Family support was always a given for Maddy Hollohan – yes, even from her older brother Charlie.
But when it came to deciding upon a post-secondary institution to sign on for the next phase of her hockey career, the long-time member of the Sudbury Lady Wolves might not have envisioned receiving that same level of support.
In the end, this might have been the deciding factor which sees the St Charles College senior committed to the Windsor Lancers of the OUA to begin the 2024-2025 women’s hockey season.
“Windsor supported me and all of my decisions,” explained the 17 year-old multi-sport athlete who also has a pair of SDSSAA tennis titles to her name in addition to boatloads of success as a member of the Cardinals girls’ hockey squad.
“They supported that I did not want to go and play junior (in southern Ontario) in my grade 12 year so that I could stay home and focus on my grades,” added Hollohan. “They believed in me and have a lot of confidence in my play.”
The same could be said for her parents – although siblings might take a little longer to bring on board.
“My first team was at Cedar Park playground,” recalled the young woman who has played at center pretty much her entire life. “My older brother was actually on my line and we were pretty competitive with each other.”
In fact, truth be told, the very beginning of her hockey dreams are centered on family.
“I used to go public skating with my grandparents when I was around two,” said Hollohan. “They would take me out when my parents were working.”
By 2015, the youngster had made the move to girls’ hockey, a member of the Atom BB Lady Wolves – though it would take a few more years for her full potential to truly shine through.
“I think I started to see a peak in my performance after my first year of bantam (age 13-14),” stated Hollohan. “That’s when everything became more natural – the skating, the pace of the game. That’s also when I grew a lot – almost six inches – and got a lot stronger.”
Now completing her third and final campaign with the U18 AA Lady Wolves, Hollohan is cognizant of that interesting balance between believing in the talent on hand that helped her earn a scholarship at Windsor versus understanding that at this next level of play, still more improvement to her game is likely to be critical if she wants to make her presence felt with the Lancers.
“I expect that I am going to have to work on my offensive play more and also the little, small details of my game – faceoffs and things like that,” she said. “Going from U18 to university is a big step so I have to adapt to the pace of that.”
“But I think that I tend to adapt to things quickly, so I think I’ll be fine.”
As for the parts of her game where she feels close to if not U Sports ready, Hollohan has no trouble singling out at least a few of her skills which helped her feel comfortable at a practice session skate with the Windsor crew this year.
“I would say that I am a smart player,” she stressed. “I read the game very well. I feel that my skating is pretty good and that helps as well – helps me make plays and produce points.”
“I’ve been working on my stickhandling a lot this year – and also my shot,” added the 5’9” forward. “I’m focused on getting a better shot and being able to capitalize more on my opportunities.”
The leading scorer for the SDSSAA gold medal winning team and NOSSA runners-up, Hollohan registered 14 goals and 21 assists in just 19 games. “I think high-school hockey is somewhere where you can build confidence.”
Mind you, she also generally draws top line assignments with the Lady Wolves, certainly one of their go-to goal scorers as the team prepares for provincials. “I do have lots of skill,” she said.
“I’ve had a lot of practice this year with the power play, lots of ice time.”
And when she gets home, a welcoming smile awaits.
“My parents have always surrounded me with a lot of support, kind of guided me that way.”
