By: Monty Mosher
Katryne Villeneuve has learned plenty in four years of hockey for the Moncton Aigles Bleues. Patience may be at the top of the list.
She was a top recruit coming out of Casselman, Ont., scoring 24 goals in 37 games in her second and final season for the Nepean Wildcats of the Provincial Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
She had offers from NCAA schools, but wanted to continue her studies in French. Moncton, coming off an AUS women's hockey banner, appeared to be a nice fit.
All she did was pile up 14 goals and 10 assists in 24 games in her first year to become the AUS rookie of the year.
But the good times stopped, or at least slowed. She scored eight goals combined over the next two seasons.
Her touch is back this season as Moncton wraps up the regular season this week and heads into the playoffs. Villeneuve, 21, has nine goals and 13 assists in 21 games, placing her tops on her team in scoring and fifth overall in the league.
"I think I'm having a great year," said Villeneuve, who aspires to be a police officer when hockey ends. "I took more of a leadership role. I have more confidence in myself."
Her head coach, Denis Ross, has seen it before. A star recruit delivers a big rookie year, only to slip in the second year.
He said Villeneuve was much better last year, particularly in the playoffs, and has taken her game even further this year.
"I think in her second and third year, she wasn't looking at herself when things didn't go so well," said Ross, in his 11th season with the Moncton program. "But she grew up and she's been very good for us. She improved a lot in many facets of the game, like her attitude. That has made a big difference."
Moncton is dangerous, but as wildly unpredictable as a 9-10-1 record would indicate.
They've beaten St. Francis Xavier, the top team in the league standings, but lost seven straight at one point, including 6-2 in a rematch with the X-Women, before winning four of their last six.
They visit St. F.X. on Saturday afternoon, which will indicate where they stand heading into the post-season. They wrap up the regular season next weekend against St. Thomas and two-time defending champion Saint Mary's.
"We won against X and, on paper, it's a game we shouldn't be winning," Villeneuve said. "But we lost twice against (last-place) Mount A and we should have won those games.
"We're not very consistent, but hopefully it will get better now. We had a good team meeting and we came out strong at our last game (3-1 win over UPEI) so hopefully that goes all the way through the playoffs."
Moncton is frequently overlooked in a league dominated by the X-Women and Huskies, but each school has three banners over the past 10 years with UPEI owning the other.
"Nobody thinks of Moncton being a top team," said Villeneuve, hoping to be part of Canada's team for the world university games in Russia in 2019. "But it all plays out on the ice. I think we could be a dangerous team (in the playoffs)."
She began life in a French-speaking household, getting her first steady exposure to English when she joined a youth hockey team.
Many of her friends and teammates were drawn to the U.S. coming out of high school. Villeneuve said she remained open to the idea, but never actively pursued it.
She knew she wanted to stay in Canada and wanted to see another part of the country.
"I really like the campus here when I came to visit," she said. "It was just a great fit."
There was one player on the team she knew from back home, but that was it. Everything else was a blank canvas.
But she told a former teammate in Nepean she knew from the start what she wanted.
"I knew I was coming off two great years in the PWHL and I knew what Denis was expecting of me. I just went out and played. My goal that year was to win rookie of the year. I wanted to make my mark in the AUS. I wanted to be one of the top players."
Then she had to deal with some tougher times.
"I kind of went downhill a bit in my second year. It just wasn't going my way like I wanted it to."
But she hung in through the down days and is now better and strong for it. "I'm just playing good hockey, I guess," she said.
Ross sees a similar career arc to the player who was top rookie the year before Villeneuve.
"I see her pretty much like Breanna Lanceleve at Saint Mary's," said Ross. "She had an excellent first year and then the second and third year were not as good and then she came out strong on the fourth and she is still strong again this year. So pretty much the same path."