Tradition Never Graduates is the motto for the Slash Alumni Event.
The second annual reunion of past and present midget AAA female Slash players, sponsored by the 2011 Esso Cup Legacy Fund, was staged Monday afternoon at Go Auto Arena.
“It’s a really cool event,” said Matana Skoye, an alumni forward. “It’s really nice to see all of our friends come back from school and get together and play a fun game around Christmas. It’s a good tradition to start.”
The 2014 game featured players spanning the inaugural 2004/05 Slash to last season’s roster.
“It was very exciting because something like this had never happened,” Skoye said. “My older sister (Jayden, a forward), my younger sister (Kyrelle) and I played so it was really great to have get us all together like that.”
Kyrelle, 17, also gave the event her stamp of approval.
“It’s great. Last year I was on one of my sister’s team and the other was on the other team so it was pretty fun playing against each other and playing with one of my sisters too,” said the Slash assistant captain. “The girls that played with Jayden and Matana, I had always watched them play since I was a kid and to be on the ice with them was pretty cool.”
Matana, 22, credits the Slash sisterhood fraternity for being the person she is today
“Playing on a team like the Slash really fosters characteristics like discipline and determination and passion and teamwork, all the characteristics you need in life, in jobs, in school and in post secondary. It definitely is a great program for girls to really develop those skills.”
Kyrelle’s sisters were her role models in hockey while following their paths to the Slash.
“I’ve always watched them and I always wanted to play for the Slash just like them so it was like a dream come true when it happened. To be on this team is awesome,” Kyrelle said. “Jayden was captain in her third year I believe and it was just her leadership and how much effort she put in that I really admired. It was the same with Matana. They really wanted to go to the next level of hockey. They both played at GMAC (MacEwan Griffins) and that’s what I want to do. I want to go play university hockey.”
Matana used Jayden as her guiding light while progressing up the hockey ranks.
“When I played she was the captain and I was able to play on her line and I definitely looked up to her. I continued playing with her at Grant MacEwan but I learned a lot from her playing on this team with her,” Matana said of Jayden, 24, who eventually went on to play for the Alberta Pandas and is the top scorer on the Panda Alumni in the Northern Alberta Female Hockey Association with 42 points in 13 games.
Matana currently skates for the Fort Saskatchewan Fury in the Alberta Junior Female Hockey League and in 13 games has eight goals and 14 points. Her teammates include another sister, Talyn, and several Slash gradates who participated in the alumni game.
Matana summed up her three-year Slash career as “a life changing event.”
“It was amazing. We won the (2009) Mac’s tournament. We hosted the (2011) Esso Cup. We travelled to Boston (for a tournament). This is where I made all of my closest friends.”
Matana listed a couple of Slash highlights that will last a lifetime.
“The game I will always remember is the semifinals the year we won the Mac’s tournament. We beat Edmonton for the first time that year. I believe it was 5-3 that game. The final was also an exciting game but it was that semifinal that really stands out for me,” she explained. “The Esso Cup (national championship) was amazing. This entire (Go Auto) rink was just lit up. It was very exciting. We didn’t get the result we wanted but it was amazing to host it and play against teams from across the country.”
Next year Kyrelle will join her sisters on the alumni team as the third-year defenceman wraps up her Slash career.
“It’s sad in some ways that it’s my last year but I’m going to make it a good year,” said the Grade 12 Paul Kane High School student. “Hopefully I will go on to university and continue my dream of playing hockey.”
Kyrelle’s main focus right now is the Mac’s midget AAA tournament in Calgary during the Christmas break. The Slash are among six Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League teams in the 15-team female division.
“The Mac’s is pretty big for us. We’re all pretty excited. It’s very good to get seen by scouts and get known so it’s pretty nice to go this year.”
The Slash (6-10-5) skate into the Mac’s ranked sixth in the nine-team AMMFHL standings.
“At the beginning we weren’t doing so well but we’ve stepped it up now so we feel we can do well at the Mac’s,” said Kyrelle, who has six points – all goals – in 21 games this season.
