Off-Ice Bonding Turned into On-Ice Success for the Chicago Hawks

At every age level of the Hawks program, girls supported one another by attending each other’s games.

“I think doing those extra things just made hockey so much more fun,” Gaines said. “When we got to see the women’s [Olympic] players, it motivated us all in a different way that if we put the work in, we can be there one day just like them. Doing all those fun things built those relationships we’ll have even if we’re not on the same team or wherever we’re at next year, we’ll still have those.”

For all the fun the Hawks players had off the ice this season, they enjoyed so much success on it.

The Hawks set four main goals at the beginning of the season: win a regular-season tournament (they won three); capture the Presidents’ Cup, which is awarded to the team with the best record in the Northern Illinois Hockey League (they did that); win the NIHL playoff championship (they did that); win the state championship (they did that).

“I felt confident that we had a chance to accomplish all of them, but to actually do it was kind of special,” Sullivan said.

The Hawks took a major jump from the program’s first season to the second.

“I feel like from the beginning all of us were really motivated and I feel like there was an instant click with all of us girls,” Gaines said. “We all saw the end goal and we really wanted to get there. We worked hard this year for sure, and I feel like we had a lot more ice time and we all just worked really hard.”

The Hawks had a high-powered offense, scoring 208 goals at 3.59 per game. The defense was outstanding as well, allowing 1.67 goals per game and notching 15 shutouts.

“This team just had so many talented players and it was just so fun to play with all of them,” said Gaines, who was the team’s leading goal scorer. “When we would get the first goal, we were unstoppable. Everyone would get fired up and we kept going. Our defense was amazing, outstanding and our forwards had so many talented players.”

The Hawks finished the season with the program’s first trip to the Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II 14U National Championships.

Sullivan and Gaines believe the team’s success this season will thrust the program in the right direction where appearances at Nationals will become expected on an annual basis.

“I hope that since we made it so far that it brought some more recognition to our club and it will draw in a lot more girls and just build the club,” Gaines said. “It will make it even stronger so that every level, 12U, 14U, 16U, will be strong and have that chance a lot more to be able to go to Nationals.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.