Medicine Hat College Rattlers Women’s hockey sits in a playoff spot heading into 2026

With the program further along, James King was brought as the head coach for the 2025-26 season.

He said that so far this year has gone quite well.

“The team had a unique start, being that we played the top three teams for the first nine games. To the players’ credit, they definitely had an uphill battle, and they did quite well through those nine games,” King said.

“They are working quite hard, and the points are reflecting that.”

The tough competition at the start is something that King said has helped the team’s growth.

“That is the exact foresight that we talked about as a team that we could look at it as a negative or a positive that we’re gonna challenge ourselves right out of the gate,” King said.

“That’s how the players looked at it, and their compete level showed it. It was a positive for them to have that competition right at the start and see where the bar is in the league.”

The Rattlers have lost seven of the 10 games by one goal, with one of those contests going to a shootout.

“I would say that their record doesn’t totally reflect how they’ve been playing. They’re going to one-goal games with the projected top three teams in the league,” King said.

“They’ve done really well for what we could say the first half of the season.”

A three-game winning streak was also achieved by the team from Nov. 21 to Nov. 28, with a pair of wins over SAIT and a win over Olds College.

“They’re highly competitive teams as well. We have to stay above and compete against those teams as well as still fine-tune our game against the higher-end teams as well, or the stronger teams by the standings,” King said.

“We know we’re going to be chased by Olds and SAIT. So, can’t let their guard down at all.”

King said the team identity was talked about right from the start of the season.

“They decided on their own, really, they need to be that hardworking team. So we’re not going to come in there and clean up teams by three, four goals kind of thing. They have to work for every inch. So that’s their team identity,” King said.

“That’s their goal of pushing forward.”

King said recruitment has helped the team improve, but so has the continued development of players within the program.

“The main core of the team is similar to last year. There are a few players added, which absolutely helped for sure. And I think a lot of it is just the mindset of how they wanted to compete this year,” King said.

“Every year, a new association is built; it’s always building blocks. And we’re building on last year’s successes and continuing, and hopefully next season builds on this one.”

King said it’s been a team effort to get to this point.

“That’s the one thing I think that reflects our success so far, it’s kind of by committee. We have a strong defensive core. Our goalies are working hard, as you can see by those one-goal games. And a lot of our forwards are producing,” King said.

“That’s the one thing I noticed from just looking at last year, is the amount of points that they’re actually putting up on the board. So they’re finding the back of the net.”

The Rattlers don’t return to action until Friday, Jan. 9, when they host the SAIT Trojans, but the players who are still in the city have kept practicing over the break.

The team has also maintained their focus on helping younger female players in the community with Medicine Hat Minor Hockey.

“That’s one of our goals for the season, our players are split up through the Wildcats Association,” King said.

“We have multiple players going out and going to their ice times for that mentorship for the younger females that are coming up. And then there’s a higher level of play for them to strive towards.”

by Jesse Gill

Medicine Hat College Rattlers Women’s hockey sits in a playoff spot heading into 2026

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