By Terrie Welwood
If you’re searching for a picture of Madison Haliuk, it’s probably safe to say that what you’ll find will have something to do with hockey.
That’s because hockey has been a huge part of Madison’s life for just about as far back as she can remember.
She first donned hockey gear at the age of five – taking on a love of the game after watching her older brother Carson on ice.
Recently, her years of hard work have paid off in a big way as Madison has committed to the Assiniboine Community College Cougar women’s hockey team for the 2022-23 season.
Not that it was her first offer.
Despite having numerous other universities and colleges from down south reach out to her, Haliuk who is daughter of Brian Haliuk and Estha Baseley, chose to stay a little closer to her hometown of Binscarth.
Over the years, there’s been a number of teams – in fact, in one season in her bantam year, Madison played for three separate teams – one, a male team and the other were two different female teams.
Over the years at the Bantam level she’s played with the Parkland Rangers Girls team, the Grand Plains Ice Dogs – also a female team and for the Foxwarren Falcons boys team. In Peewee and Atom Madison hit the ice for both the female Foxwarren Foxes and the boys team – the Foxwarren Falcons.
Like any hockey family, that meant a lot of traveling. Although it’s highly possible that Madison and her family may have travelled a little bit more than others….
For the past three years, Madison has played as a forward for the Manitoba Female Hockey Leagues (MFHL) Central Plains Capitals out of Portage La Prairie.
That’s close to a three hour drive one way – twice a week.
Then there’s power skating in Brandon and Melville, depending upon the availability of ice time.
A statuesque 6 foot tall – which translates to 6’3” on skates, – her teammates rely on her strength, her speed and her top notch hockey sense and skill.
A fact that’s never been lost on team scouts and coaches from across North America.
“Madison is a power forward, with her size and strength, she is hard to defend against,” said Assiniboine Community College Cougar’s head coach Tony Bertone.
“Her play in the hard areas will create space for other players.”
So far this season as a forward with the Central Plains Capitals, Haliuk has listed 9 goals and 13 assists on the stat sheets. Her hockey career, already boasts an impressive list of accolades:
Madison has been named to the Hockey Manitoba U16 Top 100 Program of Excellence. At the bantam level, as a member of the Ice Dogs, she and her teammates took home a silver medal from provincials.
Up the hockey ladder at the MFHL level, Haliuk was selected for the Central Plains Capitals Coaches Award in 2020 As a member of the Metis nation, more recently Haliuk was selected to Team Manitoba’s 2022 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship roster.
She will be competing in the games held in May at Membertou First Nation in Nova Scotia.