Maya Turner performed the ceremonial puck drop at the Winnipeg Jets’ game on Tuesday as part of the team’s women in sports celebration.
The placekicker from Maple Grove, Minn. became the first woman in U Sports football history to dress for a regular season game this past year while playing for the University of Manitoba Bisons.
Turner was named the U Sports special teams player of the week after kicking two field goals and three converts in Manitoba’s 27-24 win over the Regina Rams.
The five-foot-nine, 150-pound graduate of Wayzata High School made 11-of-14 field goal attempts with a long of 48 yards in her first collegiate season along with all 16 of her convert attempts. She also performed 16 kickoffs for an average distance of 52.3 yards.
Turner was honoured alongside Shelley Cockerill, a member of the Canadian Ball Hockey Association Hall of Fame, and Trechelle Bunn, a recently-graduated University of Manitoba hockey player who hosts the annual Reconciliation Run half-marathon in recognition of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
The Jets lost to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday by a score of 4-3, dropping the club’s record to 39-17-5. The team currently sits second in the NHL’s Central Division.
