They went Wild.
Claiming a slice of history at the weekend, the Wakatipu Wild lifted the New Zealand Women’s Ice Hockey League trophy for the first time.
The Queenstown team, in just its third season, demolished Dunedin Thunder 7-2 in the semi-finals last Saturday, before an early morning battle for the gold on Sunday against defending champs Canterbury Inferno.
The Wild proved their might on the ice with a 2-0 victory.
Coach Colin McIntosh says the team was so excited at the final buzzer, they forgot how to celebrate properly.
‘‘They were on the bench super-excited but then when they got on the ice … normally you throw your gloves off, but they all just stood jumping up and down,’’ he laughs.
The massive win’s a great experience for the team, McIntosh says.
‘‘I was telling them in the dressing room, it’s not very often in life that people get to battle for a championship … you can have your age group stuff and your social stuff, but it’s a very select few women that are able to say they’ve won the trophy, so it was cool for them to soak it in.’’
Proud of the way the ladies ‘‘weathered the storm’’ in the final, he says the Wild’s strength all season is a testament to their ‘‘coach-ability’’.
‘‘Every single girl has improved from day one.
‘‘We’ve quite a few out-of-towners … the only time we were all together on the same ice was during games … [so] the resilience, to be able to pick it up the second the puck drops, was amazing.’’
The season was full of accomplishments, with several players scoring their first career goal, and with the big win now under the belt, the Wild are hungry to do it all over again, he says.
‘‘We’ll have the ice in Queenstown until the first week of February so we’ll stay on the ice as a team … when you get a good group together, you want to keep them together … to be even more of a force next year.’’
