Terry column: Wildcats hitting their stride

The Big Sky Wildcats are used to obstacles.

Just building the team is an obstacle in itself.

The elite 19-and-under girls’ hockey team, constructed of players from around Montana, rarely has time to practice together in season, with teammates and home rinks situated hundreds of miles apart — ranging from Miles City and Glasgow to Bozeman, Missoula and the Flathead Valley.

Yet, they still win.

While only getting together for games and tournaments, the Wildcats won eight of their last 10 games this season, concluding in an 8-2 romp of Wyoming to clinch the Northern Plains District championship. That win advanced Big Sky to the USA Hockey national championships for the third time in five years.

“The experience of getting to go in the first place is exciting,” Kalispell’s Kacie Barrett said.

“It’s nerve-wracking at the same time, but exciting. Just getting to go and tell people that you’re one of the top 12 teams in the country is amazing.”

Building itself into a budding regular at nationals, one that can compete with the best in the nation, has been no small task for the Big Sky team.

When the puck drops today in Lansing, Michigan, the Wildcats will represent the smallest state organization at the tournament, one with just six teams and a few dozen players. They’ll be stacked up against programs from Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh and Detroit.

“Going back to my first year going, it was hard not having anybody that had ever been there,” said Kalispell’s Stephanie Tartaglino, one of three players on the team making her third trip to nationals.

“Nobody knew what to expect. It was very nerve-wracking and anxious for us as beginners.”

The Wildcats have improved dramatically in their last two trips to nationals.

After losing all three of their games in 2011, the Wildcats won the first contest they played in 2013 by seven goals. The team lost its next two games by one goal each time to close pool play, falling one point short of advancing to the tournament quarterfinals, but it was getting closer.

“The first trip to nationals they played well, they did well, but they had no idea what to expect. The second time we did better but didn’t make it out of pool play, but they still played very competitive,” coach Steve Tartaglino, Stephanie’s father, said.

“This trip here, we’ve got three solid lines. The girls are working hard and I think they’re going to do everything they can to be ready.

“We’ve learned a lot, this is the best team that I’ve had to go.”

Attempting to close the gap in competition, the Big Sky girls met each of the last three weekends, playing exhibition games and practicing in locations across the state to prepare for nationals.

“There’s a definite different level of focus,” Steve Tartaglino said. “This year they all came together and made the decision to do whatever they can to get together.”

The goal of getting back to nationals, and competing at a high level, has drawn the team closer.

“It’s crazy, it’s my first year and it’s been amazing,” Whitefish’s Laurel Davidson said. “The team is such a great group of girls.”

“Being with a group of girls where there’s no drama,” Barrett said. “If we have any of that it isn’t going to get us where we want to go. That’s why we’ve gone so far.”

That camaraderie, and the experience of nearly breaking through, has pushed the team back on the cusp of setting new heights as a program. Players like Tartaglino, finishing her ninth and final season with the Wildcats this weekend, have helped the young girls through the nerves of competing at the highest level.

“They’ve guided us and spoken on how surreal it is going to nationals,” Barrett said. “How big of a deal it is and how important it is. Having girls that understand that importance is really helpful.”

Fittingly enough, it’s the team too, that has helped Tartaglino. After spending nearly a year off the ice after breaking her neck, the Wildcats welcomed Stephanie back to the program as she got back on skates.

Shaking from anticipation before her first game, she scored three goals. She’s gone on to lead the Wildcats with 19 goals this season, including five in the decisive two games to send Big Sky back to nationals.

“As a coach and a dad, anytime a player gets hurt it strikes you,” Steve Tartaglino said. “Her injury was serious to the point that she didn’t know if she’d ever play again.

“I’m just so thrilled for her. She loves this team, she loves the girls on this team. The girls welcomed her back with open arms.

“For a lot of reasons I feel very, very lucky. As a dad, I get one more season coaching my child. What more could a dad ask for?”

And while the nerves may creep back for the Tartaglinos and the rest of the Wildcats when the puck drops for their first game today, the obstacles they’ve faced before have helped prepare them for anything they may see on the ice.

“When you are in the moment before the first game, you are so nervous. It’s hard not to let your nerves take over everything,” Stephanie Tartaglino said.

“Looking back, when you step on the ice and that puck drops, it’s not nationals anymore. It’s just a game. You’re just playing hockey.”