by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips

The Grant MacEwan University Griffins look to three peat as the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Women's (ACAC) Hockey Championships best-of-three semi-finals skate off Thursday.

The Griffins first step will be getting past the Red Deer Queens, who last wore the crown in 2015-2016.

In their way to the title and the last line of defense will be Queens' goalie Karlee Fetch.

Karlee Fetch, RDC

Fetch is new to the Red Deer squad having played the previous three years for the NAIT Ooks.

"I was looking at a different pathway for my education," said Fetch of the move south. "I am currently looking at getting into education or nursing."

A native of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, moving away from home to play her Midget hockey in Saskatoon with the Saskatoon Stars, Fetch was not only an all-around athlete but an outstanding performer in Ukrainian Dancing.

But there are, to our knowledge, no post-secondary scholarships for such.

"I was really good at Ukrainian Dancing," recalls Fetch, 21. "Dance was my favourite and hockey was....was probably a tie. But I gave up dancing around 15 to concentrate on hockey."

Of the transition from NAIT to Red Deer she admitted: "I was a little nervous to start with my new teammates as they were people that I had played against, so I thought maybe they had their own opinions about me already. But they were super welcoming and they would joke about past games we had against each other."

Away from the hockey rink with practice and games, "where I am able to leave it behind at the rink," she comes home to her English Springer Spaniel named Howie.

"Its name is a mixture of Gordie Howe and Gord Downie," said Fetch, of the NHL legend and lead singer of The Tragically Hip, both now deceased. "We try to get in at least 30 minutes to an hour exercise every day...usually going to the dog park."

Asked who her role model in hockey is?

"You are probably looking for an answer that I look up to someone in the NHL. But it is my dad (Brad). He is the one that got me on my skates and kept me going."

Of the opening series against the Griffins?

"Every game will be tough playing against them. They have a lot of experienced players who have played in big games. We have to realize that that the playoffs are a totally new series and forget about the past. This has nothing to do with what has happened during the (regular) season."

This year Fetch had 28 goals against, 2.16 goals against average, with 332 saves and 6 wins 7 losses.

Thumbnail sketches of the opening ACAC Women's Hockey Semi-Finals.

Best of Three Semi-finals

Semi-Final Series 1

Olds Broncos vs. NAIT Ooks

Thursday Feb 28, 2019 7 p.m. at Olds Sportplex Arena, Friday March 1, 2019 7 p.m. at NAIT Arena, Sunday March 3, 2019 6:30 p.m. NAIT Arena if necessary

Olds Broncos 7 wins 16 losses 1 overtime loss 42 goals for 75 goals against
Top Scorers: Bree Edwards 4 goals 6 assists 10 points, Tori Chenier 6 goals 3 assists 9 points
The Puck Stops Here: Lexi Bruce 50 goals against 2.96 goals against average 475 saves 5 wins 12 losses

NAIT Ooks 19 wins 2 losses 3 overtime losses 77 goals for 45 goals against
Top Scorers: Verca Kuželová 13 goals 12 assist 25 points, Brittney Savard 6 points 16 assists 22 points, Megan Leblanc 11 goals 11 assists 22 points
The Puck Stops Here: Kaitlyn Slator 41 goals against 1.62 goals against average 570 saves 19 wins 5 losses

We've Met Before: The Ooks were either hot or cold during their six game regular season sweep of the Broncos, outscoring them 28-10. There were two blowouts, 8-2 and 6-0 but there were also two close games in favour of the Ooks with scores of 4-3 and 3-2.

Semi-Final Series 2

Red Deer College Queens vs. Grant MacEwan Griffins

Thursday Feb 28, 2019 7 p.m. at Edmonton's Downtown Community Arena, Saturday March 2, 2019 7 p.m. at Red Deer's Servus Arena, Sunday March 3, 2019 1:00 p.m. Edmonton's Downtown Community Arena if necessary

Red Deer Queens 10 wins 9 losses 5 overtime losses 51 goals for 60 goals against
Top Scorers: Kaely McMurtry 9 goals 7 assists 16 points, Veronika Bucifalova 6 goals 5 assists 11 points
The Puck Stops Here: Karlee Fetch 28 goals against 2.16 goals against average 332 saves 6 wins 7 losses

Grant MacEwan Griffins 17 wins 5 losses 2 overtime losses 62 goals for 29 goals against
Top Scorers: Chantal Ricker 10 goals 8 assists 18 points; Dominique Scheurer 5 goals 11 assists 16 points; Shyla Jans 7 goals 7 assists 14 points
The Puck Stops Here: Sandy Heim goals against 20 goals against average 1.06 saves 365 win 12 losses 6

We've Met Before: MacEwan took five of the possible six regular season confrontations against the Queens, outscoring the Red Deer side by a 16-7 margin.

Championship website