In what turned out to be a rollercoaster of a season, 16-year-old goaltender Delaney Dreger played regularly for the Lorette Comets but also ended up in the crease for nine different teams throughout the year.
Before getting into the details of her latest season, Dreger looked back at her start in hockey and how she became a goalie. "I started playing when I was nine years old," she explains with a smile. "That same year, I became a goalie. I knew pretty early one that I wanted to be a goalie. I only played hockey for about two months before I knew I wanted to commit to it full time."
Dreger says her parents were on board with her crease dreams right from the start. "I think they kind of knew, since I was playing with a team at the age where we kind of rotated goalies, I really liked it every single time I played. I thought that I kind of had that natural skill for it, so it was something I knew I wanted to do it."
Growing up, Dreger says hockey was a big part of her families life. "A lot of my family members play hockey. It's a pretty big part of my family, I have a lot of family members that have played some pretty decent, good hockey."
Being a goaltender comes with highs and lows, something Dreger knows all too well, and she says working on the mental side of things has really helped her as she's grown up in the crease. "Honestly, sometimes it felt really great but there are also times where I felt so much pressure, since when you're a goalie, it's easy to tell when you make a mistake. Comparing it to a player, if they make a mistake, it might not be as noticeable, but when you're a goalie and you make a mistake, the score changes. There's a lot of pressure on that. But, when you go good, it's a great, great feeling."
This past season was a big one for Dreger, not just on the ice but also when it comes to working with some terrific teammates, who turned out to be more like a family. "It was a really great year," she says with an excited tone. "I made a lot of really great friends that I'm still friends with today. All the girls are great and every year with the Comets, they've been fun and it's been so memorable because the people have been so amazing."
It wasn't just the Comets that Dreger suited up for. "I was associated with nine different teams," she says proudly.
How it all came about was pretty natural, as Dreger explains. "So, for the 2023-24 season, I played U15 Selects. That summer, I was a part of the Performance Of Excellence top 68 team, so I played a few games with that. Then I tried out for the U18 AAA Selects but because the Eastman region has such great, amazing, like outstanding goalies, I didn't play for them. So then I tried out for the U18 AA Sharks, but they had two veteran goaltenders returning, but I still played a pre-season exhibition game for them. After that, I decided that I wanted to try boys hockey, so I joined the Landmark Blues U18 team for a little bit, but they had two goalies, so I decided to join my friends back in Lorette. Shortly after that, I was offered to practice with the U18 Selects girls, so I practiced with them all year and when Adi Tomes got injured, I suited up and for six games I sat on the bench. I was also in a goalie pool for high school teams, and I played with Portage Collegiate Institute, Collège Jeanne Sauvé, St. John's-Ravenscourt and Collège Pierre Elliot Trudeau."
That's an incredible amount of hockey and travel for one goaltender but there was one main thing that Dreger says made it all a lot easier for her. "It was great because every team I played for this year, I always knew somebody on the ice. Whether it was playing with them at a certain point or playing against them."
For this next upcoming year, Dreger plans to be busy but maybe not as busy as playing for nine different teams, although in her perfect world, it's still more than one team she'd like to protect the net for. "Next year, I really want to play for my high school team and represent it for the first year my school has a high school team for girls. I also want to play for the Eastman Sharks."
Nine different teams is pretty unbelievable and thankfully for Delaney Dreger, she's not a number superstitious goalie because she admits her number changed quite a bit over the year. "I don't remember what most of the numbers were, I'm sure they were either 1 or 31. I really like the number 1, but I haven't gotten it in the past few years."
If her love of the game, passion and dedication are any indication, next year Dreger will be wearing number 1 for her high school team and the AA Sharks.