A former Swift Current Diamond Energy AAA Wildcat and now University of Saskatchewan Huskie rookie Chloe Smith had a successful first season at the CIS level.

The rookie forward played 26 out of the teams 29 games helping them record a 19-9 while amassing 6 points - potting three goals and three assists.

Smith felt the year went well given the leap from competing against girls to women. 

"It was definetly a learning curve and a little bit different than the AAA league I came from in Swift Current." Smith added that it was a cool experiance getting the feeling of going to the finals and nationals in her first season as not many rookies can say they have been able to do that.

"It was the best four years of hockey in my life," Smith quickly said when asked about the AAA program that helped shape her career and guide her into the CIS. She gave lots of credit to head coach of the Wildcats Terry Pavely and the coaching staff that taught her how to develope her skill set for the CIS season, by playing in high level tournaments such as the Mandy Schwartz held in Notre Dame, and the annual Mac's tournament in Calgary.

There were a few familiar faces in the locker room that helped Smith feel more comfortable. Former Wildcat players Brooklyn Haubrich, Kayla Kirwan, and Jasey Book all played for the Huskies this year.

"Going into a new team and organization you always get a little bit of nerves, with those three there it calmed me down, as they showed me the ropes and showed me around campus and introduced me to players and was nice to have them on my side and was good to connect and play with them again."

In the semi-final of the Canada West Championships, Smith scored her biggest goal of the season against University of British Columbia.

Smith potted home the game winning goal in a 2-1 victory over the visiting team from UBC to send her team to the Canada West Final where they dropped the final game to number 1 ranked University of Manitoba 5-2.

The rookie forward and Huskie program went into the national championships ranked as the seventh seed in the country.

Smith talked about the experience saying it was different playing teams from all over the country.

"The teams we played were all pretty big and faster than we have seen," she said. "It is neat to see how the different parts of the country play hockey and how we match up with teams around the country." 

The Huskies knocked off No. 2 ranked Saint Mary's 3-2 in the opening game, they then faced Western and lost a defensive game 2-1 knocking them down to the Bronze Medal match, where they lost to Concordia 4-0 but out shot Concordia 37-28, but were just unable to beat the goalie.

"Next season I am hoping to create more offense and contribute to my team a little bit more and hoping to go the the finals and have a better outcome" mentioned Smith about her expectations for next years season with the Huskies program.