Halyk Sees A Future In Coaching And Helping Others
Editor's Note - When MJ Independent first started almost four years ago we wanted to cover local sports.
The only team who replied at the time were the Moose Jaw Bantam Mavericks.
This year we are featuring the Milestone U18A Female Flyers where four Moose Jaw players - Ember DuSomme, Nikita Halyk, Sidney Ellingson and Taryn Sandbeck are finishing out their minor hockey careers.
Third in a series.
“I think it is no big deal a lot of girls are playing hockey nowadays,” former Moose Jaw Mavericks product Nikita Halyk on girls in hockey.
By Robert Thomas
It may have been watching her brother who inspired her to want to play hockey but as she graduates from her last year of minor hockey Nikita Halyk wants to help other females in their hockey dreams.
Halyk said she started skating at the age of two but it was “just skating” but all changed when she watched her brother play hockey and she wanted to play too.
“I always watched my brother play and one day I said dad I want to play hockey and he went out and bought me all of the equipment,” Halyk said.
Asked if her dad, Blair, was the main push for her getting into hockey Nikita said “no it was me.”
Nikita Halyk all alone in front of an opponent's goal -MJ Independent file photo
Halyk started organized play at age seven on the Mavericks Pink Panthers squad at that time under the tutelage of Stephane Gauvin.
She said Gauvin was a coach who not only taught the class of graduating players for 2022 out of the Moose Jaw Mavericks system the basics but he inspired them both on and off the ice.
The Mavericks system allowed the Phoenix Academy student to become friends with a special group of girls - her teammates.
Nikita Halyk, fourth from left, celebrates with her teammates after a Saskatchewan Female Hockey League south championship with her Moose Jaw Mavericks teammates and coaches- supplied photo.
Although she played on the all girl squad - the Pink Panthers - Halyk admitted there were times they played boys teams and when the girls won it was a special sort of joy.
“It was kind of a good thing when the girls beat the boys.”
Halyk said the five years she spent in the Mavericks system were special to her - especially the high calibre of coaching the female hockey teams she was on received.
“The coaching we received (with Gauvin and Mike Botterill) was second to none. I think the girls had better coaches (than the boys did.”
Her first coach for four years was inspirational for many players, she said.
“When I first started I was so terrified of playing and the coach (Gauvin) calmed those fears,” Halyk said.
“He was the best coach ever.”
She said the biggest thing about Gauvin was his coaching style was confrontational but rather supportive to fix problems and make the Mavericks better.
During Gauvin's tenure whatever team he was coaching won the Saskatchewan Female Hockey League southern division championship falling just short to capture a provincial crown.
Nikita Halyk (left), as a member of the Milestone Flyers, barely misses a short-angle shot - MJ Independent file photo
“He taught me a lot through hockey and working harder. His speaches were phenomenal,” she said about Gauvin's coaching style.
Halyk said despite having all male, and very good, head coaches she sees a place for her in hockey after she completes her minor career sometime in the next couple of months.
She doesn’t see herself playing any serious league play but rather just continue with pick up play. Halyk does see herself, if accepted, back in Moose Jaw Minor Hockey Association's Maverick system as a coach.
“I’m going to put my name in to be a coach. So I can be a coach for the younger kids. We need more females contributing back,” she said, adding “coaching is really what I want to do.”
Asked about why she would want to play minor hockey for a decade Halyk chalked it up “for the love of the game" and the adrenaline she receives from playing.
The best thing about the years of lacing up the skates was the friendships she made along the way.
“I love meeting new friends and the excitement of winning games...its the ups and downs and going through things with your friends.”
Halyk said it is not just about being teammates but also friendships lasting past hockey.
“I think we will still be friends ten (10) years down the line because when you are part of a team you go through things together.”
The move to playing with the Milestone Female Flyers 18A squad was at first a bit of a jump but their teammates welcomed them.
“Everybody welcomed us a lot there is no clicks on the team (Flyers) they are very welcoming.”
Another south championship team Nikita Halyk was part of - supplied photo
Although the coaching style is different in Milestone than in Moose Jaw Halyk said it shows a different aspect of the game she never thought of.
“They (Milestone's coaches Shane Kaufmann and Darrell Perras) say as much as Stephane…It’s definitely a lot different…they tell us the story and show us,” she said, adding “it’s important to learn this because everyone has a different style of play “
She sees it as part of her growth in understanding the game.
The style of coaching also helps the team from various communities mesh together more as the players gain confidence and are part of the solution.
Halyk said it is always important to remember everyone on the team has equal importance.
“It’s everyone working together there is not one person who stands out on the team. Every player contributes.”
As hockey winds down Halyk knows if she gets accepted as a coach she still needs a day job.
To that end her goals are to hopefully one day get a job as a prison guard at the youth detention facility, the Dojack Centre, as a way of hopefully helping others.
Next Up and final feature of the series Taryn Sandbeck