Hendry the 1st

Cara Hendry wasn’t happy in Minnesota.

The junior transfer from Minnesota State University-Mankato was named the first-ever captain of the Boston University women’s ice hockey team by coach Brian Durocher Monday. The team is entering its first year of NCAA Division I competition after spending 32 years at the club level.

“I was pretty unhappy up [in Minnesota] – with school, with the town and things weren’t going very well with hockey,” the 5-foot, 9-inch forward from Calgary said. “Boston seemed like the perfect fit.”

After Durocher spent the summer networking with Mankato and making sure Hendry’s classes would transfer into BU credits, she was on her way to Beantown.

“Cara stood out in a couple of categories,” Durocher said. “She was the most experienced player at the highest level and played NCAA Division I hockey in a regular program. Everyone I talked to from Calgary spoke very highly of her character and was very open about her positive personality.”

The relationship between Hendry and Durocher is a healthy one, to say the least.

“He’s awesome,” Hendry said. “I knew I wanted to come here, and once I asked for my release [from Mankato] in March, he made it happen. A lot of good things were happening here, and I wanted to be part of it.” Once Durocher got to see Hendry on the ice, he knew his choice for captain had just become easier.

“I was happily surprised to see a high-quality player,” Durocher said. “Her size, strength, ability have all taken the next step to evolve into a stronger, more confident player. Hopefully she continues to get better as the season goes on.”

How does Hendry feel about becoming the leader of a new era in BU women’s hockey?

“It’s awesome,” she said. “It’s a huge honor for me. Boston University has a great tradition of hockey, and I’m glad I can become part of it.

“With two years of experience, I know what there is out there,” Hendry continued. “It’ll take 110 percent effort on our part – we can’t take any nights off.”

And even before the team hit the ice, Durocher knew exactly what kind of captain he wanted Hendry to be.

“I let her know that I’d like her to be a leader by example,” he said. “If point production and success followed because of that, that would be great, but I mainly asked her to step up as a leader of this team.”

And Durocher’s choice seems to make sense. Hendry’s teammates had no problem teasing her for being interviewed before practice.

“I feel like she really knows how to talk to people because she has been there before,” said junior defenseman Amy Ley. “She is very approachable and easy to talk to, but not overly talkative.”

Ley, who played with the Terrier club team for two years, noted that Hendry has stood out since the first week of practice.

“Her experience gave us all someone to look to,” Ley said. “[We were] kind of like, ‘OK, what do we do now?'”

“I try to lead by example more than anything else,” Hendry said. “Actions speak louder than words.”

The Terriers will need that experience and leadership, since more than half their roster – which lacks even one senior – is made up of freshmen. “The advantage to having is young team is that you have a lot to learn. You can watch the team mature over the course of the season,” Hendry said.

“It is nerve-wracking because most of us have never played at this level, but transfers like Cara who have played Division I before know what it takes and tell us what it takes,” said freshman forward Nicki Wiart. “We have just been pushing each other every day since school started to get that much better and to be ready for the season.”

Durocher expressed a similar sentiment about the overall youth of his team.

“I think we’re really going to need to stretch the learning curve,” he said. “I hope they are resilient on the ice and out there to compete every night. Starting with such a young team, the level of experience gained can only go up.”

That learning curve will be tested many times during the inaugural season, but players and coaches hope that the move from club to Division I competition will bring supporters to the games.

“Hopefully we have a novel effect on the student body,” Durocher said. “People will be curious to see the games. If we can throw out all the excuses and generate a fan base not just for women’s hockey, but for all of BU, it will be a very entertaining year.”

Regardless of what kind of fan support the team receives, you can count on Hendry showing up to play every night. The team respects its newly named captain, knowing that she is the leader on and off the ice.

“We all knew from the start that she would be our captain,” Wiart said. “She deserves it, and we all respect her and look up to her a lot.”

Carrying the ‘C’ is a huge accomplishment for any athlete. As for Hendry, it seems that she will be quite happy in Boston – she’ll “love that dirty water” in no time.