Erin Fargey walked into Wayne Flemming Arena and found she had a home away from home.
The Langdon-area goalie didn’t take lightly the decision of where she would be spending her university years, but it didn’t take long after arriving at the University of Manitoba before figuring out that’s where she belonged.
She’s committed to joining the Bisons next season after she completes her time with the Northern Alberta Extreme in Edmonton, where she’s getting ready to make a playoff run.
“It was an entirely different feeling when I got to Manitoba,” said the 17-year-old. “It was a place I could see myself being for a long time.
“I thought the arena was a big part of it. The rink is an older place to play. It’s worn down and well used, but definitely well loved.
“I thought it was an old city barn. It’s a stereotypical old-school place to play. It felt homey. It was out of the ordinary for me and not like places I’ve been in the past. It just felt right.
“Honestly I really loved the coach too. I connected with him right off the bat.”
That coach would be Jon Rempel, who has four coach of the year titles in Canada West and has led the Bisons to five national championship trips during his tenure there.
Fargey is excited to be joining a program where winning is the norm, but she understands it won’t be an easy climb to get where she wants to go.
There will be a returning goalie also vying for the starting job so she knows it will take plenty of work and making the most of her opportunities to get time during regular-season games.
“The thing about university is you can’t come in expecting to be a starter,” Fargey said. “You have to earn the spot your are playing for.
“I’ve been told that I will get an equal chance to get my time. Those games are the chance to show them how I play. That will allow me to get the chance to play as much as I like.”
Fargey has played goal ever since she started in hockey and was playing with the boys until peewee when she joined a team in Okotoks. She’s put up quite the resume since then though, playing for Team Alberta at the 2017 National Women’s Under-18 Championship and winning provincial, Pacific regional and bronze at the Esso Cup while with the Rocky Mountain Raiders in 2015-16.
As a goalie, she models herself around Montreal Canadiens star Carey Price, who sets the standard for most youngsters because of his style.
“He’s the hockey guru for goalies,” Fargey said. “He’s beyond technical. It’s that ability that makes him so good. When you are training and practising, you focus on all the little details that he has. They are small but they make him the best in the NHL.”
Two weeks ago, Fargey and her Extreme teammates toured through Quebec and upstate New York to play games and visit universities to get a sense of the college-hockey culture. It was a big benefit for Fargey to play against differing styles of play in that part of the country, and it was a great experience to see another part of the world.
“Hockey takes you everywhere, all over the province and the country to be honest,” Fargey said. “It’s taken me places I never would have been to ever in my life. I know girls who have gone to the U.S. for it. It’s cool to see something like that.”
Now that the team has returned from their trip and finished regular-season action, the focus is on the playoffs in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
She gets a chance to shine at this level before moving on to the university level, so a long playoff run is the perfect way to get ready for a big move in the fall.
“This is going to prepare me to compete with the other goalie partner,” Fargey said. “It’s a teammate but you are always competing to get better. That’s what makes us successful as a team, if we push each other.”
