The waiting game is almost over for Lauren Henderson.
It’s only a matter of days before for the St. Albert Ringette Association graduate wears the No. 9 Team Canada jersey at worlds in Finland.
The Presidents’ Trophy contenders practise on Christmas Day and the first game for the U21 national team is Dec. 27 in Helsinki.
“It’s been many months of hard work and training and now I’m at the point where you bring it all together and you just put it out on the ice, which is the fun part,” Henderson said. “I’m just really excited to be able to put all this hard work and training to the test and to be able to go out and do what I love most, which is play the game.”
The 22-player roster is comprised of athletes from Manitoba (four), Ontario (seven), Quebec (three), New Brunswick (two) and the Alberta reps are Robyn Gillespie of Sherwood Park, Annie Debaji of Edmonton, Kelsie Caine of Red Deer, Justine Exner and goalie Ellen Hoban of Calgary and Henderson.
Thirty-five players were invited to Ringette Canada’s selection camp in May and after the team was finalized training sessions were staged in July and November in preparation for worlds.
The players have also stayed sharp in the National Ringette League, a top-level 15-team circuit with four in the west and 11 in the east.
“We had only two camps so we play in the NRL to keep our level of play up,” said Henderson, a forward with the first-year Edmonton Black Gold Rush, which is basically a St. Albert-based team. “The last camp was Thanksgiving weekend. It was five days in Toronto where we just tried to perfect everything and make sure we were ready to go.”
Canada is up against the U20 Finland and Sweden teams and national teams from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden and United States.
Head coach Lorrie Horne is expected go with three line sets and two goalies for 17 players per game, one less than the maximum.
“From my understanding, Lorrie said that everybody was going to take turns not dressing. Obviously we’re building up towards the Finland game (on Jan. 1) so if she thinks if you’re the best one you’ll get the Finland game,” Henderson said. “My goal personally is to do what I do best and play my game and hopefully she will keep me up in the lineup for the duration of the tournament.
“I like to think that I’m very versatile so I’m hoping that she will be able to put me with a number of different players as the tournament goes through,” added the University of Alberta commerce student. “I also would like to think I’m determined enough to stick with it the whole way and to go right through the tournament playing hard and playing well. I don’t get down very easily either so I’m hoping she sees that.”
Henderson, 19, is an offensive threat every time she controls the ring.
“I enjoy the offence a lot so I like to stick with it,” said the first team all-star forward for the bronze-medal winning St. Albert Mission at the 2015 national U19AA championship in Fort McMurray. “I would like to dedicate all of my energy towards the offensive side of things and putting the ring into the net.”
The Team Alberta skater at the 2015 Canada Winter Games expects to play forward instead of centre at worlds.
“The centre has to be cognizant of getting back and defending that play a little more than the forwards. We’re very ring focused I guess you would say, even when were defending we’re going straight to the ring and we’re checking hard but it’s a little more orientated towards putting the ring into the net,” said the Mission’s leading point producer at nationals with 18 in nine games and her seventh goal was the winner in the bronze final.
In the NRL, Henderson is second in points on the Rush with 20 in 13 games and is tied for third in goals with eight for the third-place 5-6-2 western conference team.
“It’s been a really good season for us. Obviously building a new team you’re not expecting all these wins, you’re just trying to put forth a team that can really compete in the NRL because it’s the highest level of play,” said the Ecole Secondaire Saint Marguerite d’Youville alumna. “We continue to show resilience and grit in these tough games against these very experienced teams. We’re just going to continue to battle and practice and see if we can push these other teams to their limit.”
Last weekend the Rush travelled to play the fourth-place BC Thunder (4-10) and lost 7-4 in Aldergrove and in Langley won 5-2 and lost 4-3.
The results dropped the Rush into third place, two points behind the Calgary RATH (7-6), the fourth-place finishers at the 2015 nationals, and eight back of the Edmonton WAM! (9-1-2), the 2015 national bronze medallists.
The top two teams in the conference qualify for nationals and a playoff between the third and fourth teams will decide the last berth from the west for the April 3 to 9 championship in London, Ont.
“BC is a very talented team and we had some close games. We put up a good fight and showed our resilience yet again,” said Henderson, who scored once in each game for a four-point weekend. “We have to give credit to BC. They played some good games and we learnt some lessons that we won’t make again.
“Overall, it was a good weekend. It was a growing weekend for our team and we’ll continue to make the changes necessary to continue to grow and continue to be better.”
