(Photo: Nick Badders/WCSN)
For sophomore forward Karlie Chadwick, her first season playing ice hockey for the Arizona State University’s Women’s Hockey Team went well. The Sun Devil forward scored five goals and had two assists through 20 games.
Chadwick grew up in the Arizona desert and played hockey from a young age, crediting her parents’ love for hockey as the reason she started playing the game.
“My parents grew up back east and they played roller hockey all the time, so they just kind of put me into it,” Chadwick said.
Although seems cliched, Chadwick says the constant advice to “skate hard” from a young age has always resonated with her. As Chadwick continued to get better at hockey, she has kept that important piece of advice close by.
Now heading into her second season at ASU, Chadwick is excited to get back out on the ice for the Sun Devils.
When asked what she learned last year, she put it plainly: “[It was] To work really hard.” Chadwick added, “Coach doesn’t play the best players, but the players who are working hard.”
The Sun Devils welcome in 11 recruits for the 2020-21 season, and Chadwick is not only prepared to work with them in practice (once they start), but is also excited to get to know her teammates as they transition. After all, she was in their position last year.
“I’ve just been hanging out with all of them and giving them rides and talking to them about the season,” Chadwick said. “I know they’re all nervous—they don’t really know what a real game is, or [what] a real travel experience is, or anything like that. So, just kind of explaining to them that it’s so fun and they should look forward to it.”
With the upcoming hockey season postponed due to the pandemic, head coach Lindsey Ellis gave her players workouts to stay in shape through the elongated offseason. Chadwick noted the hard work they all had to do.
“Every week we had to do shooting in our backyard, we had to do stickhandling drills and body weights and stuff like that,” Chadwick said.
As the 2020-21 season approaches, the Chadwick and the Sun Devils team are ready and waiting for their chance to shine.
And although Chadwick will be helping out her new peers, she has set her own personal goals for the upcoming season.
Chadwick said, “[My goal is to] not always dump [the puck] or pass, but skate with it and be more confident.”
Either way, Chadwick looks to step into a more integral role on and off the ice for upcoming season.
