Danika Dureau, Battlefords Sharks enjoying a stellar season

Danika Dureau has been one of the key pieces as the Battlefords Sharks have seen quite the turnaround in a few short seasons.

The U18 Female AAA team leads the pack with a league-best 21-2-2-2 record this season — Dureau’s second season on the team.

“The whole team, we’re all kind of filled with the drive and passion for the hockey so it just makes us better. We’re practicing to become dominant,” said Dureau, who at 16-years-old is leading the league in points.

“We’re not taking it easy on each other, but we’re being aggressive in the team manner. So, nothing like personal. It’s just like we’re making each other better every day.”

Back in the 2022-23 season, the Sharks had only won two games — a drop from the five games they won the previous season.

Nolan Horbach was brought in as the new head coach tasked with turning the team around.

“When I started, we took stock of where we were at and just thought a hard reset was necessary. We released everybody and we started from scratch. We’re young – that’s the reality of it. We had a lot of success last year going with one veteran of the league and 13 true rookies,” Horbach said.

One of those rookies last season was Dureau, who has emerged as a leader at a young age, already named captain of the team.

“What’s not to like about Danika? First and foremost, an incredible human. Just wants to be better every day, wants to represent herself and her team at the rink, at the school, in the community. To see her grow since getting to know her and her family is just incredible. She’s still just a 16-year-old young woman who just wants to be the best,” Horbach said.

Dureau grew up in White City but is of Cree heritage with her mom a member of the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation.

“It’s a big part of who I am. My family from that side, they’ve always been great supporters and ever since I was little, they were always telling me that I’ll do great things. I just took that into consideration. I think I’ve just always wanted to give back to my community and be a role model for Indigenous youth that I never had growing up,” Dureau said.

“When I was growing up, I never really had that role model. I had Brigette Lacquette, who I looked up to a lot. When I see little kids come to the game, or little kids giving high fives, it makes me feel really good myself, like I can be there for them. It’s kind of hoping that they think if I’m able to do this, that one day, maybe they are too.”

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Another one of her role models was her own brother Jaydon. He was a fifth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“He was always kind of ahead of me but I think that’s what made me better. When he first moved away for first year U15, that kind of made me more mature being like, ‘He’s already gone and he’s following his dream already that maybe I can do that one day,’” Dureau said.

“I thank a lot of who I am today to him, because he’s taught me so much about the game and how to be off the ice and how to become a leader.”

She will also play in a third National Aboriginal Hockey Championships this May.

“When you come to this, you see all these people — there’s a lot of high-end players from every single team like Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, B.C. It’s probably some of the best hockey I’ve ever played and being surrounded with Indigenous people, it’s just a great experience for me,” Dureau said. “It’s a great tournament and I love it so much to be surrounded with everyone.”

Dureau hasn’t just excelled at hockey, but lacrosse as well. She had never played the sport growing up until one of her hockey friends told her about a try-out for it.

Danika Dureau (white jersey) has represented Team Saskatchewan at the North American Indigenous Games in lacrosse. (Danika Dureau/Submitted)

She instantly fell in love with it and has played lacrosse on Team Saskatchewan at the North American Indigenous Games and also at the Canada Summer Games.

“I think the experience I had at NAIG was amazing — just seeing all these Indigenous youth participating in their sport and representing where they come from and their heritage, it made me feel really special to be doing the same and representing where I’m from,” Dureau said.

“It was just amazing to go there and see all these people and all of them are role models in their own ways for their family, their friends and their reserves and nations. It was a great experience.”

“It made me better as a person to really go there and realize how much this means to some people and not everyone gets that opportunity.”

It has been in the hockey rink where Dureau has found plenty of success. While playing U15 hockey, she was trying to determine where she would play next.

She admitted the Battleford Sharks didn’t jump out as a viable option to her because of their poor records.

But that changed once she got a chance to meet with Horbach.

“I really believed that he can make a change. I was kind of talking to some other girls that were thinking about coming here after meeting him as well,” Dureau said.

“He was just a great coach. I knew I wanted to go someplace where I can make make a name for myself. It pushed me that much stronger to be one of the top players on a young team.”

“Just started talking with anybody and everybody who would listen at the U15 level and one of the things I really preached was we just wanted to be around good kids and good families and Danika’s name kept coming up,” Horbach said.

“We started to gain momentum when a few of their peers decided this was the best opportunity for them.”

Now a few years later, the Sharks are among the best U18 AAA teams in Canada with Dureau helping lead the charge. She has already committed to Merrimack College in Massachusetts to play her University hockey.

After giving the Regina Rebels, the eventual national champions, a run in the second round of last year’s playoffs, Dureau and the Sharks are hoping to go on their own run this time around.

“It won’t come easy. There’s still some work we have to do as a team. It’s just very exciting for me,” Dureau said. “Some of us have realized we might not have another opportunity at this and with the group we have this year, it’s just so special. A lot of work still be done, but very exciting, and can’t wait to hopefully make it come true.”