Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – She broke the program record for the most goals by a rookie in a Canada West season, and on Thursday, Maria Ayre made more history for the MacEwan Griffins women's hockey team.
Ayre was named to the Canada West All-Rookie team, becoming the first Griffins player to be recognized by the conference since MacEwan joined U SPORTS in 2021.
"She made history for the program, which is really cool," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming. "To get the acknowledgement from the other coaches and her peers in the league is pretty special."
Ayre recorded five goals and six points in 24 games for the Griffins, breaking the previous program rookie record of three goals, shared by former players Aryn Chambers and Hailey Maurice.
"I think she does a lot of little things really well," said Leeming of Ayre's season. "Obviously, in her first year in the league, there was an adjustment period for her and there's still growth for her to pursue.
"First off, I think she's got a really sneaky release. She gets herself into good spots in the offensive zone. We've been trying to encourage her to take the shot opportunities when they're there. She started to do that a little bit more. She does it every day in practice and it was nice to see it transfer over to the game for us and for her to find some success with it."
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— Canada West (@CanadaWest) February 22, 2024
D – Brooklin Fry / @UCDinos
D – Jaylyn Morris / @ubctbirds
F – Maria Ayre / @MacEwanGriffins
F – Kyla Mitenko / @UCDinos
F – Jerzey Watteyne / @MRUCougars pic.twitter.com/IeM3tfrM3R
Ayre joins forwards Kyla Mintenko (Calgary) and Jerzey Watteyne (MRU), and defencemen Jaylin Morris (UBC) and Brooklin Fry (Calgary) on the Canada West All-Rookie team. No goaltender was selected to the squad this season because no one played enough qualifying games.
Ayre, a Richmond and Fort St. John, B.C. product who came to MacEwan via NAX and the Northern Capitals, is just scratching the surface of her potential.
"She's grown a lot in her confidence and ability to play at this level," said Leeming. "When she's on, she plays a highly competitive game and can push the pace of play on the offensive side of the game for us. We saw her gain consistency in her game as the year went on."
