Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – For three years, Rylee Gluska lined up alongside Jena Barscello on the Yellowhead Chiefs in her hometown of Neepawa, Man.
So, it will be a little strange when she goes against her friend this weekend as the Griffins women's hockey team hosts the Manitoba Bisons on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (3 p.m., both Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
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"It's kind of funny," said Gluska. "We played on a line together for three years and we had very good chemistry, so seeing her on the other side of the faceoff dot, honestly just makes me laugh. It's a weird experience, but it's also fun to see all of our hard work paid off and we get to play each other at this high level of hockey."
Gluska's building plenty of chemistry with her current linemates, too, as she, captain Shyla Kirwer and Makenna Schuttler have become one of interim head coach Chris Leeming's most dependable trios.
"The three of them together are mature, they know how to play the right way and they execute details," he said. "They're smarter, mature perceptive players. They don't give up much defensively and they've scored some goals for us the last few weekends."
Two of those recent goals were by Gluska, who tallied in back-to-back games against Mount Royal University on Oct. 21-22. But Leeming noted that's just part of her overall game, which includes being responsible defensively.
"First off, she's a phenomenal person and leader, which is why she was voted by her peers as part of the leadership group this year," said Leeming of Gluska, who is an assistant captain in this, her third season with the Griffins (fourth if you count the pandemic-lost 2020-21 campaign). "She's got a great attitude towards everything she does. She wants to add value to everybody on the team, coaching staff included.
"She just executes her habits," he continued. "Honestly, at the end of the day, that's where she's began to separate herself recently here. She's blocking shots, which is something we've asked them to do five-on-five. That's, in turn, given her an opportunity to do that on the penalty kill as well."
Rylee Gluska, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring against Mount Royal University in a game last month (Joel Kingston photo).
Becoming a complete player on the ice is complemented by Gluska's commitment off it to fulfilling the student aspect of the student-athlete.
In MacEwan's Nursing program, she has set a standard for academic excellence for not only her own team, but the entire MacEwan Athletic program, winning back-to-back Top Academic awards for best GPA by a Griffin in the Faculty of Nursing.
"It's definitely been something that's always been important to me," she said. "It also helps that I'm passionate about the program that I'm in. It really drives me to succeed. I love what I do."
This weekend's matchup is an important one for the Griffins, who are trying to climb above the playoff levy. MacEwan (3-8-1) is a point behind Manitoba (4-8-0), and both sit just behind Calgary (4-6-2) for the final Canada West playoff spot.
"These two games coming up are really important for us in the standings," said Gluska. "Manitoba and us are in the lower half together, so it's kind of just that mentality that we need to work together as a team to be successful and coming together as one has been the talk of the dressing room and during practices throughout the week."
The Griffins are coming in off a 1-0 loss at Saskatchewan last Saturday, in which they only had 10 shots on net. A response seems to be coming.
"Just the commitment to each other," said Leeming of what it will take to turn their game up a notch. "We talked about what it means to be good teammates and what it looks like. I think that's going to go further than any type of system we can put on the ice.
"It's just how bad we want to play for each other and what we're willing to sacrifice by going to the dirty areas, playing the right way and what we're willing to sacrifice for the overall betterment of the team."
