Published: Monday, 26 October 2020 13:47
Written by David Zammit

The Swift Current Innovation Credit Union Wildcats won in their first exhibition game on Saturday night.

In Wilcox taking on the Notre Dame Hounds – the Wildcats overcame a two-goal deficit en route to a 3-2 win.

Ella Wingert scored the game-winner for the Wildcats while Jerzey Watteyne and Sadie Keller scored the team’s 2nd-period goals.

Wildcats goaltender Amaya Giraudier picked up the win turning aside 23 of 25 shots in the process.

The Wildcats play against the Hounds again on Friday night at 8 p.m. in Swift Current at Fairview Arenas.

Wildcats win exhibition opener
BY STEVEN MAH -October 25, 2020

The Swift Current Innovation Credit Union Wildcats scored three unanswered goals to win their exhibition opener on the road Saturday.

Amaya Giraudier made 23 saves as the Wildcats edged the host Notre Dame Hounds 3-2 in the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League.

Rookie Ella Wingert scored the only goal of the third period to put the Wildcats ahead. Rookies Jerzey Watteyne and Sadie Keller had scored for the Wildcats to pull even in the second period.

Baylee Kirwan picked up a pair of assists, while Jessica Bouffard and Calli Arnold added single helpers.

Alyssa Rasmuson and Payten Evans tallied for the Hounds.

The Wildcats will play their second and final exhibition contest on Friday when they host the Hounds at 8 p.m. at Fairview Arena.

Wildcats prepare for exhibition debut
BY STEVEN MAH -October 22, 2020

After months of practice, the Swift Current Innovation Credit Union Wildcats will get their first taste of game action this weekend when they visit the Notre Dame Hounds for an exhibition game on Saturday in Wilcox.

The Wildcats will make their home debut on October 30 when the Hounds repay the visit to Swift Current for an exhibition game at 8 p.m. at Fairview Arena.

The Wildcats will open the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League regular season the following weekend with a home-and-away set against the Weyburn Gold Wings. The Wildcats will host the Gold Wings on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. at the Innovation Credit Union iplex. They will visit Weyburn the following afternoon.

The Wildcats finished second in the seven-team league last season with a 21-7-1-1 record before the playoffs were cancelled due to COVID-19.

They will be led by Gull Lake’s Bayee Kirwan, who finished second in the league last season with 29 goals in 30 games and third with 41 points. Netminder Amaya Giraudier returns after leading the league with a 0.949 save percentage and tying for the lead with 14 wins on her way to be named the co-recipient of the Top Goalie Award.

Innovation Credit Union New Title Sponsor of the Swift Current U18 Female AAA Wildcats
For Immediate Release – October 9, 2020

Innovation Credit Union is thrilled to announce they will become the new title sponsor of the Swift
Current U18 Female AAA Wildcats. Innovation takes over the sponsorship from Diamond Energy
Services after an impressive 14 years of Diamond Energy Services being the team’s title sponsor.

“The U18 AAA Female Wildcats are very excited with our new partnership with Innovation Credit
Union,” says Wildcats head coach Terry Pavely says. “This partnership will benefit our organization both
on and off the ice. Innovation Credit Union is a leader with their community involvement, and we
believe this will benefit our players in terms of becoming community leaders.”

With this sponsorship, Innovation supports the highest level of women’s hockey in its southwest region.
They see it not only as a way to support local sport, but also to encourage active, healthy lifestyles,
teamwork, and leadership.

“In a time where organizations are finding it difficult to obtain sponsorship and support, Innovation is
proud to be the Wildcat’s major sponsor,” says Innovation Credit Union CEO Dan Johnson. “Innovation
Credit Union is dedicated to female leadership and this title sponsorship is a perfect fit for our strategy.”

The Innovation Credit Union Swift Current U18 Female AAA Wildcats are currently awaiting direction
from the Saskatchewan Hockey Association and the Saskatchewan Health Authority as to when their
season start date will be.

About Innovation Credit Union
Headquartered in Saskatchewan, Innovation Credit Union provides a full range of financial services to
over 56,000 members including individuals, businesses, and organizations across the province. In 2017,
its membership voted in favor of seeking to become a federal credit union which will enable Innovation
to do business anywhere in Canada.
Through the lens of innovation and Responsible Banking, Innovation Credit Union reinvests its profits
into delivering economically viable solutions for all Canadians to access mutually beneficial and
affordable world class financial products and services – wherever and whenever members need them.

SC Online Article
October 2, 2020
Written by: David Zammit

Still no concrete league schedule for the Swift Current U18 Female AAA Wildcats, but that hasn’t seemed to faze them.

“These are kids that are driven, kids that want to play at the highest level,” Wildcats Head Coach Terry Pavely said. “The change in hockey the last few years is a skill driven game, so they’re used to doing a lot of practices on their own or with a skills coach. I don’t think it’s really a big ask for them to come motivated and come ready to practice.”

While the team hasn’t been able to get any game reps in, Pavely said they’ve been able to focus on other things with their first four weeks of practicing as a team.

“We are starting to implement somethings that are going to use our speed,” he said. “And off-ice we’ve really been pushing the fitness. We’ve been doing things every Monday and every Friday, so maybe that’s the beauty of no games in September is we’ve been able to add a little it more fitness stuff that I think will help us.”

This will be Baylee Kirwan’s four-year with the Wildcats and she agreed with her coach on the potential strength of this year’s team – speed.

“I remember coming home and saying holy that was the fastest first practice I’ve been at,” she said.

Which is a bit of a statement given just how good the Wildcats were last year posting a record of 21-7-1-1, good enough for second in the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League.

“I think we’re going to be pretty strong,” she said. “I was kind of nervous, we lost nine players last year as they graduated. I knew we only had three 03s so that’s a pretty small veteran group, but we picked up another 03 and picked up some really good rookies.”

The Saskatchewan Hockey Association has yet to release a return-to-play, but Pavely believes the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League might release an update within the next week including a game schedule.