Kalia Pharand led the Horizon Aigles girls’ hockey team in scoring this past winter, netting 19 goals and nine assists in 16 games.

In and of itself, this might not sound all that impressive.

Did we mention that the 15 year-old also happened to be a top-end goaltender with the Sudbury U16 AAA Wolves boys’ team, a squad that would see five players selected in the recent 2024 OHL Entry Draft?

Did we mention that she stepped in at the OHL Cup, selected as an alternate for Team NOHA and stopped all 17 shots that she faced against a Barrie Colts squad that topped the standings of the Lindros Division at the event?

Kalia Pharand is not your standard female hockey goaltender – and a bevy of NCAA schools are already taking notice.

"When I was pre-novice, I was a player but there was also a rotation of goalies,” said the grade 10 student at Ecole secondaire catholique l’Horizon in Val Caron. “It (being a goalie) ended up sticking with me – but ever since then, I would play as a player with the girls.”

“I never wanted to stop playing player. It was something that I really enjoyed even though goalie was my main position and what I really wanted to do.”

There are some – this writer among them – who believe that Pharand could have likely cracked the Sudbury U18 AA Lady Wolves roster last year as a forward were it not for her long-term dreams focused on being a very gifted puck-stopper.

“In net, it’s always exciting,” said Pharand. “I like making a difference on teams and goalies do make a big difference. I still love playing as a player, but goalie is truly my first love.”

A talented tender in her youth for the 2008 AAA hockey crew in the Nickel City, Pharand was at a crossroads this time last year, knowing that at some point, she needed to transition to the girls game but still very much in the running for a coveted spot with the boys draft eligible grouping.

“That was a very stressful week for me – but my lists (of pros and cons) made it clear to me to go to the boys’ side,” she said. “There were just more advantages. I knew that I was going to get peppered, especially playing in the Great North U18 AAA League. My development was going to be good – and I looked at it as an opportunity to get better.”

Where the inclusion of female hockey talent on boys' teams in their early teens is quite standard across the province, the numbers at the elite level dry up notably some three to four years later, for a whole variety of reasons – both hockey related and others.

Thankfully, Pharand could not have asked for a better group of teammates this past year (it also did not hurt that her goaltending partner was Caitlyn Earl – the tandem creating quite the talking point as the Wolves attended tournaments against the best U16 players in the province).

“The last few years leading up to last year, I wasn’t as close to the guys – but last year, that team became my family,” said Pharand. “I just got really comfortable with them. It was really cool to go to the rink. It was just a good environment.”

Pharand has committed for the 2024-2025 to sign on with the Mississauga Jr Hurricanes (U22) team, giving herself two years to acclimatize to the nuances of the female game before jumping into the post-secondary ranks.

“I think I am really going to have to rely on my mental strength and my athleticism when it comes to making the transition just because the shots are released differently, the playing style is different,” noted Pharand, the younger sister of Sudbury Wolves’ forward Alex Pharand.

“I’m going to need to adjust to the speed,” she continued. “I’ve done it before, adjusting to the girls’ shots but it will take a few weeks. I just need to stay in it mentally knowing that it will come.”

In addition to making weekly treks to Mississauga for once a week practices during the summer, the multi-sport talent who also represented her school at the OFSAA Nordic Ski Championships has also altered tinkered with her planned summer workouts, just a tad.

“Last summer, I trained a lot with my brother and some of the junior guys,” said Pharand. “I think this summer, one thing that I am going to try and do is to get girls who I know who play university of junior hockey to come out and shoot on me. That will be really helpful to adjust.”

For as much as Pharand was making a name for herself as a goalie who could more than hold her own with the U16 AAA boys, she was equally well-known (at least with her teammates) for her pre-game focus-driven ritual, a step by step process she could call her own.

“I’m very superstitious, so doing the same routine before every game really helped me mentally,” she said. “I know what I have to do to get ready. It’s just something that I enjoy doing.”

Just one more thing that helps to set Kalia Pharand apart from the crowd, a very unique talent – in a very good way.