Many hockey players have a unique skill in their arsenal, like a killer wrist shot or an accurate backhanded pass.
But for twins Deanna and Ashley Morin of the St. Albert Slash, their advantage on the ice just might be their “twintuition.”
“I like playing together because I think we play pretty good together,” says Deanna, who plays centre. “We usually know where each other is most of the time.”
Ashley, a winger, had another perspective on playing with a twin.
“You can tell her what not to do because you know she won’t get mad,” she grinned.
The Morin sisters are among the top-10 points leaders in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League. Deanna is in fourth spot with 18 points and sister Ashley sits at seventh with 14.
“I started off slow, but I’ve started to pick it up,” Ashley says. “I feel good.”
The sisters were the Slash goal scorers in the third period in Sunday’s 2-2 tie against the Grande Prairie Storm in St. Albert.
Hockey genes run in the Fort Saskatchewan duo’s family. The twins’ father, Grant Morin, was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1977 and was the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s MVP that season with the Fort Saskatchewan Traders. He also played with teams in the Western Canadian Hockey League (Medicine Hat), International Hockey League (Kalamazoo) and American Hockey League (Adirondack).
The Slash are currently the third-ranked team in the league’s north division with six wins, three losses and two ties. Ashley says the team is having a good year.
“As a team we had a slow start at the beginning, but we’re starting to win a lot more games and play as a team more,” she says.
Ashley predicts a strong finish for the Slash this season.
“I think we’re going to go far,” Ashley says. “Hopefully we’ll get into the Mac’s tournament. And I think if we can try to make it to nationals this year, we’ll have a good chance (at winning).”
Both Ashley and Deanna scored spots on Team Alberta at the National Women’s U18 Championship starting Wednesday in Dawson Creek, B.C. This isn’t the first trip to the competition for the sisters.
“We played last year as well,” Deanna says. “It was really good competition. It was tough tryouts, but good.”
Deanna didn’t assume she would be selected to Team Alberta this year just because she made the cut last season.
“I wasn’t expecting that, but I was happy,” she says. “It’s different every year and you’ve got to keep going, I guess.”
Alberta hasn’t earned a medal in the last six U18 championships and took seventh place last year. Deanna is hoping for a better finish this year.
“I’d love to go to a medal round,” she says. “That would be awesome.”
In addition to the U18 championship, the sisters have experience competing in one other national event – the Esso Cup.
“We hosted nationals my first year in midget here in St. Albert so that was another kind of national (competition) other than under 18,” Ashley says. “We didn’t medal, but it was still good.”
This is the twins’ third and final season with the Slash. The 17-year-olds have both signed on to play hockey with the University of Alberta Pandas next year, where they will be reunited with a couple of former Slash and U18 teammates as well as some opponents from the Edmonton Thunder.
“I’m really excited,” Ashley says. “It’s going to be a big change, but I’m excited.”
Both sisters, who have been playing hockey together since joining the sport in Grade 5, share the same goal when it comes to hockey – playing for Team Canada one day.
The Slash’s next game is today against the Highwood Raiders (2-3-6) at 4:45 p.m. at Northstar Hyundai Arena. On Sunday the Slash visit the Sherwood Park Fury (0-8-3) at 8:45 p.m.
