Women’s hockey head coach and two forwards named to Canada
Three Gryphons have been named to the Canadian women’s hockey team participating in the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy. The Universiade is an International multi-sport event, organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) for university athletes. The event is to be held from Dec. 10 to 21, featuring Gryphons left wing Amanda Parkins, centre Jessica Pinkerton, and head coach Rachel Flanagan all representing Canada, the two-time defending champion.
Reigning Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Coach of the Year, Flanagan,will join Isabelle Leclaire from the defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) champion Montreal in assisting Howie Draper from the University of Alberta behind the bench. With seven seasons as head coach at the university level, and two international experiences as assistant coach, Flanagan knows what to bring to the table and get out of the experience come December. “I hope I can bring knowledge about short term event success and a strong understanding of systems play as a unit,” the Gryphon head coach said, “I’m looking forward to working with the CIS’s top female hockey players and learning from coaches who know what it takes to win at the National level.”
Two games into the 2013 to ’14 hockey season, the Gryphons are off to a strong start, winning back-to-back road games with Parkins and Pinkerton leading the charge. In their season opener on Oct. 5, Guelph handed Laurentian a 4-0 defeat with sophomore Parkins pocketing a pair of goals. “Parkins is small, but she has one of the hardest shots in the OUA,” Flanagan said of the 5’2” Kitchener native. “She is very dangerous when she’s given time and space, especially on the power play.”
On Oct. 6, the Gryphons took home their second win of the season in a 2-1 game versus Nipissing, this time with Oshawa-native Pinkerton finding the back of the net twice. “Pinks is also small, but very quick and has very good hands,” Flanagan explained of the 5’3” junior. “She is a very consistent player, plays well under pressure and is always defensively responsible.”
Flanagan, who was also the Gryphon captain for two years during her time as a student, holds a regular season record of 88-35-11 as Gryphon head coach, and has appeared in three OUA Finals. With a strong hand in individual success as well, Flanagan has helped to develop three OUA Rookie of the Years (and one CIS Rookie of the Year), one OUA Player of the Year, 14 conference All-Stars, and two League Scoring Champions. When asked what she expects from her two forwards at the Universiade, Flanagan highlighted the confidence she has in her players. “Both Parkins and Pinkerton are very dynamic players,” Flanagan explained. “I expect both of these players to be strong contributors to our success in Trentino.”
As Canada enters the six-team competition, they look for continued success after going a flawless 14-0 in their first two Universiade events.
The preliminary round begins Dec. 10 against Spain for the Canadians, with the path to the gold-medal final (scheduled for Dec. 20) blocked with obstacles that include Russia (Dec. 12), Great Britain (Dec. 13), the United States (Dec. 15), and Japan (Dec. 16).