Kendall Hammer put together a near-perfect season.
The 15-year-old from Olds played a major role in the Red Deer Topco Oilsite Products Chiefs run to the provincial U15AA hockey championship, finishing with 28 points on nine goals and 19 assists in 31 games and being named the league’s top defenceman.
She also accumulated a goal and four helpers in five provincial games and had a pair of goals in three playoff games.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” she agreed.
Going into the season Hammer, who is listed at five-foot-seven, 130-pounds, didn’t expect the type of year the team put together.
“We doubted it a bit as we thought it would be kind of hard with only four of us returning,” she said. “We were kind of shocked early but we started going and were the top team all year in the league and we got the feeling that we got it.”
Kendall’s dad, Mark, took over as head coach and was able to put together a lineup that included the league’s top scorer and MVP, Reece Lacina, and top goaltender, Gracie Hughes, as well as Kendall.
“Reece’s line really helped,” said Kendall, who was the league’s top scoring rearguard, finishing 18th overall.
Kendall grew up playing boys hockey in Olds which played a major role in her strong defensive play. She moved to Red Deer last year with the U15AA program under then head coach Don Morrison, who pushed her to be more offensive-minded.
“The boys game was more defensive,” she said. “Once I got into girls last year, my coach said I should jump into the play as much as I could, and that made me more offensive, I feel.”
Kendall said that her time playing boys' hockey was beneficial.
“It made me more aggressive as the boys are bigger and stronger and it’s a faster game,” she said. “That helps push all girls when they’re playing against the boys.
“I had to stay at home, which really helped my defensive game.”
This season was the first year Mark was head coach for a team with Kendall on it.
“He was an assistant coach when I was, I think, in U11,” she said. “But this was the first time he fully head coached me.”
It was a good experience, she added.
“It was fun. I think it made us closer as I was with him five days a week just going to hockey and it builds a whole new connection.”
Kendall indicated Mark was always there to help her, but didn’t treat her any different than the rest of the team.
“The same. If I did something stupid he’s say ‘everyone don’t do what Kendall just did’,” she said with a laugh.
Kendall finished this portion of her season by being named to the South Black team for Hockey Alberta’s Alberta Challenge.
“A really cool experience,” she said. “Really competitive, everyone was there for a reason. I know the first couple of games we kind of sat back, but the coach had a talk with us and we got going from there.”
Kendall has played hockey since she the moment she learned to skate.
“It was tyke hockey and my siblings (older brother and sister) both played and I wanted to follow in their footsteps,” she explained.
But it wasn’t until she was going into U13 that she realized she had a future in the sport.
“It was when I was at Jason Jaffray’s Longhorns spring camp and I felt I could go from there.”
After that season of U13 hockey in Olds, the family decided it would be a benefit to join the Red Deer U15AA program.
“We felt it was really important as Red Deer always had top female teams with good coaching,” she said. “Don (Morrison) had also coached against me in U13, so he knew me and what I had to work on, so that really helped.”
Kendall will look to make the Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs U18AAA team next season.
“Hopefully I can be an offensive defenceman with the U18AAA team and stay the way I am,” she said. “They have a really good team and good coaching.”
One day, she hopes to play with Team Alberta and college hockey, but first things first, as she graduates from Grade 9, continues to skate with U18AAA Chiefs head coach Marissa Graham and Jason Jaffray, and there’s a trip to Toronto and Boston this summer with the Edmonton Warriors travelling team.
She played with the Warriors 2009 team last year and won a tournament in Florida.
This year’s team consists of the top players out of Alberta and BC at the 2010 level.
“You’re playing teams from all over so the competition is way better than the normal regular season,” she said.
Her time spent with hockey has meant she had to drop softball.
“That kind of sucks as I have a lot of friends who I grew up playing softball with,” she said. “But then some of them also had to drop out because of hockey.”
Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter and member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame who can be reached at danrode@shaw.ca
