Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – A theme will soon emerge when discussing the entire MacEwan Griffins' 2023 women's hockey recruiting class.

If the program is to reach the next level in its development path in Canada West – set to head into its third year in the U SPORTS ranks in 2023-24 – they must score more goals.

With that missive in mind, several incoming recruits have the ability to create offence, including interim head coach Chris Leeming's first announcement in the class – Maria Ayre, who led local CSSHL academy NAX's U18 Prep squad in scoring with 13 goals and 25 points in 30 games this past season. She added four goals in three playoff games.

"Maria was previously recruited by (former head coach) Lindsay McAlpine, but I got the chance to watch her play this year," said Leeming. "I'm really excited about her after seeing how physical she is, how strong of a work ethic she has, and her scoring touch. 

"She shoots the puck well, she gets to the difficult areas, and she's really smart with the puck. Adding that (element) to our roster when we had a little bit of trouble generating some offence last year, we're really excited about that."

Ayre was born in Richmond, B.C., but grew up in Fort St. John, B.C. and was a Top-26 invite for Team B.C.'s Program of Excellence as they prepped for the 2023 Canada Winter Games. B.C. went on to win the CWG gold medal.

Ayre previously played for the Northern Capitals – producing 28 points in 32 B.C. U18 AAA games in 2021-22 – before joining NAX last season. She was a big reason why they finished fourth in the CSSHL U18 Prep Division. 

Leeming feels her play will translate well to the Canada West level.

"Her overall physicality, strength and tenacity makes her difficult to play against and that embodies our style of play," he said.

"I think she has some natural offensive abilities. Just watching her play this past year, I think she's got a knack to generating offence. I'm sure she will get her looks right away in her first year."