Third-year women's hockey defender
Louise Fergusson embraces hard work. It's rooted in her family background living on a farm in Souris, Manitoba. Her parents moved from Scotland in their early 20s, and her dad quickly established himself as a go-to grain farmer in the province, while her mom handled the book-keeping.
"I started helping on the farm at age 12, just doing all the chores that [my dad] didn't want to do, like rolling beans or being the grain carter," she said.
"He's pretty busy all the time, except the winter. He had a goal in Canada of what he wanted to do, and then he reached it and surpassed it. My dad when he moved, he had to do everything himself. He built the farm up. It was a good lesson about not being given stuff, and having to work for it. I don't expect much, I work for it."
That's exactly what Fergusson has done on the ice, her entire career.
The 5'10" defenceman served as captain for the Yellowhead Chiefs in the Manitoba Female Hockey League, an elite-level AAA league in the province. A shut-down defender with offensive instincts, she recorded 49 points over two years for the Chiefs, entering the Bisons program with all kinds of up-side.
Fergusson played in eight games in her rookie season in 2022-23, recording her first assist against Alberta on February 11. She added another assist last year, along with a career-high 31 shots in 24 games played.
Players like Fergusson impact the game far more than what the box score says. Her length and physicality allow her create turnovers, often, which leads to chances for her side. Her stability on the back line has helped 13 different Bisons record at least a point over the first four games of the season.
"I like helping other players score," smiled Fergusson, fully embracing her role.
"I don't score very often or get points, but I like giving the forwards the opportunity to go and make plays, working hard to create turnovers so that we don't get scored on."
Fergusson's game evolved as last year went along. She became a key part of the Herd's penalty kill unit, one that was led by assistant coach Mike Sirant.
The long-time bench boss on the men's side lent his assistance to interim head coach
Jordy Zacharias, and he and Fergusson often worked on hockey skills after practice.
"I think Mike [Sirant] last year helped with my confidence a little bit," she said.
"He just made me want to stay out, because he made me want to be a better player, just by the way he talked and how much he cared about us. It was awesome. Jordy too, gave me more confidence. She started trusting me and playing me more. Coming into the summer after that, I felt like I wanted to work harder for the team, and worked out a lot more this summer. I'm feeling more confident this year."
Fergusson's efforts haven't gone unnoticed by Zacharias. She's logged significant minutes over the first four games, including on the Herd's power play. Her five shots against Regina last Friday were a career-high, and she shows no signs of slowing down.
"[Fergusson], her consistency in her play, she just made such a big jump last year," acknowledged Zacharias.
"She started to realize all that hard work she was putting in after practice was starting to show up in games. What's been really cool is that hasn't stopped her from doing that. She's continued to put in the extra work to grow her game. She's seeing the reward of it all. She's definitely one of our most consistent defenders."
