There were not many bright spots for the Buffalo Beauts this past season, but there were some, and one instance was the emergence of Courtney Maud as a player who can play — and succeed — at this level. After five years and 145 games for Merrimack College she made the jump to the PHF last summer and, if I recall correctly, Maud was a player that GM Nathaniel Oliver told me he would have had his eyes on if there was a post-collegiate draft for players.
“There’s been a lot of adversity (this season),” Maud told The Ice Garden during the final weekend of the regular season. “Looking back at my college career I faced a lot of that as well, and at this point, I’ve kind of mastered how to fight it, I think. I feel like I’ve set myself up for a hopeful next season and I’m excited to see what I can bring from this season into my next one — confidence-wise. Honestly, I’m looking to play as long as I can; as long as my body will let me.”
Oliver and the Beauts were able to sign the Ontario native to a one-year deal back in May of 2022, and her addition to the team reunited Maud with former college teammates Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Dominique Kremer. Of the three, only Kremer played on a two-year contract, but the early belief and hope in Buffalo is that they can keep the trio together going forward.
“Buckey (Grant-Mentis) and I have been friends since way back before Merrimack. We played against each other; she played for Mississauga, I played for Stoney,” explained Maud, “So we’ve known each other since then. At Merrimack we were roommates, played on the same line together, and played together on the power play; we ripped it up there. It’s nice to get back together, and I know from the beginning of the season she was asking to have me on her line. So it was nice to have that happen by the middle of this season.”
After recording an assist in her pro debut it took Maud seven games before finding her next point — her first pro goal (Jan. 8 vs Minnesota). After breaking that seal, the 26-year-old found more consistency in the score sheet, and in her last 15 games of the season, Maud posted nine points (5G, 4A) to help Buffalo avoid an even more embarrassing season.
“To be honest, I feel like I play a very fast game, so speed wasn’t one of the things I had to adjust to,” she replied when asked what the biggest adjustments were for her after playing in college a year ago. “Coming in and proving myself the first few games — I started on the third or fourth line — I knew as a first-year player I needed to prove myself to work my way up (the lineup).”
It’s a shorthanded goal for Courtney Maud! pic.twitter.com/tGdwoXbWcZ
— PHF (@PHF) January 22, 2023
“I feel like I did that very quickly; it was good for me to start there and build my way up to a top line; it’s allowed me to shine, and grow, and prove what I can really do as a player,” added Maud. “I usually play center, but I was put on Grant-Mentis’ wing — which is fine, because I cam play there too. But yeah, as soon as we became linemates again we scored in that first game, or got points.”
The chemistry was noticeable, and the Beauts became a slightly more dangerous team in the process — Buffalo finished 3-4-1 over their final eight games after a 2-12-2 start to their eighth season as a franchise. While the speed was no problem for Maud to adjust to, there were some other aspects of the pro game that challenged her a bit more.
“It is a very physical league. I have had a few teammates from Merrimack last year ask me about it and any differences, and what I say is it’s a completely different game. Ten times more physical, the speed is crazy, when you have the puck you have like no time to think, you have to know where you are going to move it right away,” she explained.
“You need to know where you are putting the puck before you even get it. That is one of the things that, not that we’re lacking, but we think we have more time than we do and our opponents are strong and fast and get there quickly if you don’t know what to do.”
Too often last season the Beauts would be playing well and even leading in a game, and once one bad thing happened the team’s play would spiral out of control and a 2-1 game become an 8-2 loss in the blink of an eye.
“At the start, we were playing on our toes, but I feel like after some of the goals we started to sit back a little bit,” Maud said after a late-season loss to the Riveters. “That has happened a few times (to us) throughout this season; it’s something we have to figure out. Obviously, it’s a little late (in the season), but going into next season we need to figure out how we can fight back when we get scored on. That’s our biggest problem, we get scored on and then we sit back and don’t push forward, and then teams continue to score.”
Nice block and pass up for a shorty. @courtneymaud_ @GrantMentis https://t.co/DnxwDmwmhf
— Tracy Maud (@tracymaud) February 26, 2023
Sometimes they wouldn’t just give up goals in bunches, sometimes it would be a backbreaking play like a late-period goal or a shorthanded goal against the Beauts that would crush their spirits. The good news is that the players have identified what their Achilles heel has been, now they just need to correct it in the off-season and in the moment, as a group.
“It’s also frustrating because we’ve had many shorthanded goals scored on us this year. An emphasis in our game has been turnovers, we talk about it day in and day out at practice. We say we can’t have turnovers and we have to control our turnovers…and then we still turn the puck over and it ends up in the back of our net. That’s when we lose momentum and start to sit back. It’s very repetitive for us.”
A big key for the Beauts going forward will be keeping as many of their core players together as they can and letting them grow and develop as a unit so there isn’t a plethora of roster turnover year after year and the team isn’t starting from scratch. The team already will have to navigate a bit of that with a new head coach coming in.
“Top to bottom I don’t think any part of our team was a weak point or that any part of our team was a strength,” Kremer told TIG. “It will be important for us to learn from this, make the appropriate changes, and push forward with what we know works for this program.”
One thing that worked for their program was the addition of Maud to the roster and to Grant-Mentis’ wing. The Beauts have some of the right pieces in place to be successful, now they just need someone who knows how to put the puzzle together. Half of Maud’s goals came via the power play, and those were three of Buffalo’s 13 power play markers. They’ll need a little bit more to climb out of the PHF’s basement, but with a year of experience under Maud’s belt, and hopefully some additional talent added to the lineup, she should be able to contribute a bit more in her second pro season.