Submitted and Review staff
A young Rimbey girl is becoming quite successful at playing the pipes, and it has nothing to do with the strange-sounding musical instrument that originated in Scotland.
After honing her fledgling career with Rimbey Minor Hockey, 14 year-old Camille Trautman has taken the next step and is currently playing for the Midget “AAA” Red Deer Chiefs as one of two goaltenders.
After spending six years in the local hockey association which saw her help two boys teams win gold and silver medals at provincial championships in two separate seasons, Trautman switched to female hockey in 2006 stopping pucks for the Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs at the Midget “A” level in the North Central Minor Hockey League.
While with that squad she helped the team to capture another gold medal in the provincial championships and maintained one of the best goals-against averages in the league.
“I have no idea. I started off as a regular player and then I guess I tried it for one game and I liked it,” Trautman said when asked how she ended up between the pipes.
Last season she took another big step up the ladder when she tried out for, and made, her current team which plays in the 12-team league that features three Calgary-based teams and others in Edmonton, St. Albert, Grand Prairie, Medicine Hat and Lloydminster, to name a few.
The Chiefs recently competed in the prestigious Notre Dame North American Showcase Tournament in Wilcox, Saskatchewan where they went undefeated in the round-robin portion of the 16-team tournament before falling to an Edmonton team in the playoffs by a score of 1-0 for a third place finish after her and the team’s other goaltender allowed only two goals against in four games.
Just before this past Christmas, Trautman was chosen as the number one goaltender in the league and was selected to lace them up with an all-star team that faced the Finish National team featuring players aged 18 years or younger. That game was played on January 3 of this year in Okotoks which saw Trautman and her team defeat the Finns 7-4.
Just prior to that the Chiefs headed to Calgary for the annual Mac’s Major Midget World Invitational Tournament that featured 25 male and 15 female teams from as far away as Russia.
Once again the Chiefs rose to the top of the field by going undefeated through the preliminary rounds and found themselves facing another powerhouse in the form of the previously mentioned Notre Dame Hounds in the tournament’s semi-finals.
After going for three years without a loss and after winning the tournament for the previous three years in a row, the Hounds came up against a buzz saw in the form of the Chiefs, and fell to Trautman and her squad by a score of 3-1.
For her efforts, Trautman was named the Player of the Game and was also selected to the tournament’s First All-Star Team for her exceptional play, which saw the Chiefs advance to the final.
The following day the Chiefs met the Swift Current Wildcats under the big top of Calgary’s Pengrowth Saddledome but after a long, tough fight to the top, the Chiefs came up a bit short and fell to the Wildcats by a final score of 6-2.
“It was a good game,” Trautman said. “We weren’t really awake for it and came up a bit short, but it was really cool to play in the Saddledome,”
The team may have lost in the final, but they cleaned up on the awards that saw Trautman named the tournament’s most valuable goaltender, topping Delayne Brian, an opposing goaltender who is currently listed on the roster on the Canadian National Team.
Other members of the Chiefs who collected some hardware were Madison Oullette for the best plus/minus record, Kendice Ogilvie as the tournament’s top scorer, Mickey Girard as top coach, Amanda Young who was named both the most valuable defenseman and most valuable player and the entire team as the sportsmanship team of the tournament.
Up next for Trautman is the Alberta Winter Games where she will tend the pipes after being chosen during a selection camp that was held in Stettler from January 4 to 6.
This year’s games will be held in Leduc this February.
As for her idol, Trautman says she likes Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League who captured the Stanley Cup two years ago in a thrilling final over the Edmonton Oilers.
“I know him and met him a couple of times and he’s a really good goalie,” she said.
As for the long-term future, Trautman said she’d like to continue tending the net and hopes to land a scholarship at a university or college in the United States.