For the second consecutive season, Prince Albert product Karlee Lehner is taking home some hardware in the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League (SFU18AAAHL).
Last season, Lehner was awarded with the Dana Antal award for Top Rookie in the SFU18AAHL. This season, Lehner took home the Brittony Chartier Top Goaltender award.
Lehner says she had to put in a lot of hours in training to perform at the level she did.
“I think it’s really exciting and it showcases the amount of work that I put in to get where I wanted to be. You always have to work hard and always have to put in the effort if you want to succeed and you can’t really take days off, you have to go 100% all the time.”
Lehner appeared in 16 games this season for the Swift Current Wildcats posting a 12-4 record, a 1.35 goals against average and a sparkling .955 save percentage.
Lehner had previously tried out for the Northern Bears, but the team opted to go in another direction.
She says not making the team in Prince Albert gave her motivation that increased her work ethic.
“It made me want to work a lot harder and prove them wrong. I think that hard work paid off and it showed then what I was trying to show.”
Lehner will be moving on this coming fall to play college hockey for Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin.
She says she is hoping to take the work ethic she learned playing in Swift Current south of the border.
“I think I’m just going to keep on working hard every day and trying to continue trying to get better so that I can just keep improving all the way through it.”
Lehner was not the only Prince Albert product to receive an award in the SFU18AAAHL. Jazlyn Petreman of the Prince Albert Northern Bears took home the Carol Scheibel Top Scholastic Player award and Stryker Zablocki was named the Dana Antal Rookie of the Year for the Regina Rebels
The trio all played together on the same U15AA Foxes team in 2020 prior to the pandemic shutdown.
Lehner says she is proud that her former teammates also won awards.
“I think they deserve those awards more than anyone else did in the league. We all have worked hard together throughout the years and grown together, and I think it’s exciting that all three of us can get recognized in the same year.”
News and Notes
Laurie Huet was presented with the Esso Volunteer Award. Huet currently serves as the volunteer coordinator for the 2023 Esso Cup among other duties she performs as a volunteer with the Northern Bears organization.
Northern Bears bench boss Steve Young was co-awarded the Shannon Miller & Wally Kozak Coach of the Year award. Terry Pavely of the Swift Current Wildcats also took home the honor.
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