Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – It's fitting given the style that she plays that Kori Paterson took the number 94 for the Griffins women's hockey team.
The most famous 94 in these parts is Edmonton Oilers legend Ryan Smyth, who made a living as one of the best in NHL history to stand in front of a net and make life miserable for opposing goaltenders.
Not only is her style similar as Paterson parks herself regularly in front looking for screens, tips, broken plays and rebounds, but it turns out her grandmother counts Smyth as her favourite player. Add in that Paterson wore both No. 4 and No. 9 during minor hockey, and it was a obvious choice which jersey she wanted with the MacEwan Griffins.
"She's someone that really commits to being a good net front presence," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming. "She's out there working on tips and screens at the start of practice. She's not afraid to go to the dirty areas. She plays a physical game and that's something she thrives with when the game calls for that."
As a result, Paterson is leading the Griffins in scoring with six points in 16 games as they enter the second semester this weekend with a home-and-home series against cross-town rival Alberta (Friday, 7 p.m., Downtown Community Arena and Saturday, 2 p.m., Clare Drake Arena, both Canada West TV).
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"I worked on a lot of that this summer, and I think it's really transferring into my game now," said Paterson of being a presence in front of the net. "The first two seasons I've had I've not really been up there in points, but I've been in the roster, which has been nice.
"That's my game, playing in front of the net, so just the lucky bounces there are getting through now."
Her last goal – Nov. 23 at Regina – was scored just like that as she crashed the crease and buried a loose puck to send MacEwan to OT, tied 1-1 with the Cougars, and they won in a shootout.
GOAL
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Hockey (@GriffinsWHKY) November 24, 2024
Kori Paterson wins the draw and then scores the equalizer, sending the @MacEwanGriffins to overtime, tied 1-1 with @ReginaCougars.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/r6mB9fIEBk
"From Year 1, she's done nothing but demonstrate growth and commitment to the process that we've undertaken," said Leeming of Paterson, now in her third season at MacEwan. "She competes hard, she's gotten faster, she plays a physical game, she's responsible defensively, she's got a great shot and has a little bit of an offensive flair that's resulting in some scoring for her."
Hailing from Viking, Alta. – an hour and a half east of Edmonton – Paterson got her name on the radar of elite hockey when she cracked the lineup of the Lloydminster Steelers and subsequently moved away from home at age 15.
"I moved away when I was 15 to play in Lloyd and nobody in my family really played a high level of athletic sports," she said. "I was the first one to get into that. It was hard for me at times because I didn't have that family support right there."
Luckily, her parents began packing on the miles. Since that time, it's a rare sight to see them missing from the stands of one of her games.
"They haven't hardly missed a game since," she said. "They're committed. I think they've missed only one weekend since I've come to MacEwan."
Paterson later played for Edmonton-based NAX for her final U18 season in 2021-22 where she and Griffins linemate Allee Isley led the Xtreme in scoring, both near a point a game in the U18AAA ranks.
Third-year forwards Allee Isley, left, and Kori Paterson have been linemates since Grade 10, both playing together in Lloydminster and at NAX prior to coming to MacEwan (Jefferson Hagen photo).
The two of them have been regular linemates for several years, stretching back to Lloydminster. In an effort to create more offence, Leeming has put Sydney Jack on their line to start the second semester.
"We're trying something new," said Paterson. "I think that will be good for us. There's only two or three girls on our team who (shoot right), so it will be nice to have one of them on my line (Jack). I think it's going to work really well.
"Me and Allee have played together since Grade 10 on a line, so we work really well together. It's hard not to play each other on the same line. Adding SydJay into the mix is going to be really good for us, I think."
Leeming was so impressed with Paterson's play earlier this season that he and his coaching staff decided to add her as an assistant captain midway through the first semester, joining captain Sydney Olsen and other assistants Ali Macaulay, Brianna Sank and Robyn Short in the team's leadership group.
"Kori is someone we see as a future leader for our program and we just decided it would be a good move to include her in all the conversations and just reward her for all the buy in and commitment she's demonstrated the last few years," he said.
Kori Paterson parks herself in front of the University of Alberta net during a first semester game against the Pandas (Rebecca Chelmick photo).
Added Paterson: "That meant a lot. I've never been in that circumstance before. I've always been one of the younger players on my team, so I've always been the quiet shy person, so I never really expected that. It feels good to finally get recognized, but obviously it doesn't change the way I play or act. It was nice to be held accountable for that."
The Griffins will aim to make a push in the second half of the season, starting this weekend against the Pandas.
"I think just making sure we're executing to our level," said Leeming. "We've shown that when we do those things we can be a good team. The last game we played against them was a 1-0 overtime loss with .4 seconds left, or whatever it was.
"Our mindset is it's not enough to have the moral victories anymore. We're really pushing to find success on the scoreboard and in the standings because we want to start to win some games here."
