Forward eyeing world competition with optimism

Tasza Tarnowski has already had her share of hockey highlights in 2015, and she’s now waiting for some news that hopefully will make her year even better.

Tarnowski, a 17-year-old whose mother is Ojibwe, is hoping to get a positive call from Hockey Canada officials. She’s waiting to hear whether she’s earned a spot on the national girls’ under-18 squad that will participate at its world tournament. That eight-nation event will be staged Jan. 8 to Jan. 15, 2016 in St. Catharines, Ont.

Also participating in the tournament will be the Czech Republic, France, Finland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

Tarnowski, who lives in the small eastern Ontario community of Embrun, actually cracked the roster of the Canadian under-18 squad this summer. She suited up for the club, which won two out of its three contests versus the American under-18 side. All those matches were held in August in Lake Placid, N.Y.

But heading into the world tournament, Canadian team officials might decide to make some changes to their roster, based on performances at the national girls’ under-18 championships, which concluded Nov. 8 in Huntsville, Ont.

“I think my chances are good, but the coaches will decide who the best players are,” Tarnowski, a 5-foot-4, 140-pound forward said of the likelihood of being part of the national team chosen for the global event. “I think I had a really good tournament at the nationals.”

Tarnowski was a member of the Ontario Red squad at that eight-team event. Her club ended up winning the gold medal by defeating Manitoba 2-1 in overtime in the championship final.

Meanwhile, another entry from her province, the Ontario Blue squad, captured the bronze medal thanks to a 4-3 victory over British Columbia.

For Tarnowski, it was her first time participating at the national tournament. But she was well acquainted with a number of those on her team.

“It was so much fun,” she said. “I knew a lot of the other (Ontario) girls from before, from other camps and from other teams.”

Tarnowski said the Ontario Red squad entered the nationals confident they could win the title.

“We stuck to our game plan every game,” she said. “You couldn’t ask for a better feeling, especially winning the gold-medal game in overtime. It was so awesome.”

Tarnowski is also a member of the Ottawa-based Lady Sens’ junior hockey squad. The club competes in the 20-team Provincial Women’s Hockey League.

And when possible, she also plans to suit up for her Embrun high school squad this season.

As for next year, however, Tarnowski, who is currently in Grade 12, will be off to Massachusetts. That’s because she’s agreed to accept a scholarship offer from Boston University.

Numerous other post-secondary schools, on both sides of the border, had expressed interest in Tarnowski. This includes many Division 1 schools from the U.S., who have offered scholarships.

But Tarnowski found Boston University the most appealing.

“They have a really good reputation,” she said. “And it’s not an easy school to get into. I’ll be a student/athlete there and not just an athlete.”

Besides starring on the ice, Tarnowski also excels in the classroom. She had an over-all average of 89 per cent in her Grade 11 studies. And as mid-November approached, she was waiting to receive her mid-terms marks for this year.

Tarnowski has yet to declare a major for Boston University. But she applied and has been accepted into the school’s Science department. If need be, she can switch to another program after her first year, at which point she must decide upon a major.

Tarnowski is rather pleased she was able to finalize her post-secondary decision rather early on in her final year of high school studies.

“It’s definitely a load off for me,” she said. “Since there were a number of schools that were interested there was a lot of stuff to sort through. It was definitely a big decision. It’s deciding where you’ll live and what you’ll do for the next four years.”

Besides the recent national under-18 tournament, Tarnowski also competed in another Canadian championship in 2015.

She was on the Ontario female squad that took part in the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC). That event, which concluded in early May, was held in Halifax.

Tarnowski and her Ontario teammates ended up winning the silver medal at that event. Saskatchewan edged Ontario 3-2 in the gold-medal game.

Tarnowski is also eligible to participate in the 2016 NAHC, which will be held in Mississauga, Ont.