The Ukrainian Wings, a select girls’ hockey team made up of 17 players aged 11 to 13 from Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Bohuslava, Odesa, Lutsk and Kremenchuk competed at Wick Fest in Calgary, Alberta from Nov. 22-Dec. 1, 2024.
The team received assistance and support from the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health, Ukrainian Society of Calgary, Lois Mitchell, Sandy Edmonstone and the Calgary Canucks.
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It was noted by Ukrainian Hayley Wickenheiser, whose great grandparents came from the Beresan area of Odesa, Ukraine, founder and organizer of the Wickenheiser Festival since 2010, that this was the first time an international team was brought in from an active war zone.
The hope was that playing hockey would give these girls some joy and an escape from the everyday horrors they face in the senseless war with Russia. The girls came for a few days of peace and to play some hockey in an arena that doesn’t have a missile-sized hole in its roof.
The tournament’s goals are to support young female hockey players, grow the sport of ice hockey, and teach the participants advanced hockey skills and training methods to enable them to compete at an elite level.
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In what was described as an extraordinary display of resilience, the Ukrainian Wings select hockey team arrived in Calgary on Nov. 24, 2024 after an exhausting 56-hour journey which included a 24-hour bus ride from Dnipro, Ukraine to Warsaw, Poland that required an army escort for a part of it, thanks to hard work by so many people behind the scenes resolving visas, travel arrangements, permissions and uncertainty.
When the girls stepped into the Calgary Airport they were greeted by the heartfelt singing of the Ukrainian folk song “Ой у Лузі Червона Калина” by welcoming Ukrainians from the Calgary community.
The weight of their experience is almost incomprehensible – these young athletes have seen their homeland destroyed by a ruthless unnecessary war and their ice rinks reduced to rubble by incessant bombings. Yet they somehow persevered and made it to Calgary, a testament to their unbreakable spirit of youth and sport.
Ukrainian Wings general manager Kateryna Seredenko said, “It’s not a good situation in Ukraine, but when they come here, they can believe that everything will be good, everything will be fine and we must play hockey. We can’t stop because we love these girls and we will do everything for them. So many girls on this team are future players of Ukraine’s national team.”
The local Junior Inferno Sirens from the Girls Hockey Calgary Association welcomed their fellow athletes with open arms and gifted them Inferno jerseys to express a touching symbol of hockey solidarity.
According to Wick Fest representatives, there was not a dry eye in sight. The Ukrainian Wings were commended for journeying through unimaginable adversity to participate in Wick Fest, demonstrating that the spirit of hockey and the spirit of Ukrainian youth cannot be extinguished.
After spending their first full day in Calgary visiting the main provincial tourist spots, November 26th saw the Ukrainian Wings hit the ice for the first time for a few hours of practice and scrimmaging. The highlight of their on-ice session was a visit with the captain of Ukraine’s national women’s hockey team Valeriia Manchak-Jensen, who shared some of her hockey expertise and professional training techniques, bolstering the Ukrainian girls’ energy and self-confidence.
Following their practice the Wings were treated to a tour of the Calgary Flames’ home rink, the Scotiabank Saddledome, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of an NHL arena. This motivating and inspiring visit ended with the club gifting the girls some Flames apparel and swag as a memento of their special day.
On Nov. 27 the Ukrainian Wings participated in a joint practice session with the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League with the young men sharing their professional secrets and on-ice skills. After the training session, the team met with representatives from the local Ukrainian diaspora who welcomed the visitors with homemade borscht. In the evening the Wings enjoyed a dinner with the local U-13 Inferno Frost team, an opportunity to exchange cultural experiences, develop personal bonds and converse about their mutual love for the sport of hockey.
Each day this trip to Calgary brings the Ukrainian girls closer to achieving their athletic and personal goals, expanding their horizons and strengthening their international friendships.
After an additional day of sight-seeing around the Calgary metropolitan area on Nov. 28, the Wings attended Wick Fest’s official opening night party where they met up with five-time Olympic medalist Hayley Wickenheiser, regarded as one of the best female hockey players in the world. It was an evening of merriment and an opportunity to be festive before their first day of finally playing some hockey.
Nov. 29 was the first game day for the Ukraine Wings necessitating a 5 a.m. wake-up call in order to be on the ice for a 7:15 a.m. matchup against the Inferno Sirens. The Wings were victorious in their opening game despite the early puck drop. Several hours later was their second contest, this one versus the Greater Trail Wildcats, resulting in a second victory for the Ukrainian squad. Most outstanding players on this day were Diana Ptashkina and Yaroslava Kliushnyk.
Hayley Wickenheiser assisted the Ukrainian coaching staff behind the bench, lending the Wings support and motivation during their two games on this day.
After their games, the Ukrainian girls received more gifts from Wick Fest organizers including official hooded sweatshirts and each player was gifted an autographed photo from Ms. Wickenheiser. The evening concluded with a special dinner hosted by Hayley Wickenheiser and representatives from the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health.
On Saturday, Nov. 30, former Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper dropped the ceremonial first puck before the Wings played the Northwest District. Also present at center ice for puck drop were Ms. Wickenheiser, Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health CEO Julia Anderson and Roman Yosyvif, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Calgary Chapter.
On the ice, the Wings soundly defeated Northwest District by a score of 10-5.
The Ukraine Wings were honored with a local tradition, the White Hat Ceremony, prior to the Calgary Canucks hockey game later that evening. Each of the girls received a white cowboy hat in a pre-game display of camaraderie between the locals and the visitors from Ukraine. The team was honored by Lois Mitchell, the 18th lieutenant governor of Alberta. Members of Calgary’s Ukrainian community were in the stands as a reminder of the power of unity and kindness resulting in a life-long memory for those present.
On the morning of Dec. 1 the Ukraine Wings defeated the Alberta Wolfpack for their fourth consecutive win, displaying their great team spirit and superior hockey skills. In their evening matchup against a superior Calgary Fire team, the Wings suffered their first and only loss, 3-0, still showing their gutsy competitiveness throughout the tough game.
With their 4-1 record the Ukraine Wings were group gold medalists thanks to the super support the team received from the tournament’s organizers and sponsors. Given this unique opportunity to travel to North America and participate in an elite women’s hockey event, the Ukrainian girls exceeded expectations on the ice, making Ukrainians all over the world quite proud.
Hayley Wickenheiser got emotional on this final day of Wick Fest, knowing the dangerous circumstances awaiting these young ladies upon their return home. “It’s going to be hard to put them on a plane to send them home, but at the same time they have families and loved ones there,” she said on social media. “I’m hopeful that this message that they’re spreading here in Canada is a beacon of hope for everyone. I cannot explain the emotions of the past few weeks. These children are going through horrors no child should ever know. There are no winners in war.
“For ten days they got to be children! They played, they laughed, they competed and they won their division. We all won! Thank you to everyone across Canada for opening your arms to this team. When children play the world wins.
“Slava Ukraini. Until we meet again. Much love to you all!”
Once the tournament wrapped up on December 1st, the journey back to Ukraine began, leaving behind special memories, new friendships and peace.
FACING OFF WITH HAYLEY WICKENHEISER
On Dec. 2, 2024, I had the privilege of catching up with Hayley Wickenheiser for a quick online interview to gather a few personal reflections from Wick Fest 2024 and some thoughts about Ms. Wickenheiser’s Ukrainian heritage and the ongoing war with Russia.
Ihor Stelmach: What are your personal highlights from meeting and interacting with the Ukraine Wings hockey players?
Hayley Wickenheiser: Just to see the sheer joy in their faces, especially after completing their 56-hour journey to Calgary. The coaches and management said it took a few days for the girls to relax, smile and to be kids again. It was great watching them have fun on the ice playing hockey and seeing them excited at the hotel pool, trading bracelets with my nieces who are the same age, shopping, seeing the Zoolights at the Calgary Zoo and just generally seeing the expressions on their faces as they relaxed and had fun as children, being little girls. And also listening to their stories of reality, having an 11-year-old child living on the front lines of a war tell you that ‘We just ignore the bomb sirens now when they go off and keep practicing because what is meant to be will be’ was utterly shocking.
IS: What are your most memorable moments from Wick Fest 2024?
HW: The opening party at Ranchman’s Bar with our two star performers, seeing 800 screaming children interacting, dancing, singing and having fun. Watching the Ukrainian team in their first game and how excited they were to score their first goals on Canadian ice. How the fans interacted with the team which was so excited to be part of this tournament. The White Hat Ceremony at the Calgary Canucks game was very special.
IS: Tell us about your Ukrainian heritage.
HW: My family came through Prussia ages ago with all of my great grandparents eventually settling in Ukraine. Two of my great grandparents actually met on a street in Odesa. I researched my ancestry a while back and my family tree traces back to Ukraine in the pre-Soviet times when everyone from that area was basically the same until the Soviet Union fractured. My roots are definitely from that part of the world.
IS: What are your thoughts about the war and present day Ukraine?
HW: This is a sad situation – what are we fighting for? What will this solve? Putin’s invasion is wrong and it is devastating to the country. There are some 1.5 million Ukrainians in Canada and they feel very connected to Ukraine. Almost everyone knows someone from Ukraine. Ukrainians helped build Canada. We are very sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause and hope the war will stop and things return back to normal, especially for the children. I personally wanted to help in some small way because I couldn’t even fathom such a situation in this country. I hope when the girls go back home they can turn to hockey for joy when their life gets hard.
(With reporting by Times Colonist and Wick Fest.)
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