DURHAM – They are mainstays on defense, two players who thrive on being barricades on the blueline for the University of New Hampshire women’s hockey team.
Jenna Rheault made her way to Durham from Deering by way of St. Paul’s School, and Marie-Jo Pelletier came down from New Brunswick, Canada, and together they helped set a tone for the Wildcats and rebuild a winning culture for the hockey program.
They are down to their final games at UNH – a tenure they hope to extend with a nice run in the postseason – and when it ends they will be sorely missed by head coach Hilary Witt and her staff.
Witt said Rheault and Pelletier and their fellow seniors – including goalie Kyra Smith – have set things up nicely for those playing with them now and following close behind.
“It’s a huge void,” Witt said. “But they do such a good job of leading by example, I think the kids under them will rise up and step into those shoes. Tori Howran (a junior defenseman) is doing such a phenomenal job for us, too, and she’ll help with that.”
Witt raved about the job Rheault and Pelletier and senior forwards Devan Taylor and Caitlyn Radatovich and Smith have done.
“The culture those guys created makes it so much easier for the younger kids to fill in after,” Witt said. “If they weren’t such good people and such good mentors, I think it would be harder for the younger kids. But they’ve done such a good job. This whole class has been a gamechanger for us as far as our culture and what we’re trying to accomplish here.”
The team celebrated its seniors before Sunday’s home game against Boston University.
The Wildcats (13-15-5) have one regular-season game remaining at home against Boston College on Saturday at 2 p.m. and then swing into Hockey East quarterfinal play and a best-of-three series at either Boston College or Boston University starting March 1.
Rheault, who came in as a walk-on and earned a scholarship, and Pelletier, an undersized defenseman and a three-year captain, have led from the blueline throughout their time at UNH.
For Rheault, it starts with her skating.
“Her skating is as good as anyone I’ve seen,” Witt said. “She can skate like the wind. She gets herself out of trouble with her feet because they’re so good. She’s so confident in her edges. She’s aggressive. She’s as tough as nails on the penalty kill in the D-zone. … She’s just a kid who keeps on working. Her improvement has been unreal. Such a big part of it is, one, she’s very coachable, and two, she works her tail off in the weight room. I think it goes hand in hand. She’s so dedicated to school and she’s so dedicated to her family. She’s just a good person who works her tail off in everything she does.”
Like her coach, Pelletier had plenty of positive things to say about Rheault.
“The energy Jenna brings to the ice and to the locker room is incredible,” Pelletier said. “Her determination and hard work: I don’t think I’ve met someone who works as hard as Jenna in the weight room, in the classroom, at practice. She just brings that energy and that fight every single day. She definitely brings us up and she pushes us to be better just by being herself out there. Her skill level has developed tremendously.”
The feeling, to be sure, is mutual.
“M.J.’s younger than me, but I’ve always looked up to her,” Rheault said. “She has so much confidence. She brings so much energy onto the ice. She loves to play hockey. That’s something a lot of people miss out on, they get so stressed about the game. But she really plays with so much passion and love for the game. We actually are lift partners and we always feed off each other. If she’s going to do a little bit heavier of a set, I do it, too because she’s always there to push me.”
Pelletier has never let her 4-foot-11 size become an issue.
“I play differently than other girls that are 6-feet and I’ve had to adapt to that in my game and change my game because of my size, but I think it really has helped me be the person that I am,” Pelletier said. “I’ve definitely had to overcome certain things. Sometimes people don’t really believe in shorter players. But here at UNH, as soon as I met the coaching staff, they believed in me and my size didn’t matter to them. Because of the way that I play, that wasn’t a factor.”
Not even a little bit, Witt said.
“When you don’t have a lot of the other parts of your game that she has, your size is a real issue,” the coach said. “But M.J., one, she’s very fit. She takes care of herself. She’s strong. She skates well. Also, her anticipation is really good. She has really good instincts. We rely on her so many ways. You kind of forget she’s 4-11 just because she doesn’t play like it.”
Witt credits Pelletier’s upbringing.
“Her family was always encouraging her and never making her feel like she can’t do something,” she said. “Her hockey IQ is so good. She played a lot against her older brothers when she was a kid. I don’t think she ever let her size really get to her. When a kid doesn’t make it an issue, shame on anyone else for making it an issue. … She’s the most dedicated kid on and off the ice. She’s got a big heart. She’s got hockey IQ. You ask me, hockey IQ, I’d put that up against size any day. It’s so important to have at this level. She’s got it all.”
Both Pelletier, who majors in Business Administration: Management & Marketing Options, and Rheault, who is an Occupational Therapy major, hope to continue playing after college.
Pelletier is looking to play in Europe and perhaps later in Canada.
Rheault was drafted by the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League in December and aims to play with the team next year while finishing up her masters.
But that’s all for next year and beyond. For now, Pelletier, Rheault and the rest of the seniors are trying to play a little while longer in UNH uniforms.
“I hope they keep going this season and get what they deserve because they really have no idea what they’ve done to change things around here,” Witt said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the whole class. This is a tough league and let’s go as far as we can possibly go. I just want us to keep playing for them because that class has been pretty special.”
(Allen Lessels is the UNH Insider and can be reached at allen.lessels@unh.edu or on Twitter @UNHInsider)