Kahnawake hockey Down Under

Konwawi Evan Stacey has found that hockey has remained a constant in her life so far.

That’s been true even in Australia, where she has been living for many years now, even though it’s a place where the word “ice” needs to be put in front of “hockey” to clarify you don’t mean field hockey, a sport much more popular locally and where Australia has historically excelled at the international level.

“When I say hockey, people automatically assume I’m talking about field hockey, which I’ve never played and never intend to. And they say, ‘how are you playing that here?’ People really don’t realize that the rinks exist or where our rinks are,” said Stacey.

In the part of Western Australia where she lives, a suburb of Perth, there are two rinks in driving distance of her.

One of them, Cockburn Ice Arena, is where she has competed in the Perth Women’s Ice Hockey League (PWIHL) for the Bears, one of the league’s six teams, since the league started play.

The Bears finished 5-4-1 in regular season play, making it all the way to the finals game, which they lost 10-2 to the Wolves.

Stacey, an offensive-minded defender, said that she considers this season to have been one of her best on the ice.

She played every other week, because of some nagging injuries.

“The longer that I’m playing hockey, the more serious I start to take it, the better I want to be,” said Stacey on what keeps her going and striving to improve as a player.

The season was competitive, but most of all, it was also fun, as most seasons with the Bears have been.

“We’ve all been able to watch each other grow and get better every season,” said Stacey.

Cockburn Ice Arena is how she returned to hockey, working at its pro shop.

She then started running the weekly drop-in hockey session.

“It was just a group of people that played inline skating, outdoors on the court, and some hockey skaters. Because I was already doing that, I just ended up slowly meandering my way back into playing. And I’ve been playing again ever since,” said Stacey.

The PWIHL is a league where women of any skill level can play, and the teams are balanced to make sure the games are fair in that regard.

The league is still competitive, though, with athletes who have competed at the highest level in Australia or just below playing in the league, along with total beginners.

“I think that’s what makes it more fun and makes women want to stay involved,” said Stacey.

“It’s really good exposure for those that haven’t really played much before, and it’s really good for more senior players like myself, who have played for a long time, but we’re always coming up against something new, because we are playing with lower-division players.”

Interest in the league has been growing, with the league adding its sixth team last season.

Most of the players are in similar situations to herself: North American transplants who have discovered that they can play the sport they love in Australia.

Of course, there are also homegrown Australian players, too, discovering the sport and becoming fans of the National Hockey League and the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

She’s made lots of friends by getting back into the sport, including Acacia Middleton, her best friend, who Stacey met when Middleton came into the pro shop one day almost a decade ago to buy her first skates.

“I was her maid of honour last year for her wedding, and we met through hockey,” said Stacey.

“It’s been a really cool experience to play here.”

[email protected]