Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – There has certainly been a noticeable jump to Makenna Schuttler's game in the MacEwan Griffins' second season in the Canada West women's hockey ranks.
Driving play and consistently putting pressure on opponents, the third-year St. Albert product currently leads the Griffins in scoring with a goal and five points in eight games so far.
"Towards the end of last season, I just started to build more confidence and going into this season, I'm at my best when I'm skating and forechecking," said the St. Albert native.
That's made her a coveted member of any line interim head coach Chris Leeming puts out on the ice. She started the season with Amanda Murray and Joie Simon but has recently been playing mostly with Shyla Kirwer and Rylee Gluska.
"I think both Rylee and Shyla are great defensively, they're very smart players," said Leeming. "We wanted to add some speed to that line, so we shifted Schutts there. They scored a couple goals the weekend before last at Mount Royal."
The Griffins (2-6-0) will host Trinity Western (4-4-0) on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m., both Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
Schuttler, whose specialty is getting into the hard forechecking areas with her speed and setting up her linemates, will look to continue her rise to an impact forward at the Canada West level.
"First off, she's got a lot of speed," said Leeming. "She creates opportunities for herself. She's able to transport pucks out of our D zone into the O zone. She also creates extended possession time in the offensive zone when we're on the attack.
"The game has developed to a place where speed is a huge asset to have, and she's got wheels to burn. When she's using her speed, moving her feet and has her habits down, she's a pretty dynamic player."
Makenna Schuttler looks for an opening against UBC last weekend (Joel Kingston photo).
Schuttler was a member of three-straight Esso Cup national championship teams with the St. Albert Slash (2017-19) prior to joining the Ottawa Gee Gees for half a season in 2019-20 before she transferred to MacEwan.
What the Slash had back then is something she feels the Griffins are growing into.
"I think we just had an overall game plan and we had everyone buy in," she said. "I see that with our team, too; everyone is buying in, and I think you have success with that.
"I would encourage the girls to buy into that game plan because in the long run that works out."
So far, the Griffins have just two wins in eight games, but the process is building for a team in just its second year in the U SPORTS ranks.
"Personally, I am a competitive person," said Schuttler. "I do like to win. But we are still new, we are still growing, and I think finding little wins within the season is big."
One of those was a 4-2 win over U SPORTS No. 6 back on Oct. 22. Schuttler's line produced the Griffins' first goal in that contest (scored by Gluska).
"MRU was a good game," said Schuttler. "I think as a team we played really well. It was a good effort from everyone in the lineup. I think that definitely stands out this year so far."
To have more success like that going forward, the whole team will need to prove they can work harder than their opponent. The visiting Spartans, who also entered Canada West last season with the Griffins, have taken a big step forward this season with Canadian national development team member Amy Potomak joining as a transfer from the University of Minnesota. With six goals and nine points in eight games, she's the leader of a quick attacking team that can burn you if you're not playing the right way.
"Reviewing their games that they've played so far this year, they come at you hard and they're going to pressure you to make decisions," said Leeming. "We've focused on that in practice in terms of quick transitional play and squeezing the zone, backchecking and having good gap control, and then having good communication when we have possession of the puck so we can make plays quickly."
