It's an odd point in the spring to be recapping one of the more prominent seasons in the history of the Diamond Energy Female Midget AAA Wildcats, given the schedule in all likelihood would have pegged the program roughly in the SFMAAAHL semi-finals.

Swift Current raced out of the gates to start the regular season. A season-opening win over the Battlefords Sharks on September 28 turned out to be the first of eight in a row by the Wildcats. The team didn't suffer their first loss of the year until November 23.

After that loss to the Saskatoon Stars, Swift Current rattled off another three wins in a row to head into the Christmas break with a 10-1-1-0 mark and only one point back of the league-leading Regina Rebels.

"I think we probably surprised some people," said head coach Terry Pavely, noting motivation from the previous season was evident in his returning vets especially.

"We had a decent team last year, lost a heart-breaker to Regina in overtime in the playoffs. Our grade 12 kids really stepped up to the plate this year."

However, 2020 didn't start how 2019 ended for Swift Current.

The Wildcats dropped the first two contests of a three-in-three (Jan 3-5) with the Prince Albert Northern Bears to open the second half.

Though Swift Current did manage a convincing shutout win in the finale, they saw another loss put on the board in the lone game of the following weekend - a 6-1 defeat at home to the Regina Rebels.

After so much went right in the 2019 portion of the season - including 3-1-1 record at the Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament - the first two weeks of 2020 finally brought a test of the team's intestinal fortitude.

The Wildcats promptly bounced back in back-to-back weekend sweeps for a quick four game-winning streak. They outscored Battlefords 13-3 and P.A. 5-1 in the pair of six-point weekends.

The momentum shifted in the opposite direction in February, after the tear in mid-to-late January. The shortest month of the year brought a six-game seesaw for Swift Current.

The Wildcats did secure a fifth-straight victory with shutout win over the Notre Dame Hounds, before a tough 6-5 loss shootout loss to the Sharks in Game 1 of a two-game tilt.

Swift Current battled back for a 3-1 win in the rematch with Battlefords, but was shutout in the first of a two-game set with the Hounds.

Again earning a win in the finale with Notre Dame, the Wildcats turned around to the next night, where they were blanked by the Regina Rebels in the provincial capital.

February's seesaw saw a huge upgrade in infrastructure in March, as the highs and lows over the final 12 calendar days of the season were nothing short of a roller-coaster.

The Wildcats had just four games in the final month of the regular-season, with second place in the league already locked up comfortable early the month prior.

They opened with a convincing playoff-like win over Notre Dame on March 4, and faced a three-in-three March 6-8 to round out the 30-game campaign.

Swift Current topped Weyburn on the road that Friday, before earning debatably their biggest win of the season - a 4-2 effort over the first-place Rebels in Regina. In the finale though, Regina exacted revenge, handing them a 6-2 loss.

Despite finishing the season in the losing column, the Wildcats were still riding high, carrying a 21-7-1-1 record at the end of a seven-month schedule:

  • Sept - 1-0-0-0
  • Oct - 5-0-1-0
  • Nov - 2-1-0-0
  • Dec - 2-0-0-0
  • Jan - 5-3-0-0
  • Feb - 3-2-0-1
  • Mar - 3-1-0-0

A best-of-three league quarter-final matchup with the seventh/last-place Weyburn Gold Wings (2-23-3-2) was set for March 14, 15, and 17, should a third-and-final game be necessary.

However, the playoffs were scrapped two days before the series was set to open, with Hockey Canada and Sask Hockey Association calling for the cancellation of all sanctioned events to combat the spread of COVID-19.

"That's probably the hard thing - you have to understand where SHA and Hockey Canada are coming from making a decision for what's best for the safety of the public is totally understandable. We very much respect that decision," said Pavely, the Wildcats' bench boss. "But, you do have that wonder of what could have been."

"It came out on Thursday night and we waited until after school on Friday to meet with our kids," Pavely added. "I think that gave them a little bit of time to digest it. I think being heavily with grade 12s, I think they were very understanding, yet disappointed. I think they knew why the decision had to be made, but very disappointed. Obviously some emotions were let out, but they really handled it very well and knew the reasoning why. That's part of the reason we had success."

It's a tough way for the Wildcats to have displayed that veteran presence, as they were poised to ride the trait deep into the post-season.

"We had some maturity, we had some kids that were able to handle adversity the right way," Pavely said. "A really good group of kids, led by a strong contingent of grade 12 kids. Right to the very end, and even in our disappointment, they handled themselves the right way. I think that speaks volumes to the character that we had this year."

But still, it's impossible for a group of competitive people to not think 'What if?' after their season - and minor hockey career for nine of the 18 players on the roster - came to an abrupt halt.

"That's probably the one thing that is a little disappointing. We talked about Esso Cup as a team, and that was kind of the ultimate goal," Pavely said. "We felt - even though Regina had a really good team, and we're not saying we would have went in and won for sure by any means - we had an opportunity this year."

"We knew if we could get the opportunity to play Regina, it would be a tough series - a real tight series. It would have been nice to have that opportunity, but sometimes the reality of life and what goes on in the world outweighs the importance of hockey. That's what happens. We couldn't be prouder of the things they accomplished this winter."

As mentioned to open, it's hard to argue against the possibility that the sum of some substantial parts over the year could very well have equalled one of the best seasons in a franchise history that dates back to 2006-07.

Their .733 win-percentage was the highest since the 2008-09 season (.857), and third-best all-time for the organization, trailing 2007-08 (.821) as well. Both of those seasons the Wildcats reached the league finals - in 08-09, Swift lost in fifth-and-final game to P.A., while the year before, they fell in four games to Notre Dame. The two campaigns are also the same years they won the prestigious, and now-defunct, Female Division of the Mac's Midget AAA Tournament.

The 2019-20 season also marks the second time in franchise history to have three or more players in the top-10 in SFMAAAHL scoring:

2 - Sara Kendall (47 points)
3 - Baylee Kirwan (41)
9 - Brooklyn Rublee (28)

That again trails an outstanding 28-game 2008-09 season that saw four players achieve the feat:

1 - Brienna Gillanders (40)
3 - Shelby Nisbet (30)
T6 - Sara Greschner (27)
T6 - Bailey Habscheid (27)

The 2019-20 Wildcats also used one of their best goaltending performances to aid in the steady dose of offense.

Amaya Giraudier made 15 starts this season, winning 14 of those games. Her 1.20 goals-against-average and .949 save-percentage are both second in team history behind Jasey Book's 2015-16 season, though that stat wasn't recorded on the league website from 2006-06.

In 15-16, Book posted a 1.12 GAA and .955 in 20 starts, as she backstopped the Wildcats to the league finals, where they lost in four games to Saskatoon.

Though not a comparison to past seasons due to its intangible nature, this year's Wildcats team also thrived in those areas that didn't appear in the box score.

"We were able to play defensive if we needed to. We had kids that were willing to block shots," said Pavely. "We had so many kids that took on so many roles to help us win, and I think that's what you end up with [that] record this year - because kids are willing to do what it takes to win."

"At the end of the day, you can sit back and reflect on our season and say it was a real good season with a good group of kids that put it out on the line for their teammates for seven or eight months," added the head coach.

In a campaign that proved to be a very valid chance at reaching their fourth league finals and even earning their first-ever title, the Wildcats, as does the rest of the league and the entire sport currently, will have to shift from 'What if?' to 'What's next?'.

The Wildcats accounted for 102 goals and 255 total points this season. The eight graduating skaters had 61 of those goals and 176 of those points - a point total that's a shade over 69 percent of the offensive output.

They also lose co-starter Cheyenne Jamieson, who had an 8-7 record, 2.55 GAA, and .903 save-%.

"We don't like to really look at it and say that we're going to rebuild, even though we're going to lose a lot of kids. We've got some good pieces in place, starting in goal. We've got three veteran defensemen coming back, and we've got some kids up front that it's going to be their opportunity to fill roles left by graduating kids," Pavely said.

Though, for the time being, the search for early momentum in the 2020-21 season will have to wait.

With the Wildcats' spring camp in late-April cancelled, there's no word yet on when - or even if - a camp will be able to be held before the later summer months due to COVID-19.

Regardless of the makeup of next year's roster, the goal remains the same for the southwest Saskatchewan Female AAA club.

"Every year we hope to be competitive, and you look at probably the last five, six years - we tend to be a real competitive program, and that's what we hope to do moving forward."