Antigonish teen to become one of first females to play in junior A hockey league

A Nova Scotia teen is poised to become one of the first females to play in the Maritime Junior Hockey League.

Rhyah Stewart, a 17-year-old goalie from Antigonish, has signed with the league's West Kent Steamers. 

"Getting to play junior hockey might be challenging at times, but I think it will help push me to become better," said Stewart.

Stewart will only tend goal for the Steamers in Bouctouche, N.B., for one year because she has already committed to play for the University of Wisconsin for the 2025-26 season. Wisconsin is a perennial favourite in NCAA women's hockey and it's the same school where Canadian Olympian Blayre Turnbull of Stellarton, N.S., played.

The head coach and general manager of the Steamers knows a thing or two about playing junior hockey with a female on the team. When Olivier Filion played major junior hockey in Bathurst, N.B., Charline Labonté was one of the goalies on the team.

Labonté went on to an illustrious career playing for Canada's national women's team where she won two gold medals and three world championships.

Stewart is already on Hockey Canada's radar and has played for Canadian teams in international tournaments.

"I saw her play last year in a couple of tournaments so I knew that she was a good goalie," said Filion. "So I was comfortable in giving her the opportunity to play for us, and our fans are excited and we really can't wait to see her in the net for a game."

Filion said Stewart will begin the season as the team's backup goaltender, but should see at least 18 to 22 games of junior A hockey action before she heads to the U.S. college ranks next year.

Getting a feel for the league

If she plays well, she'll likely be tapped for more games. She's already played in three pre-season games.

"It was definitely good to get those games in and get them out of the way so I can get a feel for the league and a feel for the pace of the games and the play," said Stewart. "I'm pretty excited to see what could happen this year."

Joining West Kent means Stewart will move away from home for the first time. It's close to three hours for her parents to drive to Bouctouche, N.B., from Antigonish for her home games. But with five of the league's 12 teams in Nova Scotia — including Truro and Pictou County — some road games will be much shorter trips for them.

Stewart said she's looking forward to living in the town of 2,500, located about a half-hour drive outside Moncton, N.B., on the Northumberland Strait.

"I think it should be a fun season and definitely so far the community kind of feels similar to what I'm used to," said Stewart. "The people in the area have been pretty incredible so far."

It's unclear when Stewart will make her debut with the Steamers, who host the Truro Bearcats in their season opener on Sept. 13. She is currently on loan to the Cape Breton Eagles of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League as they finish their training camp.

Stewart played in an exhibition game with the Eagles three weeks ago and did the same last year. Filion said it's likely Stewart will be back with the Steamers in time for the second weekend of the season.

Stewart played the last two seasons with the Cape Breton Islanders in the Nova Scotia under-18 league.

An official with the Maritime Junior Hockey League said it's believed goaltender Lisa Herritt of the Dartmouth Oland Exports was the first female to play in the league in the 1995-96 season.