Shearer gaining confidence on Cougars blue-line

From Brandon Sun

By Lucas Punkari

 

It took a little bit for Jensen Shearer to find her footing on the Assiniboine Community Cougars defence last season.

However, as she gears up for her sophomore campaign, the Wawanesa product has become more confident whenever she steps foot on the ice.

“I was a lot more timid at the start of last year compared to now,” Shearer said. “I think some of that had to do with the fact that I was coming into a new league and playing with new girls.

“When I came back from the Christmas break last year, I could tell right away that I was feeling a lot more like myself out there and I’ve continued to build on that ever since.”

A member of the Westman Wildcats side that won the Manitoba Female Hockey League Under-18 AAA title in 2019, Shearer had a pair of assists for the Cougars last year in their run to the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 championship.

The Cougars begin their title defence tonight at the Sportsplex when they take on the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds at 8 p.m. A rematch will be held at 8 a.m. Sunday.

“We’re all really excited to just get back going and play some teams that we could see further on down the road,” Shearer said.

“I think we’re an even faster team than we were last year, but we’re also not afraid to get physical when we have to be.”

The speed element of ACHA hockey was something that was an eye-opener for Shearer last year, especially at the nationals in St. Louis when they squared off with the Ontario-based Sault College Cougars for a spot in the semifinals.

“They were really fast and that was something that we hadn’t faced at that point of the year,” Shearer said. “We were a little bit quicker than most of the teams we had gone up against last season … but that was the first time where we had a team that could really match us.

“It was quite a bit different for me to get used to playing at this level, especially since I had been away from the ice for almost a year after finishing up with the Wildcats (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) but I got used to it as the season went on and I feel a lot more ready as a result coming into this weekend.”

During the pre-season, Shearer and her fellow blue-liners Kathryn Fischer, Meagan Carnegie, Laci Gaffray and Mackenzie Dixon rotated through different roles and assignments.

Shearer says the group has a lot of trust in each other already and has improved a lot over the last couple of weeks through the help of new assistant coach Jalyn Elmes.

“She’s ready to help anyone on the ice and she knows what’s it all about to play at a higher level,” Shearer said of the former Yellowhead Chiefs and Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs captain.

“I know that she’s already helped me out a lot when it comes to staying high on the blue-line and with anything I need to get better at on the defensive end.”

Shearer is also part of the team’s leadership group this season.

She’s sharing alternate captain duties this year with Gaffray and forward Aidan Roberts, with forward Simone Turner wearing the ‘C’.

“We share some similarities and we have some different approaches to how we do things, but we want to make sure that our teammates are comfortable with whoever they talk to,” Shearer said.

“Personally, I think it’s very important to keep a positive outlook on things and keep things cheerful on the bench, especially for our new girls. I could tell that they were feeling pretty nervous in those first pre-season games, which was exactly how I felt a year ago, so I made sure to help them out as much as I could and help them realize that it’s not that scary.”

Following their series with the Blugolds, the Cougars will be on the road for the next two weekends to face the Northern Michigan Wildcats and the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.

“It’s going to be important for us to keep up our speed in these first few series and to make sure that we are executing the plays like we have been in practice,” Shearer said.

“Being the defending national champs … that’s something that we can carry into these games as we know we are a good team and we can compete against anyone. However, we also know that our opponents are going to be hungry to try and beat us.”

(Originally published at https://www.brandonsun.com/sports/2022/11/05/shearer-gaining-confidence-on-cougars-blue-line)