Griffins look to build off momentum created from first win as they host Calgary on Thursday
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Fresh off their first win of the season, a winning streak is in sight for the MacEwan Griffins women's hockey team.
In a rare Thursday night contest, they'll host the Calgary Dinos (7 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
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The Griffins' first win of 2025-26 came last Saturday when they rallied with two third-period goals to beat the Trinity Western Spartans 2-1. As big a moment that was for the team to break through, head coach Chris Leeming is preaching that's just the beginning.
"I just think we can't be satisfied," he said. "We won one game. We did some good stuff, and we want to continue to build off that. It's making sure we bring that level of competitiveness for 60 minutes. We take one shift at a time.
"We're making progress with what we're doing – having that mindset that we're going to have to earn everything, and nothing's given in this league because every night everyone can win. It's not just going to happen for anybody. We have to make sure we buy into our game plan, execute, and continue to elevate. That's been a discussion around our room the last week is not being satisfied, just continuing to build."
Calgary comes in with a 5-3-0 record, good for second in the Canada West East Division, while the Griffins are 1-6-1, in fourth in the West Division, needing to make up some ground on the top three, who will earn playoff spots.
Consistency is big for the Griffins, who will be looking to string two good games together, also playing the Dinos in Calgary on Friday (6 p.m., Canada West TV).
"It would just be our attention to detail, execution and understanding of it," said Leeming. "I think there's been some confidence growth in our execution capacity and we're still building that out.
"Looking for ways to generate more offence is a big piece for us," he added. "It's as simple as getting pucks and bodies to the net and being hungry for pucks – not accepting losing a puck race and getting outcompeted. We have to take pride in every one of those battles because everything matters."
Their last goal scored – Sydney Jack's winner against TWU – was evidence of that as she cashed in on a rebound off a strong net drive.
"It wasn't just an individual effort," noted Leeming. "There was a sequence that occurred there. We had a good step up to create the turnover, we executed on our zone entry, Rob (Short) made a quick-strike pass to Marley (Howes). We had two D up on the rush there, we got a shot on net and had a good net drive.
"We executed what we've been talking about. It's not just individual plays that exist in silos. It's playing connected, which is our approach to this season."
