This past weekend, the U13 AA Female Panthers hosted two home games at the Bold Center in Lac La Biche.

On Saturday against the Edmonton Blue Ice, the Panthers came out hungry for a win, facing the same team they had battled to a 2–2 tie the weekend before in Elk Point.

There was no scoring in the first period, with the Panthers holding a 10–7 edge in shots on goal. Halfway through the second period, rushing defenceman Tessianna Shirt got the green light and went end to end, burying one to give the Panthers a 1–0 lead. The goal was set up by grinder Vienna “The Bug” Colbourne, who dug the puck out of the corner and sprung Shirt on her way.

The Ice answered shortly after with one of their own, and the game was tied 1–1 at the end of forty minutes, with the Panthers outshooting Edmonton 20–15.

In the third period, the Panthers ran into some penalty trouble. The Ice power play cashed in with two goals while the Panthers were serving a four-minute minor. Not ready to give up, Aubrey Scanie found the twine shortly after to close the gap to one. That Panthers goal was assisted by long-striding defenceman Avery Doody and hard-working forward Aspyn “Machine Gun Kelly.”

The Ice poured on the coal and added one more before the final buzzer, taking the game 4–2.

Panthers goaltender Jayvrie Houle was outstanding once again, facing 28 shots. She also got plenty of help from two stay-at-home, unsung heroes on defence who see no glory while working in the trenches — Mia Chappel and Braylee Brunet.

WHEWIE 😮‍🔥✨
This girlie POPPED OFF today.
Absolute firecracker energy — buzzing every shift, no off switch, all gas. The rink felt it. The bench felt it. Everybody felt it.
Certified spark plug behaviour 💥🐆
#PoppedOff #FirecrackerEnergy #PanthersHockey #U13AA

On Sunday, the Panthers hosted the Wood Buffalo Huskies and came out flying, cruising to an 11–0 win.

Jayvrie Houle wasn’t tested as much in this one but still had to stay sharp, earning the shutout while facing 22 shots.

Vienna “The Bug” Colbourne opened the scoring and later added another to give her two goals on the day and nine on the season. The Bug also chipped in three apples. Tessianna Shirt went coast to coast again, scoring three goals and adding three assists. Aubrey Scanie potted her 10th goal of the year and added three assists of her own.

Aspyn “Machine Gun Kelly” had a goal and two assists. Jada Fineday found the back of the net once and picked up another assist. Centres Morgan “Sinner” Oomen and Kaleigha “Mama” Dion each scored two goals. On the back end, Avery Doody added two assists, while defence partners Maggie “Mugzy” Mahé and Maja “Pinchy” Pinch each put in goals with shots from the point. Markelle Whitford-Bull also chipped in with a helper.

Grinding along the boards and in the corners to free up pucks, Grace Manson, Mila “Moose” Moosewah-Littlechild and Brenna “Mighty Mouse” Brunet were terrific on the forecheck, creating turnovers in both games this past weekend.

ABSOLUTE LOCKDOWN QUEEN 😤🐆 Avery was a defensive powerhouse today. Smart reads. Fast backchecks. Calm, confident, always in the right place. The kind of on-ice presence that settles the whole bench ✨ Quietly running the show, shutting things down and doing the little things BIG. Defence wins games — and Avery understood the assignment 💥🥅 #PlayerOfTheGame #DefensiveStud #PanthersHockey #u13aa

This coming weekend, the Panthers will hit the road and travel to Vancouver to take part in Wickfest, one of Canada’s largest female hockey tournaments hosted in part by the legendary Haley Wickenheiser.