Eight teams were in action today in Canada West women’s hockey action, but it was the only team not to lead to today’s discovery. I’ll talk more about those other games at The rundown on Sunday, but it was an exhibition match between the Alberta Pandas and the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens of the ACAC which required me to check the Alberta website for scoring information. While I was there I noticed that they had published the box score for their exhibition game against the NAIT Ooks last week, so I went ahead and made the updates to reflect that box score. Last week’s edition The rundown now all that score information has been added to it.However, there was one name for the NAIT Ooks that jumped off the page, as the last time anyone mentioned it was when this goaltender was with the Calgary Dinos, recovering from an injury. That player is Ella Howard pictured above, and it turns out she was injured in a way that affected her goal-setting ability, and she has since been transferred to NAIT, where she now guards their net!
Howard was once seen as the next goaltender behind Nicole Jackson, who was born and educated in Great Britain. She has already played in a number of international events with the British national team, and was expected to take more steps forward in her progress when she agreed to join the Calgary Dinos in Canada West. As a rookie, she didn’t see much ice time, but there was hope she could settle in and become the next Dino’s goaltending sensation, much like Kelsey Roberts and Gabriella Durante did.
But as we know, things don’t always go according to plan, and Howard was struck by a serious injury. According to this report submitted by the NAIT athletics departmentHoward played with soreness in her hips and legs, but appears to have found some relief from the injury.
“I had a hip condition called FAI for several years,” Howard told the NAIT reporter in the Jan. 7 article, “which over time led to a labral tear and grade four chondromalacia.”
FAI is the acronym that stands for “femoroacetabular impingement,” in which the ball of the femur and the socket in which that ball fits have abnormal shapes, causing them to rub and squeeze during movement, damaging joint tissues such as the labrum and cartilage, leading to pain, stiffness and limited movement. As Howard explained, her case resulted in a labrum tear and a breakdown of the cartilage on the underside of the kneecap and femur, which would be extremely painful for a goaltender based on the most commonly used butterfly technique.
As the article states, Howard’s choice of sport in kickboxing and hockey actually contributed to the FAI diagnosis, with the hips acting as shock absorbers in both sports, and the abnormal bone growth may be due to the repair of the bone and socket.
Surgery repaired the torn labrum, but it will take a lot of physical therapy work to get Howard back to the level she was at when the Calgary Dinos invited her to join the team. However, knowing that she is already on that path by taking on the Pandas is a great sign for her, and I am hopeful that Ella will continue her hockey journey!
Her recovery has also taught Ella a valuable lesson as an athlete, saying, “I’ve had to learn to stay disciplined and have faith in long-term benefits that are often invisible.”
Howard’s results against the Pandas probably weren’t where she wanted them to be, as she stopped eight of 11 shots in the one period of work she had. However, the phrase she quoted above is the mantra she must continue as she embarks on the final phase of her rehabilitation, during which she hopes to see “as many different takes and scenarios as possible, so I don’t have to hesitate” in the crease.
I doubt we’ll see Ella Howard at this year’s IIHF Women’s Division 1B World Championship as she works to get back to her old self, but I’m glad to see Howard back on the ice doing what she loves. Even if she never wears a Great Britain jersey again, a life without pain should be considered a great victory because it allows her to play, even at a lower level than what she once played, and there should be joy in that for her.
She was gone from hockey for what seemed like an incredibly long time, but it’s fantastic news to find out that Ella Howard will be suiting up for the NAIT Ooks of the ACAC in the coming seasons.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#hips #dont #lie