The new season for Huron-Skyline’s hockey team begins and this year they have more players than ever. A record of 24 girls playing, with five being freshmen. As everyone adjusts to the team, two freshmen stood out to coaches and players. Abby Cullen, a freshman at Huron, leads the team in points as a defenseman, and Ava Heung, a freshman at Skyline leads the team in points as a forward.

Huron-Skyline (Skyron), played their home opener at Yost Ice Arena against Walled Lake Wild, with Heung and Cullen on the starting line up.

“It was a fun game, to say the least,” Heung said. “I got my first hat-trick with this team and hoping it sets the pace for the rest of the season to come.”

Cullen plays defense which makes it tougher to come by a goal, but she had two assists in the game that day.

“The wild put up a good fight but we fought harder. We knew we weren’t going to let them dominate us at our home ice so it was nice to win that one,” Cullen said.

Cullen and Heung have been playing since they were kids and they played on the Ann Arbor Cougars team together in the past and had an inseparable friendship since. Their first year playing in high school would be an offbeat world than travel hockey.

“It’s different, but it’s my favorite team that I’ve played on,” Heung said.”My past teams have been all about one goal. Nationals. And that tends to make everyone competitive and selfish which for sure drove wedges between us.”

“As Ava said, on travel, it’s all about one goal,” Cullen said.”It’s not just the players but the coaches as well and it made that hockey experience, not so fun. With Skyron there’s a great group of girls here, we lift one another up and cheer each other on. This team is selfless and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”

In the past years, Skyron had struggled to win some games due to a lack of players. Ann Arbor isn’t a popular ‘hockey hub’ city in Michigan, so it’s harder to find coaches and players that are interested as opposed to Farmington Hills. When Heung and Cullen joined, it was a happy moment for the Skyron team.

“I never thought of myself as the best on the team, on past teams I definitely wasn’t the best. It’s cool to be recognized as ‘the best defenseman’ as a freshman but it’s also kind of weird,” Cullen said.

Heung currently leads the Michigan Girls High School Hockey League in points.

“It’s weird being told I’m the best on the team, I don’t see it that way,” Heung said. “I see room to improve and help my other teammates and become better as well.”