A Ukrainian girlsB次元官网网址� hockey team is in Canada for a few days of peace and hockey in an arena that doesnB次元官网网址檛 have a missile-sized hole in its roof.
After a 56 hours of travel to Calgary, including a 24-hour bus ride from Dnipro to Warsaw, Poland, that required army escort for a portion of it, the Ukrainian Wings will join Wickfest, Hayley WickenheiserB次元官网网址檚 annual girlsB次元官网网址� hockey festival, on Thursday.
The squad of players aged 11 to 13 was drawn from eight different cities in Ukraine, where sport facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Russia started its invasion in February 2022.
B次元官网网址淭hey all have a personal story of something awful happening,B次元官网网址� said Wickenheiser. B次元官网网址淲e give them a week of peace and joy here and I hope they can carry that with them.
B次元官网网址淲e know full well theyB次元官网网址檙e going back to difficult circumstances. ItB次元官网网址檚 tough that way.B次元官网网址�
Nine players are from Kharkiv, where pictures show a large hole in the roof of the Saltovskiy Led arena where the girlsB次元官网网址� team WHC Panthers once skated.
B次元官网网址淚t was our home ice arena, and we played all our national team championships in this ice arena,B次元官网网址� said Kateryna Seredenko, who oversees the Panthers program and is the Wings general manager.
UkraineB次元官网网址檚 Olympic Committee posted photos and wrote in a Facebook post Sept. 1 that KharkivB次元官网网址檚 Sport Palace, which was home to multiple hockey teams, was also destroyed in an attack on the city.
Seredenko says the WingsB次元官网网址� arduous journey to Calgary was worth it because it gives the girls hope.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not a good situation in Ukraine, but when they come here, they can believe that everything will be good, everything will be fine, of course we will win soon and we must play hockey. We canB次元官网网址檛 stop because we love these girls and we will do everything for them,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淪o many girls on this Ukrainian team are future players of the national team.B次元官网网址�
Wickenheiser, a Hockey Hall of Famer, is the assistant general manager of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs and a doctor who works emergency-room shifts in the Toronto area.
The six-time Olympian and four-time gold medallist organized her first Wickfest after the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.
SheB次元官网网址檚 had teams from India, Mexico and Czechia attend over the last decade and a half, but never a team that ran the UkrainiansB次元官网网址� gauntlet of logistics.
The Canadian Partnership for Women and ChildrenB次元官网网址檚 Health took on the task of arranging visas and paying for the teamB次元官网网址檚 travel.
B次元官网网址淲e care about women and childrenB次元官网网址檚 health. Sport is such a symbol. When you see a group of girls coming off the ice all sweaty and having worked hard on the ice, itB次元官网网址檚 a symbol of a healthy girl,B次元官网网址� said chief executive officer Julia Anderson.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 a healthy kid thatB次元官网网址檚 able to participate in sport. We really believe if we can get girls there, whether theyB次元官网网址檙e in an active war zone, or here in Canada, those girls will change the world.B次元官网网址�
The Wings arenB次元官网网址檛 the first Ukrainians to seek a hockey haven in Canada since the war began.
An under-25 menB次元官网网址檚 team played four games against university squads in early 2023 to prepare for that yearB次元官网网址檚 world university games.
Ukrainian teams have also twice played in the Quebec City International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the first time in Ukrainian history where a girlsB次元官网网址� team is coming to Canada to a very good tournament,B次元官网网址� Seredenko said. B次元官网网址淭hey can see how they can play in their future. And they can see how it is to play hockey in Canada.B次元官网网址�
