason why I was able to evolve from a non-skater to a pretty good hockey player is I had a mentor in my high school buddy, Peter. He would spend hours with me skating on frozen Fanshawe Lake. Within a year, and despite my physical disabilities, I was playing regular pickup games with some top high school players.
The invitation from Junior Devilettes head coach Christina Jolliffe saw me scrambling to reintroduce myself to not only skating, but also putting on the gear. I hadn't skated in about five years, and had not played hockey in about 25 years – since the Devilettes were established in 1986. I will admit this now: before I drove to practice, I staged a dry run, putting on all of my equipment in my basement so I wouldn't embarrass myself in front of Jolliffe, Devilettes assistant coaches Earl Horton and Ariadne Jevnikar, and general manager Brian Gosling.
In total, the Devilettes association includes 780 players on 50 teams. The annual Devilettes tournament will attract 148 competitive and house league teams from across Canada and the U.S. during its 22nd running this February 10-12. The Junior Devilettes, competing in the Provincial Women's Hockey League Intermediate AA loop, consists of "our elite players," said Jolliffe, who starred with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. "I have players contact me from around the province in hopes of making our team."
In the early-1990s, I interviewed Devilettes goaltenders Casey Vanderpeer (Oakridge Oaks) and Jennifer Dewar (Laurier Rams), the first females to play on London high school boys' hockey teams. Times have changed. Most of the Junior Devilettes I spoke with, including goaltender Katie Jacobs, 17, forward Jessica Ross, 17, forward Clare Sabine, 16, defenceman Eliesha McDonald, 17, and the team's youngest player, 15-year-old defenceman Michaeline Falla, started their hockey careers by age 4.
By the time I wrestled on all of my gear, including an official Devilettes green and red sweater, the rest of the team had already finished their warmup skate. As I hit the ice, all eyes were on the rookie with the 5 o'clock shadow. As I skated a few laps, I overhead one of the Devilettes remark, "Oh look, he can skate!" I had to work hard to impress these girls, but in fact, skating was a piece of cake. However, I had not handled a puck since before these girls were born, so I struggled with stickhandling.
An army drill sergeant has nothing on Horton, a former Junior B player who drew much pleasure in yelling – in my direction – "Skate faster!" and "Keep your head up." During the second hour, I skated most of my drills with half of the team coached by Jevnikar, a former Guelph Gryphons and Western Mustangs varsity hockey player who never seemed to warm up to the idea I was practicing with her elite players. She tolerated me at best. And when I collided with McDonald during a breakaway drill, and sent the defenceman sprawling onto the ice, I thought both Horton and Jevnikar would send me to the penalty box. They didn't, but I did skate over to McDonald, tapped my stick on her shin pads and apologized. Even she was disgusted with me. "Get away. I'm tough!" she replied.
I must have seemed old as dirt to these girls, who told me they thought "it would be pretty funny" to see me on the ice. Many times, winded, I would stay at the back of the line so I could catch my breath before another shot at skating around pylons. Falla and Ross double teamed me with repeated chants of, "C'mon Jeff, you can do this! No backing out!"
Most of the practice saw me passing the puck, skating at full speed – and admittedly, resting on the bench – and shooting at Jacobs. At the end of practice, during a breakaway contest, the biggest roar of the night came when I deked to Jacobs's left, then fired a wrist shot into the upper right-hand corner. The entire team, lined up at centre ice, yelled and raised their sticks to salute the rookie.
The biggest surprise was the speed of these skaters, and their stickhandling ability. Yet according to Gosling, many male players still disrespect the Devilettes. "I think it still has a long way to go because the guys still joke around about how we can't get the puck off the ice. They think because there's no hitting in our league, that it's not aggressive, but it is," said Gosling. Case in point: the team's third assistant captain, 17-year-old Averi Nooren, was on the injured list with a broken collarbone.
Forty-five years ago, I left Carling Arena with my tail between my legs. After the Junior Devilettes practice, I left with my head held high, glanced towards the old family homestead, and drove home – exhausted, but smiling from ear to ear.