Canada’s National Women’s Team began with an impressive tour of the Volvo factory in Skövde, where engines are made for numerous Volvo vehicles. Most of the players and members of the staff took advantage of some free time to do some shopping and visit downtown Skövde. This Swedish town of some 50 000 citizens has a long history of being a trading than a shopping town. A tradition that dates back some 1000 years. Then it was back to business, with a spirited practice in the afternoon. After suffering a 2-0 loss on Thursday, it was clear that the players and staff had a renewed dedication to working hard in practice, looking to have an impressive performance against Finland on Saturday, to gain a spot in the gold medal final and a possible return engagement with the U.S. The host committee welcomed all four teams to an event banquet that evening. Guests were entertained by members of a local men’s choir and then took part in a brief opening ceremony. Seeing as the ceremony and banquet were being held at a golf club, the team leaders were asked to officially mark the moment by driving an illuminated golf club into the night. Team Canada was well represented by Director, Female Hockey Julie Healy, who drove her ball straight and far, impressing everyone in attendance. The 4 Nations Cup gets back in full swing with the final two round robin games on Saturday. Canada takes on Finland at 1pm (local time) and then undefeated USA faces Sweden at 5 pm (local time). |
OTTAWA, Ont. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association and Senators Sports and Entertainment, announced Monday new ticket packages for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, taking place April 2-9 at SBP Arena and the Nepean Sportsplex.
The Gold Medal Playoff Package starts at just $114, plus applicable fees, and features six games total, including two quarter-finals Saturday, April 6; both semifinals Monday, April 8 and the bronze and gold medal games Tuesday, April 9. All three doubleheaders take place at SBP Arena, home of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
A trio of 2-packs start at just $69, plus applicable fees, and feature four games total. All three options include the Canada-United States and Switzerland-Finland games Tuesday, April 2, along with the choice of either the Canada-Switzerland and Finland-U.S. preliminary games Wednesday, April 3; both quarterfinals Saturday, April 6 or both semifinals Monday, April 8. CLICK HERE for more information on these ticket packages.
“Our goal is to truly give fans the best bang for their buck,” said Valerie Hughes, general manager of the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship. “We want as many hockey fans as possible to take advantage of the chance to cheer on Team Canada and see the very best in women’s hockey when the world championship comes to the nation’s capital this spring.”
Other ticket packages available are the Team Canada Package, which includes all games featuring Canada’s National Women’s Team and all medal round games, starting at just $184; the Gold Medal 3-Pack, featuring six games over three days including two quarter-finals and both medal games, starting at just $99; and the Canada-U.S. 3-Pack, featuring six games over three days including the preliminary game between Canada and the United States on April 2, two quarter-finals and both semifinals, starting at just $89. Group rates are also available. Ticket prices are per individual seat and HST exempt. Each ticket package order is subject to a $5 handling fee.
Tickets can be purchased by clicking HERE or by calling 613-599-FANS (3267).
Candidates for Canada’s National Women’s Team are currently in Ottawa for winter camp, which starts today and runs through Friday, Jan. 25, with several training sessions and practices taking place at the Carleton Ice House throughout the week. The 22-player camp roster includes three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 12 forwards.
Canada’s National Women’s Team winter camp will serve as an evaluation opportunity for Canada’s National Women’s Team coaching staff and Hockey Canada scouting staff for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Ottawa and 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Players will continue to be evaluated with their club teams during the 2012-13 season.
The last time SBP Arena hosted Canada’s National Women’s Team was Jan., when 16,347 fans filled the stands, breaking a women’s hockey game attendance record, and watched Canada edge the United States 3-2 in a shootout.
The 2013 edition will mark the sixth time Canada has hosted the women’s world championship, joining 1990 in Ottawa, 1997 in Kitchener, Ont., 2000 in Mississauga, Ont., 2004 in Halifax, N.S., and 2007 in Winnipeg, Man. For more information on the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, please follow www.twitter.com/hc_wwhc with #TheMoment hash tag, become a fan at www.facebook.com/worldwomens and visit www.hockeycanada.ca/2013ottawa.
If Corey McNabb wanted to coach elite level cricket, he wouldn’t know where to begin.
“I don’t even know what the bat is called, or the stick, or whatever you use,” he said with a chuckle. “I would have no idea how … to teach kids."
So what would help Hockey Canada’s senior manager of coaching and playing development instruct athletes in a sport he doesn’t know much about?
An interactive digital resource for coaches that includes printable drill diagrams, accompanying descriptions, and videos demonstrating exactly how those drills are done, would certainly be a good place for him to start.
Replace the cricket pitch with a hockey rink, and that’s exactly what McNabb and his staff have created to help coaches across the country prepare players who are Peewee age or older for elite level hockey – which could include participation in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, celebrating three decades of on-ice success this year.
From the pitch to the rink, and everywhere in between, he said there’s nothing else quite like the new Hockey Canada Program of Excellence Drills and Videos DVD available in the sports world. Not unlike the Team Canada Skills of Gold video series that came before it, this special multimedia coaching tool shows, once again, that Hockey Canada is at the forefront of sport development.
“The Program of Excellence DVD is bar none, the best resource in the world for teaching,” McNabb said of the brand new resource for hockey coaches, now available for $39.95 online right HERE on Hockey Canada’s website.
“It’s different than a traditional DVD because … we designed it all in Flash, which makes it much more user-friendly,” he said. “It’s the only one that really combines manual, which is the actual drill and the description, with video.”
In addition to about 140 video drill demonstrations, the DVD features 180 drill diagrams, more than 50 different skill concepts, 15 set practice plans and the ability for coaches to mix-and-match all of that material to create upwards of 60 different practice progressions for their teams.
McNabb’s favourite features are that you can access the matching video by clicking your mouse directly on the drill diagram, and “the fact that you can print off the practice plans and take them to the rink with you.”
Perhaps one of the DVD’s top selling point is that its “designed right after the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence manual,” which means its jam-packed with knowledge from many of the country’s top hockey minds.
“Tom Renney, Mike Johnston, Mike Babcock, Ken Hitchcock, Brent Sutter – all the guys who have coached in that program before, we’ve collected drills and concepts (from),” he said. “They’ve basically said, ‘This is what players should know.’ ”
In fact, it’s what Canadian players NEED to know if they want to fulfil their dreams of representing their country on the ice, McNabb said. That includes players such as Emerance Maschmeyer, who won a gold medal with Canada at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in the Czech Republic, and is featured on the DVD demonstrating Program of Excellence goaltending skills.
Young up-and-comers such as the Western Hockey League’s Troy Bourke of the Prince George Cougars and Colin Smith of the Kamloops Blazers also perform drill demonstrations featured on the DVD’s video clips, which were filmed over the course of three summers at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
Ultimately, the goal is to get the DVD filled with skills and drills into the hands of as many coaches as possible across the country, McNabb said, so that each and every Canadian player can be at their best – including those who will one day wear a maple leaf on their jerseys.
“It’s really trying to provide some standard of play, skill and understanding, as far as what coaches are teaching and players are learning,” McNabb said. “Too many times some of our high performance materials only get into the hands of the coaches and players once they actually get to the high performance level. This is all about preparing them in order to get there.”
Its consistency at the grassroots level across the country that will result in Canadian gold medals on international ice, McNabb said, adding the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence Drills and Videos DVD is the best way for coaches to tap into the incredible potential of their players.
“It’s one-stop shopping,” he said. “This is the only thing you need; it’s got everything you want.”
Order your copy at www.HockeyCanada.ca/Breakaway today.
UPCOMING FUNDRAISERS FEATURE FIVE 2010 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLISTS
For as long as Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux can remember, her mother has watched from the stands, cheering her on as she chases the puck around the ice and pursues her hockey dreams. She hasn't missed a single championship game.
At last season's Game On to Beat Breast Cancer, the first-ever such fundraiser hosted by the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), it was mom's turn to take to the ice, the sounds of applause honouring a very special guest – a survivor.
"It was such a great moment to be able to give her a rose, and congratulate her," Breton, a former candidate of Canada's National Women's Team and current captain of the CWHL's Montreal Stars, said of honouring her mother, along with a handful of other women who have fought – and beaten – breast cancer. It's the most common cancer among Canadian women between 20 and 49 years old.
"Being able to tell her myself how proud of her I am for being so strong … " Breton recalled, her voice wavering as she became choked up at the memory. "It was special."
With 800 fans in attendance at last season's battle between the CWHL's top two teams, the Boston Blades and Montreal Stars, Breton (St-Zacharie, Que.) and teammates are hoping for even more supporters in the stands when the puck drops this Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. ET and Monday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. ET, both at Étienne-Desmarteau Arena in Montréal. They're also hoping to top the more than $7,000 raised last year for the Québec Breast Cancer Foundation.
Admission is free to the cross-border matchup, which will feature 11 Olympians, including Team Canada's Meghan Agosta (Ruthven, Ont.), Caroline Ouellette (Montreal, Que.), Sarah Vaillancourt (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Catherine Ward (Montreal, Que.), in addition to fellow National Women's Program alumnae Emmanuelle Blais (Montréal, Que.), Sabrina Harbec (St. Hubert, Que.) and Noémie Marin (Acton-Vale, Que.).
Donations to the Québec Breast Cancer Foundation are encouraged and a silent auction will include souvenirs autographed by Canada's National Women's Team members, tickets to Montréal Canadiens games, artwork created by high school students from the Collège Regina Assumpta as part of a special project called Carrément Rose and game-worn pink jerseys.
Montréal forward Agosta, the CWHL's No. 1 draft pick in 2011, has also had hockey equipment especially designed for the occasion, and plans to auction off the pants and gloves adorned with pink stripes following the fundraiser, which continues with another double header, this time against the Toronto Furies, next weekend in Windsor, Ont. The Toronto team features fellow 2010 Olympic gold medallist Tessa Bonhomme (Sudbury, Ont.), CWHL founder and National Women's Team alumna Sami Jo Small (Winnipeg, Man.) and 2011 4 Nations Cup silver medallist Jesse Scanzano (Montreal, Que.).
The Stick It To Cancer weekend, hosted in partnership with local non-profit group The Breast Ride Ever, kicks off Saturday, Nov. 26 at 6 p.m. ET, while Game 2 is set for Sunday, Nov. 27 at 12:30 p.m. ET, both at Windsor Arena. Ticket information is available online at www.ticketweb.ca and proceeds benefit the Windsor and Essex County Cancer Centre Foundation.
Agosta said she has been inspired by the experiences of close family friends, including triumphant survivors Debbie Chambers and Liz DelCiancio, as well as Kerry Dick, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. "When I found out that one of my friends, his mom, had breast cancer, I wrote him and said ‘You know what, believe anything is possible, ‘ " she said. "When somebody finds out that they have cancer … right away they (may) think the worst … but there's so much research, that anything's possible."
The more cash collected at events such as Game on to Beat Breast Cancer in Montreal and Stick it To Cancer in Windsor, the more possible a cure becomes, Agosta emphasized.
Assistant captain Ouellette, who wears a pink rubber bracelet every day to remind her of the cause that's close to her own family's heart, added the four upcoming Montreal Stars game won't just raise awareness of a disease that afflicts one in nine women. It will also shine a light on the growing CWHL, which also has teams in Alberta, Brampton and Burlington.
"A lot of people will come for the cause without really having seen a women's hockey game live," she said. "Usually, they want to come back and see more games."
Joanne Breton is certainly no stranger to women's hockey, and will be at the rink this weekend, watching her daughter skate by in a fight for the puck, a blur of pink flying up and down the ice. Lisa-Marie may be defending Montreal's Clarkson Cup title this season, but she believes her mother is the true champion.
"Hockey is my passion … but sometimes it's not all about hockey," she said. "It's fun to be able to give back … to the people we love."
For more information on the CWHL and its initiatives, please visit www.CWHL.ca.
CALGARY - Ryan Walter has never coached a women's hockey team before. The former NHL player is starting at the top.
Walter was named head coach of the Canadian women's hockey team Tuesday for the 4 Nations Cup in November.
The annual tournament, featuring Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden, will be held Nov. 9-13 in St. John's and Clarenville, N.L.
Walter was an assistant coach of the Vancouver Canucks the last two seasons before he was released in August.
The 52-year-old from New Westminster, B.C. is a surprising choice for the women's team, given his lack of experience coaching internationally and female teams.
But he brings NHL clout to a program that has produced three straight Olympic gold medals and wants to remain No. 1 in the world.
“For me, this is just another real cool opportunity to work with basically the best in the world,” Walter said Tuesday in Calgary. “There's an NHL element I want to try to bring to this program. I think the game is at such a high level that we can do that. It's just like coaching high-calibre players. It doesn't matter if you are men or women.”
“There's great ability in this program. There's nothing I couldn't do at the NHL level that we won't do here, from power play to the way we attack the net.”
Melody Davidson coached the Canadian women five of the last six years, through two Olympic Games. She's still with the women's program as a head scout.
Walter played for Canada several times at the world championships, but this marks his first time coaching a Canadian team. He played 1,003 NHL games with Washington, Montreal and Vancouver and had 646 points over 15 seasons in the NHL.
“I know him because as a really young Montreal Canadiens hockey fan I watched him play,” forward Caroline
Ouellette said. “I loved his leadership and passion for the game of hockey.
“We were waiting to see who was going to be our coach. I think Ryan is going to bring a lot to our game and
he brings a lot of credibility with his background in the NHL.”
Hockey Canada is taking advantage of the time afforded the organization in the first of a four-year quadrennial towards the 2014 Olympics to expand its pool of coaches for the women's team.
The organization will wait until after the 4 Nations before naming the head coach for the 2011 World Women’s Championship in Switzerland.
“We wanted to look at bringing in a bit of a fresh perspective on things,” said Brad Pascall, Hockey Canada's vice president of national teams. “It's always good to have a new set of eyes and a new voice in the room.
“There's an opportunity there to maybe keep Ryan for the world championship or to bring in somebody else who may or may not be part of our pool.
“Ryan works really well with people and I think he can bring some added leadership and teaching to the players and to the staff. We think based on Year 1 of the four-year cycle, he's an ideal candidate.”
Walter's first job will be to choose a team for the 4 Nations from the 66 players at an evaluation camp starting Wednesday in Calgary. The women's team doesn't train together full time in years between Olympic Games, but players are periodically invited to training camps.
Players from the Olympic championship team will attend this week's camp, minus defenders Colleen Sostorics, Becky Kellar and Carla MacLeod and forward Gina Kingsbury. Those four players announced their retirement from the national team last week.
Walter is the third male to coach the Canadian women's team after Peter Smith in 2007-08 and Les Lawson in 1994.Ouellette says it doesn't matter to her whether it's a male or female coaching the team, but says Walter will have to learn how to relate to female athletes.
“Women often have to be explained to why we do things a certain way,” Ouellette explained. ``Men, you tell them to do something, and they're just going to go out there and do it and trust in the process. We have to learn to trust and can easily lose it.
“It's going to be an adjustment for him. He's never coached women. I think we have a great group of girls who are welcoming and eager to learn from him. I think it's going to be a good match.”
Walter was drafted second overall by the Washington Capitals in 1978. He was also a TSN colour commentator from 19 and worked on Canucks broadcasts from 19.
Walter will be joined by assistant coaches Laura Schuler and Stephanie White. Schuler is an assistant coach with the University of Minnesota-Duluth and White is head coach of the Ryerson University Rams.
Defenders Becky Kellar of Hagersville, Ont., Carla Macleod of Calgary, Colleen Sostorics of Kennedy, Sask., and forward Gina Kingsbury of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., each capped their careers with a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February. Between them, they have won 10 Olympic gold medals.
Hockey Canada is holding a women's team camp next week in Calgary, Alta., so players who intended to retire made their intentions clear now.
The four athletes are leaving on the highest possible note a female hockey player can have: winning Olympic gold on home ice. Canada defeated the United States 2-0 on Feb. 25 for gold.
``I remember standing on the ice waiting for our gold medals and saying to myself 'remember this,' because it really doesn't get any better,'' Kellar said from Brantford, Ont.
Kellar, 35, is one of only four Canadians to play in all four Olympics that have included women's hockey. Jennifer Botterill, Jayna Hefford and Hayley Wickenheiser are the others. Kellar won silver in 1998, followed by three Olympic gold medals in 2002, 20.
She's been a member of the national team for 13 years and won four world titles. She concludes her career with 13 goals and 39 assists in 173 games.
Kellar, a mother of two boys, was pregnant with her first son Owen during the 2003 world championship in Halifax. Although she's finished at the international level, Kellar will play for the Canadian Women's Hockey League team in Burlington this season.
She set a new standard for combining motherhood and hockey as the first player on the national team to have children.
``Obviously things have changed over my career, being a kid just out of university to getting married and having kids of my own and still playing,'' Kellar said. ``It's nice that it can be possible. I think it's a good thing to show the rest of the world and show other athletes, you can have it all.''
Both Kellar and Sostorics were stay-at-home defenders. Sostorics, 31, won Olympic gold in 2002, 20.
The 31-year-old finishes her international career as Canada's third-highest scoring defenceman behind Geraldine Heaney and Therese Brisson, with 14 goals and 43 assists. Sostorics also won three world championships during her career.
``This last gold medal was a pretty special one,'' Sostorics said. ``I think that four (more) years for me is too long to keep going and it's time to move on to new adventures and new challenges.
``It's mixed emotions today definitely, reflecting on all the places I've been and the great teammates I've had over the years.''
MacLeod and Kingsbury, both 28, won Olympic gold in 20. Kingsbury, who excelled on the penalty kill, had 30 goals and 45 assists in 116 international games and won three world titles. She's now an assistant coach at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, B.C.
``Maybe this is my opportunity to give back and maybe (be) a coach or a mentor for a young girl who wants to make the national team, go to college, or just achieve their goals,'' Kingsbury said in Penticton. ``I always wanted to become an Olympian and did that twice and won two gold medals. I feel like I played with a lot of pride and worked extremely hard at everything. I can say I have no regrets.''
MacLeod, an offensively creative defender, had 14 goals and 30 assists in 81 games. She was named to the all-star team at the 2006 Olympics and was also the most valuable player of the 2009 world championship.
``Coming off Vancouver and having that experience, for me, nothing could top that,'' MacLeod said from Calgary. ``I think I've accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish. It seemed a pretty natural decision to hang them up and see what else is out there in life.
``It's a lot of work to play at the level we've been playing that. I didn't have the drive to keep pushing to get better and at that level, that's what you need.''MacLeod has taken a public relations job with RBC and is an assistant coach of the Mount Royal University women's hockey team.
While the debate over lopsided scores and lack of competition for Canada and the U.S. continued after these Olympics, MacLeod feels she left the sport better than she found it.
``We're in the early years of women's hockey, we're still pretty much in the baby stages of the game really and my dream is to be 80 years old and going to watch a professional women's hockey league where these gals are getting paid,'' she said. ``To think you had some small part in it would be pretty exciting.''The Canadian women's team is also undergoing a management change. Two-time Olympic coach Melody Davidson has taken on the role of head scout of the women's program. A new head coach has yet to be named.
Julie Healy, who was Hockey Canada's director of female hockey, recently took a job as a manager of team services with the Canadian Olympic Committee.
For NHL prospect Jaden Schwartz, his big sister has always been a hero, for her abilities both on and off the ice.
“I’ve looked up to (her) my whole life,” said Jaden, who will turn 18 while at the upcoming draft in Los Angeles, Calif. “She’s very strong.”
But while Mandi Schwartz, 22, is a natural role model for friends and family members alike, she is now in search of her very own hero – a hero who will hopefully save her life.
Mandi, a forward for the Yale University Bulldogs and former candidate for Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team, has acute myeloid leukemia and is in desperate need of a proper stem-cell donor before moving forward with a bone-marrow transplant in a matter of weeks.
It’s a good thing she’s a fighter, whether battling for the puck or battling for her life, because time is running out.
In fact, Mandi just found out Wednesday, June 9 that she’s in remission for a second time, which means she’ll be healthy enough to undergo surgery.
“Last time, it was … her first bout with the leukemia and her body was quite receptive to chemotherapy treatment,” mom Carol Schwartz said from the family’s Wilcox, Sask. home, where Mandi was resting after fighting off pneumonia in the intensive care unit.
But this time around, “her body’s not going to be as receptive,” Carol said. “We have to proceed with the bone-marrow transplant.”
Without a donor who can provide stem cells that are a 10-out-of-10 DNA match for Mandi, the upcoming operation will be risky. All of her immediate family members, including Jaden and 20-year-old brother Rylan, have had cheek swabs to have their cells tested but none came close to matching.
Since she was first diagnosed with the deadly disease in late 2008, friends in the hockey community both at home and south of the border have been rallying around Mandi, and after kicking the leukemia she was able to return to the the sport she loves for part of the 2009-10 season.
And since the leukemia’s return was confirmed in late April, efforts to save the young hockey player’s life have gone into overdrive. Supporters are holding bone marrow drives across the country, encouraging expectant mothers to save the valuable blood from their baby-to-be’s umbilical cord and spreading the word through an aggressive online campaign – all in an attempt to beat a very aggressive cancer.
After all, they know Mandi would do the same for them.
“She’s one of the nicest, most caring people I’ve ever met,” said Tegan Schroeder, 22, a close friend who played hockey with Mandi at Notre Dame College in Wilcox. “And hardest working. She’d always be the one to push you to that next level.”
If her hero doesn’t show up soon, Mandi will have to accept cells from the closest DNA match possible, currently a 9-out-of-10 donor from Germany, far from a guarantee for success.
In the meantime, her family and friends are keeping Mandi’s spirits up and staying positive themselves, something that seems to be paying off, since doctors told the Schwartzes just this week that they’re checking out another potential donor.
“This could be a 10-out-of-10,” father Rick Schwartz said. “We’re always hoping.”
“We’re positive that we’ll find a match for her and she’ll be able to live her life to the fullest,” Tegan added. “There is one person out there that can be her hero.”
To find out if you could be Mandi’s hero, go to www.becomemandishero.org and www.becomemandishero.net. You can also join the national bone marrow registry at www.onematch.ca.
National Women’s Team captain Hayley Wickenheiser has been named the Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year, the first hockey player to win the award in its 74-year history.
'It's a nice award, more for our sport, because it has gained a level of respect in the media,' Wickenheiser told CP. 'You see a lot of male hockey players win it so it's great that a female has.'
The Shaunavon, SK native captained Canada to a ninth gold medal at the 2007 IIHF World Women’s Championship in April in Winnipeg, MB – scoring eight goals and adding six assists in just five games – and was named Top Forward and Most Valuable Player.
Wickenheiser also led Canada to a gold medal at the 2007 4 Nations Cup in November in Leksand, Sweden, scoring four goals and adding three assists in four games, and her club team – the Calgary Oval X-Treme – won the Western Women’s Hockey League championship and the gold medal at the 2007 Esso Women’s Nationals in Salmon Arm, BC.
With 279 career points (132 goals, 147 assists), Wickenheiser is the all-time leading scorer for Canada’s National Women’s Team. She finished first in a vote of sports editors and broadcasters from coast-to-coast, finishing ahead of speed skater Cindy Klassen, the 20 winner.
Cole Harbour, NS native Sidney Crosby was named CP’s Male Athlete of the Year on Wednesday. Crosby was a member of two National Junior Teams (20), winning gold in 2005, and led the 2006 IIHF World Championship in scoring as an 18-year-old.
Seventeen of the top women’s goaltenders are in Calgary, AB this weekend as Hockey Canada hosts its first-ever women’s goaltending camp.
Eight goaltenders from the National Women’s Under-19 program, eight from the National Women’s Under-22 program and one from the National Women’s program are taking to the ice at Norma Bush Arena with seven of the top goaltending instructors in the country.
“We have had so many potential goaltenders emerge across Canada at the U22 and U19 level in the past year that we felt a camp would be a great way to get a look at them all,” says Julie Healy, director of female hockey for Hockey Canada. “We have a limited amount of spaces at most camps we hold, and those spots were never enough to expose all the goaltenders we had to our national team programs. This camp gives us the opportunity to do that.”
For goaltenders like Jamie Miller, a two-time Provincial (ON) Women’s Hockey League champion and two-time Ontario Women’s Hockey Association provincial gold medalist, the camp serves as a way for her to improve her skills and learn what it takes to be a National Women’s Team goaltender.
“Being a goaltender there are a lot of different styles, and unless you work with the coaches from Hockey Canada, you don’t know what they are expecting, or what they are looking for,” Miller says. “It’s good to get out there and get practice with (Hayley) Wickenheiser and (Vicky) Sunohara and all the big names that are out here shooting on us.”
Laura Hosier, a member of last year’s National Women’s Under-22 Team, says the camp is an opportunity to add more to her game by learning not only from the instructors, but by watching how other goaltenders play the position.
“My style is pretty undefined and I like to look at other people and see what they’re doing and see if I like it, and if I like it maybe I’ll keep it,” the Sharon, ON native says. “It’s good to see other styles and try to get a little diversity in my game.”
While the camp is an opportunity for the goaltenders to gather in one place and learn from some of the best instructors, it will also serve as an evaluation camp, with spots at U22 and U19 camps later this summer on the line.
Only four of the eight Under-22 goaltenders and six of the eight Under-19 goaltenders will attend the summer evaluation and selection camps, which has led to a little bit of added pressure for the goaltenders in attendance.
Hosier says she has tried to take some of the pressure off by letting some of her personality come out around the other goaltenders.
“I like to bring a fun attitude and I like to make it laid back, Hosier says. “I know a lot of these girls feel a lot of pressure, it’s Hockey Canada and it’s their dream and everything, and they put a lot of pressure on themselves. I want to bring it down a little and have fun and make them see that it’s still hockey, even if it is at this level.”
Miller says that while she will be having fun on the ice, she knows she is in Calgary to work hard and learn.
How will Miller know if she has worked hard enough? She has a pretty straightforward measuring stick.
“I want to get on that plane to go home on Sunday night and not be able to feel my legs because I worked so hard,” she says. “That’s how I will know.”
0 – goals allowed by Laura Hosier in five games (239 minutes) with the National Women’s Under-22 Team in 2006-07
0.33 – goals against average of Christina Kessler in two appearances (January 2005, November 2005) at the National Women’s Under-18 Championship (two goals against, four shutouts in six games)
2 – Provincial (ON) Women’s Hockey League championships (2006, 2007) and Ontario Women’s Hockey Association provincial championships (2005, 2006) for Jamie Miller and the Toronto Jr. Aeros
3 – Mac’s Midget Tournament victories, in three attempts, for Kayley Herman and the Notre Dame Hounds
11 – career international gold medals for Sami Jo Small
14, 6 – age (in years, months) of Carmen MacDonald, the youngest goaltender invited to camp
33 – wins without a loss for Alexandra Garcia and the Dawson College (QC) Blues in
2006-07
78 – saves for Melissa Murphy in a 2-1 shootout win over Alberta at the 2007 Canada Winter Games
86 – career wins in the Alberta Junior Hockey League Junior A men’s league for Shannon Szabados, who was named the AJHL’s Goaltender of the Year in 2006-07
This country’s most decorated female hockey player and the man who scored a crucial overtime goal during the 1984 Canada Cup are among the latest inductees into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame.
Cassie Campbell, who retired from the National Women’s Team in 2006 after a career that included 100 points in 157 international games and 20 international medals, and Mike Bossy, whose OT goal in 1984 gave Team Canada a semi-final win over the Soviet Union, will be honoured on at a gala dinner in Toronto. Campbell and Bossy will be joined by four other athletes at the ceremony: Olympic wrestling champion Daniel Igali, former CFL football star Doug Flutie, Olympic cross-country ski champ Beckie Scott and Major League Baseball’s Larry Walker.
Campbell was captain of the National Women’s Team from the 1993-94 season until she retired in 2006. She is the only Canadian hockey player, male or female, to captain Canada to two Olympic gold medals, having done so in 20. Among her 20 international medals are six golds from the IIHF World Women’s Championship (1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004).
Campbell continues to be involved in the game of hockey through her work with the Chevrolet Safe and Fun Hockey Program and as an analyst on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and TSN’s coverage of national and international hockey tournaments.
Bossy played 10 seasons in the NHL, all with the New York Islanders, and helped the team win four Stanley Cups in the early 1980s. Bossy set the standard for goal scoring, hitting the 50-goal plateau in nine consecutive seasons, a mark that still stands.Bossy’s NHL resumé also includes the 1978 Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, the 1982 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP and the 1983, 19 Lady Byng Trophy, as the league’s most sportsmanlike player. He was also a five-time member of the NHL’s first all-star team.
Bossy’s international experience included two Canada Cups (19). In 1984, Canada beat the Soviet Union in a semi-final before defeating Sweden in two straight games to take the best-of-three final.
Bossy works with Campbell and Bobby Orr on the Chevrolet Safe and Fun Hockey Program.
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