Tamara Greek is having a capital season, and she is off to a capital city.
The Whitehorse player will play in the Junior Women’s Hockey League’s All-Star game in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
The 17-year-old defenceman for the league’s Richmond Pacific Steelers will play for Team North in the All-Star game at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, home of the NHL’s Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin.
“I was so excited when I got the email today,” said Greek on Wednesday. “I was just ecstatic.
“You never think it’s going to be you, but when it is, it’s like: Whoa! I wasn’t expecting it.”
Greek, who is in her first season with the Steelers, is one of three players from her B.C. team selected for the game. She earned the spot by being the leading defensive player in points on the team. Greek is sixth on the team for points with five goals and four assists, helping the Steelers reach fourth in the northern conference.
“It’s been a pretty good season, I’d say,” said Greek.
Greek, who has played for Team Yukon, the Whitehorse Female Mustangs rep hockey team and its precursor the Northern Avalanche, is on Team North because she plays on a Canadian team in the Canada-U.S. league.
Greek was picked up by the Steelers after getting spotted by scouts at the 2013 Female U18 B.C. Cup and the Banff Hockey Academy Bears last season. She was the only Yukoner invited to the female B.C. Cup.
Last season the Banff Bears, who won the Alberta Junior Female Hockey League with an astonishing 29-1-0 record. Greek was seventh in points for the league’s southern division with 20 assists, 14 goals, for 34 points in total.
Greek is returning to play for Yukon on the junior female team going to Fairbanks, Alaska, for the 2014 Arctic Winter Games next month.
“I think me and Ashtyn Sandulak are the only older girls on the team, the rest are younger girls from the Female Mustangs,” said Greek. “I heard a lot of the older girls said they didn’t want to play because the other girls are so young. But I don’t want to follow that. This is my last year and these girls look up to us, so why not go and have fun with them, give them a good experience?”
At the 2012 Arctic Games Greek was named Most Valuable Defenceman in the tournament, scoring a hat trick in the bronze game.
Greek is one of four Yukon women playing outside the territory this season.
Whitehorse’s Angela Burke is playing for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, and Marsh Lake’s Jocelyn Wynnyk and Dawson City’s Lynsey Keaton are set to play for the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Trojans.
Thursday’s All-Star game will be streamed live at www.jwhl.org.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com