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Blake's Bullock readies for new girls' hockey season

By Star Tribune, 10/28/14, 6:28PM CDT

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As soon as Carly Bullock could walk, she ice skated.

As soon as Carly Bullock could walk, she ice skated.

“I started out in the ponds in the backyard. My brother and his friends would always skate at our neighbor’s house,” the Eden Prairie native said. “I would be on little baby skates and just walk around on the ice. I grew up watching my brother, and I told my mom that I wanted to try hockey.”

Bullock remembers playing on her first team when she was just 4 years old. Since then, she hasn’t left the ice for long. As a result she has accumulated statistics, state championships, memories and a love for the game that has made her excited about her future in the sport.

The Blake junior and prolific goal-scorer is just finishing up her first season in the Upper Midwest High School Fall League, which brings together the best high school players in the region.

She talked recently with the StarTribune’s Georgia Cloepfil.

 

Q: Tell me about your time on the Elite team this summer.

A: It is awesome to be able to play with your friends that you don’t get to play with during the (high school) season. And the level of hockey is so good, so intense. Especially when we play Shattuck.

 

Q: So they are your rivals?

A: Yeah. We just want to beat Shattuck so badly and prove Minnesota high school hockey is better. Actually, last weekend we won the NIT tournament. We beat Shattuck 2-1 in the final.

 

Q: What is it like playing for so many different teams? You also trained in a USA development camp, right?

A: The level of hockey at the USA camps is so high and everyone is so good so you’re just working your butt off for yourself. Once you get to the [high school] season you have an ultimate goal of going back to state and you’re playing for all of your teammates and trying to make everyone else better.

 

Q: How’s the transition back to high school?

A: My best friends are on this team with me. Being able to play with them on this team is what I look forward to all of summer. I just can’t wait for the season to start.

 

Q: You scored 50 goals last season, and you’ve won two state tournaments in a row. What’s next?

A: My ultimate goal is just to go back to state and win it a third time. Coming off the success of last year, I just want to be able to get everyone on that same page. We have a pretty hard schedule this year and it’s going to be tough.

 

Q: How do you stay motivated after all of that success?

A: Being able to play at the Xcel Energy Center is the best feeling ever.

 

Q: A highlight from your career so far?

A: The double overtime win against Red Wing last year. We played them in the semifinals [of the state tournament]. The final score was 5-4. They wanted to win because they had never been to the finals and we wanted to defend our title.

 

Q: In this state you have plenty of hockey players to look up to. Any role models?

A: I didn’t start going to women’s games until a couple of years ago, when Dani Cameranesi graduated from Blake. So my biggest hockey role model is Sidney Crosby. Ever since the first time I watched him play. He is so good, so smart on the ice. He is still my role model.

 

Q: Are you going to play hockey for as long as you can?

A: Absolutely. And when I can’t play any more I want to coach women’s hockey. There is no professional hockey for girls. I watch a lot of women’s college hockey at the [University of Minnesota], but it’s hard to find games to watch. For sure I want to make the women’s hockey program even stronger than it is.

GEORGIA CLOEPFIL

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