Amanda Asay is trading in her baseball glove for a hockey stick.
The 30-year-old multi-sport athlete from Prince George strapped on the blades over the weekend with the Northern Penguins of the South Coast Women’s Hockey League.
It didn’t take long for Asay to rediscover her scoring touch, lighting the lamp three times in a two-game set against the Ridge Meadow Moose dropping a pair of close shaves at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena by scores of 5-2 and 8-7.
In an interview with My PG Now, Asay admits it took some getting used being out on the ice again but had a blast nonetheless.
“It feels really good but really tiring to be back out there. I spent last winter in Australia so I haven’t been on the ice in over two years so it’s definitely taken some getting used to but it feels good to be back out there.”
March of the @North_Penguins comes up short falling to @_moosehockey 8-7 in @SCWomensHockey action #CityofPG #sports pic.twitter.com/9tuHCCIyQH
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 17, 2019
Asay comes by the sport honestly going through the Northern Cougars female program before playing boys Tier One House and then finally attracting the eye of NCAA scouts attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
In her three years with the Bears, Asay recorded seven points in 62 career games before an ankle injury forced her to sit out a year.
While attending the Ivy League school, she also suited up for the softball team.
In recent years, baseball has taken her down a very successful path playing for the Canadian national team on seven occasions at the IBAF Women’s World Cup (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018).
At the 2006 edition of the tournament, she was named to the all-star team. Of note, Asay logged a .500 batting average while accumulating nine RBI’s.
Last September, Asay helped pitch the Canadians to a bronze medal in Florida where they defeated the arch-rival United States 8-5 in Florida.
Asay also picked up a silver medal with Canada at the 2015 Pan-Am Games in Toronto.
Now that she’s back on the ice, some of the subtle pace differences of both sports are taking some getting used to.
“There is a lot of downtime in baseball with short bursts of intensity but in hockey, you are on for 45 seconds and then you don’t have to worry about anything for 45 seconds so it’s a bit of a different pace than baseball for sure but I try to do it as much as I can in the off-season for sure.”
.@mypgnow halfway through the second period in @SCWomensHockey action @_moosehockey up 5-4 over @North_Penguins #cityofpg #sports #NorthernBC pic.twitter.com/kndTnjIwFb
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 17, 2019
Asay is in the process of completing her Ph.D. in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC, where she played her final two seasons of collegiate hockey with the Thunderbirds between 2010-12 collecting 20 points in 48 games.
The Penguins are currently 1-17-1 in their first season at the SCWHL level.
Even though the team’s record isn’t what they would like, Asay believes having a team that is Senior AA calibre is a big step for women’s hockey in Northern BC.
“When I was younger growing up in Prince George I think we just had the Northern Blades program, which is Single-A and not the calibre of this league so it’s great to have a team like this playing out of the north. I think it will give players another place to go and to go give them more high-caliber games.”
One of the @North_Penguins taking a hit to draw a penalty against @_moosehockey in @SCWomensHockey action. Penguins traik 8-5 in the third. #CityofPG #sports pic.twitter.com/K8Z4yiQnUG
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 17, 2019
