First local player drafted by CWHL team

A homegrown hockey player became the first Olds skater drafted to the Canadian Women's Hockey League last week.

Krista Wilson was picked up by the Calgary Inferno in the 13th round, during the league's eighth draft held at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Aug. 20.

Wilson wasn't able to make the trip to the Big Smoke for the draft announcements, and spent the day waiting with bated breath.

"I sat there at work, on my phone, refreshing my Twitter feed every five seconds, waiting for my notification to pop up," she said.

Wilson started her minor hockey career with the Olds Grizzlys and then moved on to play Bantam AAA and Midget AAA with the Red Deer Chiefs. She graduated from Olds High School in 2013, and headed west to play two years for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds before returning to Olds in 2015.

She was planning to focus on a career in sports management, when Olds College booted up its own hockey program.

"(The head coach) phoned me and said that they had sports management, they were starting a team up, and offered me the chance to play," said Wilson, "and I was like, yeah, let's do it."

Wilson played two years under former Broncos coach Sarah Hilworth, completing her sports management diploma this year. With two years of business credits from UBC, she had plans to use her last year of hockey eligibility playing for the Broncos while finishing her business diploma. But in June, Hilworth took a position as head coach for the University of New Brunswick.

"When she left, I didn't know if I wanted to do that," said Wilson, "so I thought the CWHL was a good option to continue to play."

Wilson also said that the timing was right to enter her name in the draft this year – with it being an Olympic year, many national team players are focused on training for the games, leaving more spots open in the league.

Being drafted means she will now head to a final tryout with the Inferno in September, where the roster will be cut to 25 active players, while others could be placed on a reserve list. But even a reserve spot wouldn't necessarily come as a major disappointment.

"It's just the games that you might miss out on," said Wilson, "but you will still be practising with some of the best in Canada and getting that experience that way."

Right now both options are still on the table for Wilson – she hasn't ruled out playing her final year with the Broncos. But to be eligible for the CWHL, players are not allowed to simultaneously play college or university hockey. She'll have to make a decision.

"So it's whether or not I want to put that on hold for a year and pursue my dream of hockey, or if I want to do hockey and go to school in Olds," she said.

Regardless of the decision, one thing doesn't change.

"I'm the first Olds native to be drafted."