The newest era of Bisons women's hockey kicks off tomorrow, as first-year head coach Jordan Colliton and the Herd take on Regina to open their regular season at home. Equipped with a vast array of experiences as a hockey player and coach, Colliton is ready to lead a talented, experienced group.
 
"They're hungry. They want to be coached, they want feedback, they want to get better, they want to win. The one thing we're seeing is we're giving them feedback and they're having success, so they want more. So it's just helping with our process faster to where we need to get to for the start of the season," she said.
 
"We have a great, veteran group. That's one thing coming in. You don't know what the culture is going to be like, you don't know what the individual people are going to be like. I'm very happy with their commitment to the team. They have a team first mentality and they're willing to put the team above themselves, which is awesome. That's what you need to having a winning championship culture."
 
Colliton knows what it takes to develop a successful culture, rooted in her own experiences as a player and coach, where she has a proven track record of success.
 
An NCAA Division 1 alum of the Maine Black Bears, Colliton played in 120 games, served as captain, was a member of the NCAA Division 1 SAAC-AAB and was a Scholar Athlete.
 
As a coach at the U SPORTS level with Mount Royal from 2015-22, the program had 16 conference all-star selections, seven Canada West Major Award winners, four U SPORTS All-Star selections, one national award winner, one Team Canada FISU selection, and 112 Academic All-Canadians.
 
During that time, the Cougars earned their first Canada West playoff win, and a season after that, they won their first Canada West playoff series, advanced to the Canada West final for the first time, and won their first CanWest silver medal.
 
Two weeks after bringing home a conference silver medal, Mount Royal made their first appearance at nationals, upsetting the No. 2 seed Toronto 2-1 (the remainder of nationals was canceled due to COVID-19).
 
Additionally, from 2011-15, Colliton coached at the prep school level with Ontario Hockey Academy and Pursuit of Excellence. She also worked with Hockey Alberta in the Female High Performance Program for nine years.

During her time as a prep school coach, Colliton helped over 100 student-athletes advance to either the NCAA Division 1, NCAA Division 3 or U SPORTS levels.
 
"I believe in coach led but player driven. The players have to drive the process. When we're bringing in players that have the right character and commitment and competitiveness and growth mindset, those are the players that can help get us where we need to go," she said.
 
"We're all people. I'm human just like anybody else. Through coaching I want to make an impact on individual players so that they can be the best version of themselves. I believe in your work ethic, your attitude and how you treat people. Those three things are non-negotiables with me. As long as you're bringing that to the table, you're going to have a good experience and your team is going to have a great year, and you're going to develop as a person through that.


 
Throughout training camp and the pre-season, the Herd have bought in, getting "better and better" with small improvements daily. Manitoba's roster is "fun," diverse group, and their unique experiences will help drive the program all season.
 
Eighteen student-athletes return to the Bisons' roster in 2025-26, 15 of whom have played in at least 30 combined games for the roster. That, combined with a sensational recruiting class that included goalies Cypress Classen and Jenna Goertzen, forwards Shayna Bannister, Alyssa Rasmuson, Sara Harbus, Sophia Heidinger and Izzy Mann and defenceman Julianna de Groot and Claire Moorman, has Manitoba set for success.
 
Donning letters this year are fourth-year forward Dana Goerzen (captain), fourth-year defender Louise Fergusson, fifth-year forward Julia Bird and third-year forward Sophia Anderson. That quartet have combined to play in 294 games for the program, paced by Bird's 103.
 
Goertzen has scored in double figures each of the last two seasons, including a U SPORTS career best eight assists in 2024-25, while Anderson had a U SPORTS career high six points last year, playing in all 31 games, and Fergusson led all Bisons with ten assists a season ago, and had a U SPORTS career best 12 points.
 
Additionally, fourth-year forward Aimee Patrick's 43 career regular season points are just seven shy of the top ten in school history, while fellow fourth-year Norah Collins' 12 goals in 2024-25 were the fifth-most in a season in program history.
 
In net, fourth-year Emily Shippam has played in 52 career games at Manitoba, with 969 total saves.
 
"It's a highly competitive group. A group that doesn't quit. A group that you're going to enjoy and cheer for, because they're great people and you're going to get to know them, but also you're going to see the effort level and the commitment from our athletes as a whole," added Colliton.
 
"On the ice, with that, we're going to continue to develop from pre-season to the start of the season to the end of the year and hopefully going through the playoffs. It's going to be an exciting team, a fast-paced team, a skilled team that works together."