Krzyzaniak preparing for first season with UND
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- Published on Friday, September 20, 2013
By: Lanny Stewart
myWestman.ca
After spending the past five years with the Pursuit of Excellence women's hockey program, Neepawa's Halli Krzyzaniak is now preparing for her first season with the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
The 18-year-old blueliner, who signed a letter of intent to join the NCAA Division I squad late last year, is practicing with the team and is preparing for pre-season games before the club begins the regular season next month.
"I love it down here," she said. "The atmosphere is amazing. It's so competitive every day and the girls really push me to always be at my best. Grand Forks is definitely a hockey town. Hockey is everything here."
If all goes according to plan, Krzyzaniak and the UND squad should have a solid season on the ice. After finishing tied for second place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association last season and runner-up in the 2013 WCHA Final Face-Off, the UND team was picked third in the conference pre-season coaches poll. The squad is also ranked fifth in the USA Today/USA Magazine national pre-season poll.
Meanwhile, Krzyzaniak, considered to be a highly-touted prospect who received plenty of offers from Division I schools prior to signing her letter of intent with UND, recently received one vote in a WCHA pre-season rookie of the year poll.
Krzyzaniak will be taking part in a fan fest event on the weekend where she will be signing autographs and interacting with the fans.
"I know we have one of the highest attendance records for women's hockey in the NCAA, so I'm extremely excited to get started," she continued.
She says she is looking forward to the club's first exhibition contest next Friday, which just so happens to be against her former team, the Pursuit of Excellence women's squad from Kelowna. UND then starts regular season action the following weekend, hosting Lindenwood, Oct. 4-5.
Krzyzaniak all smiles after Hockey Canada camp
Prior to joining her teammates at UND, Krzyzaniak took part in a Hockey Canada under-22 national women's development team selection camp in August. She wound up impressing coaches and scouts and was named as one of the 13 development team players that ended up playing in a three game intra-squad series with the 27 members of the Canadian national team.
"Leaving camp, I had lots of positive feedback from the coaches, as well as lots of things to work on," she said. "They've [coaches] been in contact with my coaches here at UND to let them know what Hockey Canada would like me to work on this season."
In photo: Neepawa's Halli Krzyzaniak (left) and UND associate head coach Peter Elander at a recent team practice.
Photo submitted
