A Clarendon teen left her mark on the provincial hockey stage last week after winning gold at the Jeux du Québec hosted in Blainville.
Ivy Thompson, a Grade 8 student at Pontiac High School, played for the Outaouais women’s hockey team, a collection of the best players under 15 years of age from across the region.
Her team scored 24 goals across five games on the way to an undefeated record, ending with a 4-2 win against a powerhouse Montreal team in the final. The win was Team Outaouais’ second consecutive Jeux du Québec title.
Thompson plays club hockey for the Bantam A Pontiac Lions. She said she was nervous going into the Team Outaouais tryouts since many of the team’s core players were part of the Gatineau AAA team, one of the best teams in the region.
“I was really surprised,” said Thompson about making the team. “Especially the first couple tryouts, I thought to myself that I didn’t do the total best, but then the last tryout was a game and I thought I played really well.”
But Thompson proved right at home on the team. Coach Claudia Fortin said the relatively unknown Thompson came as a bit of a surprise to the coaches, but she turned out to be one of the team’s hardest-working players.
“We were looking for grit and intensity to complete our roster [ . . . ] and that’s how we decided to take Ivy on our team, and we truly were not disappointed. She was one of the girls I was most impressed with,” she said.
In the team’s final game of the round robin, Thompson scored two goals to help her team achieve a 5-0 victory over Richelieu-Yamaska. She said it was nice to see her hard work pay off.
“It felt good, especially with all the encouragement from my team and the coaches too. It felt nice,” she said.
In the tournament final against Montreal, Thompson’s team trailed 2-0 to start the game. After a pep talk from Fortin and the other coaches, she said the girls were able to dig in their heels with four unanswered goals to finish the game.
Thompson was on the ice as time ticked down, and kept glancing back at the clock until eventually it expired, leaving her team champions.
“We just had a talk and said, just play it simple and let’s just do our best. And that’s what we did, so then we stepped up,” she said.
Fortin said the team performed well for only having a short time to prepare for the games. With only a few practice sessions and one exhibition game, she said players were still figuring out chemistry while at the tournament.
“It clicked pretty quick, and we were happy for that obviously in a short tournament where everything kind of has to line up perfectly for it to go well,” Fortin said.
Thompson said that playing on such a big stage was nerve-wracking, but she felt at home with the level of talent on the ice.
“From Bantam A [to] what I played this weekend, it was definitely a big difference, but I just tried my best and gave it my all,” she said.
She said she gets her tough style of play from brother Taytum Thompson, who has 18 points this season for the Gatineau Intrépide U17 team.
“I’ve always looked up to my brother playing, and my brother’s the type of player to also be aggressive out there and always play hard and play his best. I’ve always looked up to that.”
She said the tournament was also an opportunity for some lighter moments. Her team faced off against other teams in a push-up challenge.
They also befriended their bus driver, who hailed from Hull and was rooting for the team throughout the tournament. Before the final game against Montreal, the team got a surprise visit from their new pal.
“The coach had said that we have a visitor, and then he comes in and gives us a big pep talk and hypes us up for our game. And then we won it for Jean,” she said.
Thompson only made it part way through the tryouts for the Gatineau AAA team this year, suffering a broken thumb and a head injury. She said she plans to try out for the team again next year.
“If I keep training this summer and get a little bit stronger, I’ll hopefully have a good chance.”
