The Seattle Thunderbirds opened training camp this week in preparation to defend the conference title they won last year on their way to the Western Hockey League Championship Series. The WHL squad invited 84 players to camp this fall, most of whom are 15- and 16-year-olds trying to make an impression, learn and have fun. Of all the players on the ice this past week, none were taking the scrimmages any more seriously than goalie Renna Trembecky.
Trembecky, 15, is believed to be the first female in camp with the Thunderbirds in franchise history.
Despite a strong season last year, Trembecky was not expecting a WHL opportunity.
“In July [Seattle] sent me an email and I was astonished,” she said after a morning scrimmage last Friday. “I didn’t know what to say. Being a female goalie, it’s always different, [scouts] don’t really watch us.”
Trembecky played 24 games last year for the Alberta-based Saints Pro Hockey Academy U15 team with boys as her teammates and opponents. She posted a 2.37 goals-against average with an impressive .920 save percentage. With scouts showing up regularly to evaluate the league, the Strathcona, AB, native stood out.
It was hard not to notice the skill.
“Watched her play a lot of this [past] year,” Thunderbirds general manager Bil La Forge said. “We scouted that league; We had some players there and guys that we ended up drafting as well. She just never seemed to lose.
“She’s here because she’s a good goalie and that’s the end of the story for me. She’s earned it and she showed here that she’s capable. She did great in the fitness testing, has a great attitude and she’s wonderful to have around.”
Playing against boys is nothing new for Trembecky. But this week’s scrimmages at the accesso ShoWare Center offered a couple of new challenges.
For starters, she was facing NHL-level talent for the first time. That includes players like Kevin Korchinski who was selected No. 7 overall in July’s NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks and is a top offensive talent.
The setting was unique to her too.
“I’ve never played in this kind of arena before, so it’s a great experience,” Trembecky said. “It’s a great experience playing against high-level players. You just don’t even get the chance to do it all the time.”
While she was facing such an upgrade in talent, nothing intimidated her in net during Friday scrimmages. Near the end, Jordan Gustafson, who was a third-round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights in July, got the puck right in front of the net. Surely, he was going to score but Trembecky quickly and calmly flashed her left pad and deflected the puck to safety.
Who the shooter was never crossed her mind.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Trembecky said with a smile. “I’m just trying to stop the puck.”
Stopping the puck is her specialty and she works hard at it. For the past seven years she’s spent time working on her craft with goalie guru Ian Gordon. Gordon, ironically, is Seattle’s former goalie coach who is now with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. He coaches several other top young goalies in his goalie school.
He is proud of Trembecky and excited for the opportunity she’s earned.
“She is incredibly competitive and athletic,” Gordon said. “She has great puck tracking fundamentals that allow her to handle the pace of the puck.”
Women’s hockey has grown tremendously in recent years. The recently completed IIHF Women’s World Championships was televised live on the NHL Network here in the US. The gold-medal Canadian and silver-medal United States teams are powerhouses. They will face each other at Climate Pledge Arena Nov. 20 in this season’s Rivalry Series.
The Premier Hockey Federation, a women’s professional league, earned a larger television coverage this past season and has expanded, most recently to Montreal.
With that growth, young women are getting more and more opportunities to show off their skills and compete at high levels. Last season in the Quebec Major Hockey League – one of the three major junior leagues to make up the Canadian Hockey League – Eve Gascon became the third woman to play in a regular season game. Closer to home, the WHL’s Vancouver Giants selected blueliner Chloe Primerano in the WHL Prospects Draft making her the first ever female skater drafted by a WHL team.
Momentum is growing and it’s just a matter of time before a woman is playing full-time in a development league like the WHL.
“I hope so,” said La Forge. “That’d be great for the game.”
Trembecky agrees the time is coming and she was watching closely as fellow goaltender Gascon played two games for the Gatineau Olympiques while picking up a win.
“It inspired me to try and be at that level and be able to show the boys what you are,” she said.
At 15, Trembecky is too young to play in major junior hockey – players are required to be at least 16 to be eligible. She is soaking up the experience with the Thunderbirds and says she would love to be the female to earn full-time play at a high level.
She’s going to keep working towards that goal and if it doesn’t work out, she’ll be looking to earn a scholarship to play elite level women’s college hockey in the United States.
After camp with the Thunderbirds, Trembecky plans on returning to the Saints, this time with valuable experience and more knowledge.
“Really just how cool is it to be able to play against NHL-level players?” Trembecky said of what she’s learned. “And how hard it is to get to this level and to be able to be here.”
Photos courtesy of Brian Liesse
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