Ukrainian girls’ team finds hockey haven in Calgary at Hayley Wickenheiser’s annual festival

A Ukrainian girls’ hockey squad is successful Canada for a fewer days of bid and hockey successful an arena that doesn’t person a missile-sized spread successful its roof.

After a 56 hours of question to Calgary, including a 24-hour autobus thrust from Dnipro to Warsaw, Poland, that required service escort for a information of it, the Ukrainian Wings volition articulation Wickfest, Hayley Wickenheiser’s yearly girls’ hockey festival, connected Thursday.

The squad of players aged 11 to 13 was drawn from 8 antithetic cities successful Ukraine, wherever athletics facilities person been damaged oregon destroyed since Russia started its penetration successful February 2022.

“They each person a idiosyncratic communicative of thing atrocious happening,” said Wickenheiser. “We springiness them a week of bid and joyousness present and I anticipation they tin transportation that with them.

Nine players are from Kharkiv, wherever pictures amusement a ample spread successful the extortion of the Saltovskiy Led arena wherever the girls’ squad WHC Panthers erstwhile skated.

“It was our location crystal arena, and we played each our nationalist squad championships successful this crystal arena,” said Kateryna Seredenko, who oversees the Panthers programme and is the Wings wide manager.

Ukraine’s Olympic Committee posted photos and wrote successful a Facebook station Sept. 1 that Kharkiv’s Sport Palace, which was location to aggregate hockey teams, was besides destroyed successful an onslaught connected the city.

Seredenko says the Wings’ arduous travel to Calgary was worthy it due to the fact that it gives the girls hope.

“It’s not a bully concern successful Ukraine, but erstwhile they travel here, they tin judge that everything volition beryllium good, everything volition beryllium fine, of people we volition triumph soon and we indispensable play hockey. We can’t halt due to the fact that we emotion these girls and we volition bash everything for them,” she said.

“So galore girls connected this Ukrainian squad are aboriginal players of the nationalist team.”

Wickenheiser, a Hockey Hall of Famer, is the adjunct wide manager of subordinate improvement for the Toronto Maple Leafs and a doc who works emergency-room shifts successful the Toronto area.

The six-time Olympian and four-time golden medallist organized her archetypal Wickfest aft the 2010 Winter Games successful Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

She’s had teams from India, Mexico and Czechia be implicit the past decennary and a half, but ne'er a squad that ran the Ukrainians’ gauntlet of logistics.

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The Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health took connected the task of arranging visas and paying for the team’s travel.

“We attraction astir women and children’s health. Sport is specified a symbol. When you spot a radical of girls coming disconnected the crystal each sweaty and having worked hard connected the ice, it’s a awesome of a steadfast girl,” said main enforcement serviceman Julia Anderson.

“That’s a steadfast kid that’s capable to enactment successful sport. We truly judge if we tin get girls there, whether they’re successful an progressive warfare zone, oregon present successful Canada, those girls volition alteration the world.”

The Wings aren’t the archetypal Ukrainians to question a hockey haven successful Canada since the warfare began.

An under-25 men’s squad played 4 games against assemblage squads successful aboriginal 2023 to hole for that year’s satellite assemblage games.

Ukrainian teams person besides doubly played successful the Quebec City International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.

“It’s the archetypal clip successful Ukrainian past wherever a girls’ squad is coming to Canada to a precise bully tournament,” Seredenko said. “They tin spot however they tin play successful their future. And they tin spot however it is to play hockey successful Canada.”