Jennifer Botterill grew up with Canada’s National Women’s Team.

She debuted at 18 at the 1997 3 Nations Cup and played 184 games in a Team Canada jersey before retiring in 2011. She won 17 gold medals during her 14-year career, including five at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, where she was twice named the most valuable player, and three at the Olympic Winter Games, capping her career on top of the podium at Vancouver 2010.

“I think our whole team went into those Games thinking it would be something pretty special – an Olympics in Canada,” says Botterill. “But without a doubt it exceeded our expectations in terms of energy and excitement and support. Still to this day, if I’m doing a keynote speech or an event and I show pictures or video from Vancouver, I get chills just because it was such a contagious environment.”

In a career marked by memorable moments, Botterill puts those Games – as well as the three world championships she played on home soil (including one in her hometown of Winnipeg) – at the top. “The best part of playing for Team Canada,” she says, “was sharing the experience with the fans at home.”

Botterill is now sharing her experiences – and her expertise – in a different way: as a broadcaster. The transition to the booth (and between the benches) began shortly after she retired, with coverage for TSN.

“I think I was drawn to the opportunity to stay connected to the sport but in a different capacity,” she says. “It was a nice way to share my perspective and offer a bit of an inside look at the game, and hopefully bring the audience a bit closer to the athletes and the sport from a unique point of view.”

In addition to TSN, Botterill has also worked as a contributing host and analyst for CBC and Sportsnet. Last year, she joined MSG Networks as an analyst for New York Islanders games.

The network approached her in September 2018 about the opening. The opportunity to be involved in the game at a different level intrigued her.

Botterill does the pre-game, intermission and post-game studio shows, and in-game segments from between the benches. Last year, thanks to the Islanders playoff success, she worked close to 40 games. This year, it will be closer to 30. She shares the role with A.J. Mleczko. The two were linemates in Botterill’s freshman year (Mleczko’s senior year) at Harvard University and won a national championship together.

The 40-year-old lives in Toronto and commutes to New York for the job. Sometimes that means flying in the night before, attending the pre-game skate in the morning, covering the game in the evening, then flying home first thing the next morning. Other times, the team’s home schedule allows her a couple of days in New York to at least unpack.

“I’ve always taken pride in a high standard of excellence for everything that I do,” says Botterill. “I can draw on the lessons learned from being a high-performance athlete and apply that to bring the same level of intensity and preparation to my broadcasting work and hopefully put together a great performance.”

In addition to her analyst job, she gives keynote speeches at corporate, community and charity events; manages Journey to Excel, a high-performance training centre she opened nearly seven years ago with her husband, Adrian Lomonaco; volunteers her time to Hockey Canada in support of the grassroots game; and assists at International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation events.

“I look back at the girls I first started playing hockey with in Winnipeg, and not everyone went on to play university hockey or on the national team, but the sport itself was a huge platform for a great life,” she says. "I’ve always felt grateful for my experiences in sport. If there’s ways to give back that’s something I’m always interested in.”

She’s balancing all this while raising three young daughters: Maya, 4; Brooklynn, 2; and Wyllow, five months. Her youngest often travels with her to New York, just as her older two used to join their mom during their first year. Her unique schedule has been busy but a blessing.

“It allows me to have some flexibility, to have full days and a number of days in a row with my kids. That has been the biggest joy. It’s a lot of hard work being a mom,” she says, adding with a laugh, “Did I appreciate my parents enough when I was young? I hope I did.

“It’s super fulfilling to have these three kids to take care of and who have brought a lot of energy and joy to our lives.”

Botterill has no intent on slowing down. She looks forward to more opportunities to share her insights, both as an analyst and as someone whose journey was shaped by the positive impact of sport.

“I’d love to continue to stay involved covering the game, both on the men’s side and the women’s side, providing new insight and quality content,” she says. “And I’d love to continue to be a keynote speaker. I’d love to continue to grow in all those different capacities.”

It has been 9,068 days since Hayley Wickenheiser made her debut with Canada’s National Women’s Team as a fresh-faced 15-year-old at the 1994 IIHF World Women’s Championship in Lake Placid, N.Y.

In the 24 years, nine months and 27 days since, all she has managed to do is become the face of a sport, and there is little debate she is the most famous women’s hockey player in the world.

“Her dedication to the sporting world, desire to improve and work ethic have never faltered since the day she started with our program,” says Melody Davidson, head scout for national women’s teams with Hockey Canada, and a long-time national team coach.

“She evolved into a leader on and off the ice and set standards that pushed our athletes, staff and program to attain heights that at times appeared unreachable."

Her numbers alone are staggering: Wickenheiser – who was announced Wednesday as one of the 2019 inductees into the IIHF Hall of Fame – finished her international career with 168 goals, 211 assists and 379 points in 276 games. All those top the all-time list for Team Canada, and none will be surpassed anytime soon.

To put her career totals in perspective, Marie-Philip Poulin is the leader in all four categories among players who have been active in 2018-19, and she sits 159 games, 103 goals, 141 assists and 244 points behind the pride of Shaunavon, Sask.

She entered the national team program as a prodigy, having scored the gold medal-winning goal for Alberta as a 12-year-old at the 1991 Canada Winter Games, facing off against players up to five years older than her.

After a golden debut in Lake Placid – the first of seven world titles she would lay claim to – Wickenheiser posted nine points at the 1997 women’s worlds, and put up 30 points in 27 games in the 1997-98 Olympic season at the age of 19, a glimpse of what was to come over the next two decades.

In the end, what hasn’t Wickenheiser done?

She has four Olympic gold medals to her name (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) in addition to seven world championship gold, has MVP and Top Forward awards (2002 and 2006 at the Olympics, 2007 at women’s worlds), and was a frequent member of the all-star team at both – nine times in all.

She is the all-time leader in goals (18), assists (33) and points (51) at the Olympics, and tops the list for assists (49) and points (86) at the IIHF Women’s World Championship.

She wore the ‘C’ for Canada’s National Women’s Team for seven seasons, from 2006 to 2013, leading her country to two world championships and an Olympic gold medal during that run.

And she was just as good with her club teams, winning an NWHL championship and three WWHL titles with the Calgary Oval X-Treme, a CIS national championship with the University of Calgary and a Clarkson Cup with the Calgary Inferno.

So she’s a winner. And she’s been a winner for a long time.

“There’s no doubt Hayley’s inner drive and desire to be the best has kept her in the game,” Davidson says. “Her dedication to building her skill set, fitness, passion and love for the game have always been evident and they are all factors that played a role in her ability to be part of so many gold medals for Canada.”

But be assured, Wickenheiser is going to be remembered for far more than her on-ice accomplishments, as impressive and record-breaking as they may be.

She has tirelessly travelled across the country and around the world promoting the women’s game, promoting healthy living, and promoting the power of sport.

“Her accomplishments on and off the ice speak for themselves and have played a part in fueling the growth of women’s hockey worldwide,” Davidson says. “She always pushed the traditional norms, whether it was playing with the men or the type of game we played. A product of her small-town Saskatchewan roots and the way she was raised, she has a strong sense of community and consistently gives back to sport.

“She has always made an effort to be available for everyone at any time, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if there were plenty of young women with the name Hayley in communities across our country because of her.”

In 2011, when she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada “for her achievements as an athlete and for her contributions to the growth of women’s hockey,” Wickenheiser was in Ghana, West Africa, with international humanitarian and development agency Right to Play.

She took a leading role in the Ambassador and Mentor Program with the International Ice Hockey Federation that same year, helping set direction and provide support for athlete ambassadors that worked with developing women’s hockey nations.

And in 2014, as the Sochi Games came to a close, she was elected to the IOC Athletes Commission, an elite group that works with the International Olympic Committee on behalf of athletes in all sports.

Through it all, Wickenheiser has kept focus on the future of the women’s game in Canada, which in 2010 led to the creation of the Wickenheiser Female World Hockey Festival – Wickfest – which brings together female teams from across the country and around the world for not only on-ice action, but workshops and clinics that build better players and better people.

Ultimately, that’s what Hayley Wickenheiser has always been about: making the game – and the country –better. She did it on the ice and off, helping bring Team Canada success and becoming a role model for thousands of young girls across the country.

As the post-career accolades begin to roll in, how will Wickenheiser ultimately be remembered? Even Davidson isn’t sure.

“Legacies continue to evolve long after players stop playing, so it’s hard to say exactly what her legacy will be,” she says. “Hayley is always going to be someone people can relate to, and there’s no doubt she is going to continue to have an important voice at the highest level for women in sport and society.”

There are plenty of words that can be used to describe her – leader, teammate, winner, superstar, trailblazer, pioneer, ambassador … the list goes on. Is it possible to choose just one? Probably not.

So let’s just leave it like this…

Thank you, Hayley.

CALGARY, Alta. – Four-time Olympic gold-medallist Charline Labonté has announced her retirement from international competition with Canada’s National Women’s Team.

“I want to thank Charline for her dedication to Canada’s National Women’s Team,” said Tom Renney, CEO of Hockey Canada. “Her accomplishments in goal for Canada are tremendous; as a four-time Olympian she leaves behind an incredible legacy and we wish her success as she sets her focus on a new career.”

Labonté, 34, made her debut with Canada’s National Women’s Team on an international tour against Sweden and the United States in the fall of 2001, the first of 61 games she would play wearing the red-and-white.

She finishes her international career with a 1.51 goals-against average, .919 save percentage, 16 shutouts, and a 45-12-1 record, ranking second all-time in games played, minutes played (3,374), shutouts, and wins.

The Boisbriand, Que., native won Olympic gold with Canada in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. At the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy, Labonté led all goaltenders with a 0.33 GAA and .976 save percentage.

She is also a two-time gold-medallist and six-time silver-medallist at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, helping Canada to the top prize in 2007 and 2012, and earning Top Goaltender honours at the 2009 edition of the tournament.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Charline from her debut with our national women’s program to now; her ability to bring a high level of professionalism and passion each and every day is what has always set her apart,” said Melody Davidson, general manager of national women’s team programs for Hockey Canada. “She is a terrific teammate, but more importantly an incredible person and we wish her all of the best as she embarks on a new chapter in her life.”

As Labonté looks ahead she plans to focus on a new career in the culinary industry and will remain connected to hockey through coaching and sport psychology consultation.

“I’ve had the chance to experience memorable moments with Hockey Canada,” said Labonté. “The coaches, the staff, and my teammates led me to win four Olympic medals, but above that, they are all exceptional people who have had a great influence on my life. I feel privileged to have lived as many great moments with my best friends.”

A highlight video of Labonté’s career is also available on HockeyCanada.ca.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Twitter.com/HC_Women.

When his Lower Austria Stars face off against Canada’s National Women’s Team on Jan. 28, it’s sure to bring back some fond memories for John Miner.

Miner, 49, is assistant coach with the under-20 prep team and specialty coach at the Okanagan Hockey Academy Europe in St. Pölten, Austria, where Team Canada is acclimatizing, practising and training before heading to Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Miner also happens to be a Team Canada alumnus himself, having won the gold medal at the 1985 World Junior Championship in Helsinki and Turku, Finland, as well as at the 2002 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland.

“I’ve had so many great experiences,” the Moose Jaw, Sask., native said of representing his country on the ice. “Any time you put on that jersey is just an incredible feeling.”

Miner remembers attending a national team camp as a 16-year-old defenceman, “with a lot of them that ended up stars of the NHL, like Mario Lemieux.”

“We were the first team to win gold overseas,” Miner added of his world juniors experience with Canada’s National Junior Team.

He also said legendary Team Canada coach Andy Murray “had to put an unbelievable team for Davos forward, because if they didn’t, they weren’t going to be invited anymore, so (he) went out and brought all the top guys he could within Switzerland, Sweden, Germany.

“That, for me, was a real special feeling,” Miner said. “Every time I watch the Spengler now, I might have had a little piece of that, and Andy did a fabulous job.”

While he’s proud to have had the chance to sport the maple leaf on his chest, Miner said Tuesday’s game against Canada’s National Women’s Team won’t be the first time he’s played against his own country. In fact, his German club team, the Cologne Sharks, took on Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in 1999 and 2000, winning the former and placing third in the latter tournament.

“A lot of the guys that I played with on Team Canada, now I’m playing against them,” Miner recalled with a chuckle. “We knocked them out; we made the final.”

After a successful junior hockey career with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, Miner was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers – the 220th player selected in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft – playing three years with them and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Nova Scotia Oilers. His 14 NHL games all came with Edmonton during the 1987-88 season, a campaign that ended with the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup.

His Oilers career came to a close on Aug. 9, 1988, when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings as part of the infamous Wayne Gretzky deal.

“That’s probably the highlight of my whole career,” is Miner’s usual wisecrack about being in the middle of the historic NHL trade.

Soon after, Miner moved his professional game to Europe, where he spent two decades as a stand-out player in the Austrian, Danish, French, German and Swiss elite leagues, being named to several all-star teams. Miner and his wife also raised their two children overseas. “It’s home for us,” he said.

Miner retired from playing at 42 years old, took a couple of years off, and then picked up coaching, earning Level 1 and 2 of Hockey Canada’s National Coach Certification Program. He worked with pro teams and at skills camps across Europe before joining the Okanagan Hockey Academy Europe for the 2013-14 season. It’s the sister facility to the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, B.C., and is owned and operated by Canadians, with players coming from across the continent to learn the game.

“I thought it was a pretty neat concept,” Miner said. “I’m pretty excited to actually be on the other side of the bench … It’s kind of nice to help these kids try and reach their goals.”

He and the young men he’ll coach in Tuesday’s game also hope to help Canada’s National Women’s Team reach its goal of successfully defending its Olympic gold medal in Sochi.

Canada’s National Women’s Team has already played an exhibition game against OHA Europe’s under-18 varsity team, getting edged 5-4 on Jan. 24, just two days after arriving in Austria. Miner said he’s impressed with what he’s seen on the ice.

“I was just amazed at how beautifully they skate,” Miner said. “The cohesion that they have is really nice.”

Miner added “It’s an honour and a privilege” for his team to “help the girls get ready for the Olympics.”

“So we’re going to try and give them a good push, and give them a really good game,” he said. “And in turn, the girls are going to make our guys play,” he said. “But it’s to prepare the girls – that’s the No. 1 priority.”

The Road to Sochi is long indeed.

In fact, there are 9,183.528 kilometres, or 5,706.38 miles, separating Hockey Canada’s home base of Calgary, Alta., and the site of the upcoming 2014 Olympic Winter Games in southern Russia.

Canada’s National Women’s Team has just turned its final corner on its last stretch to Sochi, travelling overseas to Vienna, Austria, this week for some practice and pre-competition before the Olympic puck drops. Not only is that an extremely intense journey for the players themselves, but it’s also a long trek – that carries a hefty price tag – for family and friends who want to be in the stands at Shayba Arena and the Bolshoy Ice Dome to cheer their loved ones on as they go for gold.

That’s where the Hockey Canada Foundation has “stepped” in to help, with an event called Sips, Sticks and Stilettos, held this past fall to help raise funds for the National Women’s Team family program, which cuts costs so that the top female players in the country can have their top fans supporting them at Sochi 2014.

The Oct. 29 event was held at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, Alta., in the midst of one of Team Canada’s many road trips this season. Hockey Canada Foundation board director Doug Goss emceed the special evening, which gave invited guests the chance to mix and mingle with Canada’s National Women’s Team over dinner, and featured both an impressive live auction and a hot stove sessions hosted by two-time Olympic gold medallist Cassie Campbell-Pascall.

“We did this in 2009 as well, just leading into Vancouver, and the idea then, as it is now, was to provide support for the women’s hockey team and their families to attend the Olympics,” said Goss, who is also NAIT’s former board chair, and knew the school’s outstanding culinary students would put together a delicious five-course meal for attendees, which also included Hockey Canada president and CEO Bob Nicholson, Alberta Premier Alison Redford and several other high-profile guests.

“But the stars of the show were the players,” Goss said. “They were all great on stage, Cassie Campbell was terrific and I think everybody left feeling really close to all of the players, and feeling that they were all part of their journey in some way – and that’s a good thing.”

In total, Sips, Sticks and Stilettos raised about $120,000, with 75 per cent of the proceeds going to the National Women’s Team family program, and the other 25 per cent being donated to the Edmonton Girls Hockey Association to help grow the female game at the grassroots level, and inspire Team Canada’s future stars.

“This helps us tremendously, because we get to now bring our families to Russia," Canadian netminder Shannon Szabados of the festivities held in her hometown, and at her former post-secondary school. She said Sips, Sticks and Stilettos is giving her parents the chance to join her in Sochi “without re-mortgaging their house.”

Her parents have done the obscenely early morning drives to the rink, long weekend road trips countless times, and have followed their hockey-loving daughter pretty much everywhere else she’s played, including when she was in goal for the Olympic final at Vancouver 2010. So it seems only fair that they be there to support Szabados and her teammates as they defend that Olympic gold medal. Her husband will make the long trip, too, making it a smaller posse than the one she had in Vancouver, but an extremely important one.

“They were quite excited when I told them events like this help cover their expenses,” Szabados said. “I may not be able to spend a lot of time with my family when they are there, but it means so much just to know they are there supporting us, watching us, and if I need someone to talk to, they are there."

Campbell-Pascall happily helped out at this season’s Sips, Sticks and Stilettos event, since she knows all too well how important it is to have your biggest fans in attendance for your biggest games.

“Especially for Sochi coming up, it’s going to be a pretty expensive trip for the families to be there,” she said. “For some girls, it’s their first Olympics and for some girls, it’ll be their last, and as a former athlete, there’s nothing better to compete, and hopefully be successful, and then have your family right there to share it.”

The best women’s hockey players in the world “don’t make millions and millions of dollars a year,” Campbell-Pascall pointed out, adding “it just helps eliminate the costs … and it’s really important, I know, to the girls to have their parents and friends, and whoever else can, make the trip there.”

Campbell-Pascall said the success of Sips, Sticks and Stilettos shows that “there are a lot of great people out there that are supporting the game.”

“In my day, not many of the girls wore high heels to the rink,” she said with a chuckle of the appropriate yet quirky event name. “But you look at the girls now, and they’re all wearing them and that’s the style – it fits.”

Hockey Canada Foundation executive director Chris Bright described Campbell-Pascall as “natural and engaging” when it comes to garnering support for Canada’s National Women’s Team, adding she “was a great compliment to the evening’s success.”

“The foundation is proud to support these athletes and their families,” Bright said. “Like all Canadians, we wish them all the success on the ice. Off the ice, it is hard not to admire the commitment and dedication they have to pursue gold.”

But from the first puck drop to the final buzzer – and every practice, game, training session, road trip in between – each trek to that sparkling summit of athletic accomplishment has been a unique experience for the forward from Unionville, Ont.

“I think each round of centralization is a little bit different,” Apps said following a recent practice in Burlington, Vt., while on the road with Canada’s National Women’s Team for two pre-Olympic games against the United States. “This time it’s been good so far; busier I think than it has been in the past.”

Apps is one of 27 top female players from across the country currently centralized with Team Canada for the 2013-14 season, and based out of Hockey Canada’s home facilities in Calgary, Alta. When they’re not playing, practising and training inside the Markin MacPhail Centre, they’re taking the bus across the province to play against AAA boys’ teams from the Alberta Midget Hockey League, or flying to major cities on both sides of the border to take on the U.S. in preparation for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, next February. The Canadian roster will be whittled down to 21 players before that long sought after trip to Sochi.

In the meantime, their stop in Burlington this October was to face off against the United States for an intense on-ice rivalry. Canada edged the U.S. 3-2 in the first of six Olympic warm-up games between the two rival teams Oct. 12, although it was more like a heated battle on the ice, sparks flying and all. Following the win, the maple leafs shifted focus to their second game against the stars and stripes, which was scheduled for just five days later, Oct. 17 at the Centre d’excellence Sports Rousseau in Boisbriand, Que.

“There are also similarities, with playing in the Midget AAA league, and going on tour with the U.S.,” Apps said of her third centralization, adding this time around “we’ve just been at the rink a little bit more.” For a high performance athlete who has already successfully gone through the trials and tribulations en route to winning Olympic gold, not once but twice, both at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, and the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C., it’s clear the Road to Sochi 2014 is a rigorous journey for veterans and rookies alike.

Apps and her teammates love having hockey as their full-time job this season, but maintaining a sense of balance is also important. “I think you just take your down time when it comes, and try to unwind a little bit, and make sure you’re taking care of yourself – eating and sleeping,” Apps said. “And just trying to stay present when you’re at the rink.”

It’s all worth it for Apps. Not only for the possibility of having a third Olympic gold medal placed around her neck at the Bolshoy Ice Dome, but also to have the chance to spend time with her teammates every day. Apps has been a member of Canada’s National Women’s Team since 2001, also winning three women’s world championship gold medals during that time.

“It’s fun to be with this group, together full-time,” she said of what stands out for her so far this season. “Just feeling like a team that comes to the rink every day.”

Having teammates help push you through the rough patches through a tough year is also important for the red and white to stay on top of their game. “That’s why it’s so great that we have such a close group, because you can use your teammates to help you get through those hard times.”

Team Canada also adheres to mottos and messages that help motivate them on a daily basis. First introduced just before spring’s boot camp in Penticton, B.C., this season some of the team’s words to live by are “dig a little deeper.”

“When things are tough, just keep going,” Apps said. “You’ve always got more in you, so making sure that you’re giving your best every day.”

Apps said she and her teammates are excited to see proud Canadian crowds fill the stands, whether it’s at a small rink in rural Alberta as part of the ongoing National Women’s Team-Midget Series, or for one of the four remaining games against the United States, at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary on Dec. 8; the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., on Dec. 20; the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 28 or the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ont., on Dec. 30.

“That’s the part that everyone’s looking forward to,” Apps said, adding she’s also hoping to experience Sochi 2014, which would be a completely new “dream come true.”

“If I had the chance to do it again, it would be a big honour,” she said.

Apps, who perhaps comes by her undying hockey determination honestly, as the daughter of Syl Apps Jr. and granddaughter of Syl Apps Sr. of the National Hockey League, said participating in the Olympics is simply something you train “your whole life for.”

Finally, Apps makes an important point as to why she is thrilled to take the road to gold a third straight time. “It’s one thing to win a medal, and it’s even harder to defend.”

Former Hockey Canada president Murray Costello has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, in recognition of his contributions to the development of hockey across the country, particularly to Canada's National Junior Team and Canada's National Women's Team.

The prestigious appointment was announced Sat., June 29 by Gov. Gen. David Johnston.

Established in 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Order of Canada is the centrepiece of the country's honours system and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. The Order recognizes people in all sectors of Canadian society. Their contributions are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country. The Order of Canada’s motto is DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM (They desire a better country).

The Officer of the Order of Canada award recognizes a lifetime of achievement and merit of a high degree, especially in service to Canada or to humanity at large.

A former professional hockey player with the NHL's Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings, Costello went back to school and became a lawyer following his on-ice career. He served as president of the Canadian Hockey Association from 1979 through 1998, and was a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Board of Directors in Toronto for 17 years. He was himself inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006. The South Porcupine, Ont., native went on to serve in a variety of roles with the IIHF, including auditor for eight years, as well as member of the disciplinary committee for another eight years, member of the statutes committee for four years, and chairman of both the medical and junior committees.

She helped lead Team Canada to a silver medal at the first-ever Olympic Winter Games to feature women’s hockey.

So it’s fitting that a decade and a half after helping introduce the great female game to the world at Nagano 1998, that France St-Louis will once again serve in an important leadership position at Sochi 2014.

The Canada’s National Women’s Team alumna from St-Hubert, Que., was named assistant chef de mission for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, this week by the Canadian Olympic Committee. She joins fellow assistant chef de mission, Lillehammer 1994 gold medal-winning freestyle skier Jean-Luc Brassard, and chef de mission, Lake Placid 1980 bronze medal-winning downhill skier Steve Podborski, on the prestigious Canadian team.

“If we want to become the best Olympic nation in the world, we need to gather the best-qualified Canadians to help lead our athletes and coaches,” Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Aubut said in a news release. “France will provide an exceptional amount of experience to our Olympic athletes, as they compete against the world’s best.”

“We add the knowledge and capacity of one of this country’s greatest ice hockey athletes to our Sochi 2014 team,” Podborski added to the official Canadian Olympic Committee statement. “We have just taken one step closer to our quest in becoming the number one country in total medals at next year’s Winter Olympic Games. Our athletes and coaches have just gained access to an incredible amount of depth and perspective, from an athlete who knows what it takes to win.”

In addition to claiming silver at Nagano 1998, St-Louis has also won five gold medals at the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, including the inaugural event in 1990 in Ottawa, Ont.; 1992 in Tampere, Finland; 1994 in Lake Placid, N.Y.; 1997 in Kitchener, Ont.; and 1999 in Espoo, Finland.

She has received several impressive accolades in the sports world as a result of her achievements on the ice, including the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) Breakthrough Award in recognition of her immense contribution to women in sport, and her 2003 induction into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame.

“As an athlete who has already competed in an Olympic Games, I know how valuable it is to be surrounded by the best coaches and individuals that are equipped with the proper support,” current Canada’s National Women’s Team member Caroline Ouellette told the Canadian Olympic Committee. “Having someone of France’s standing is a great addition to our Olympic Team, because at times, having the right mentality can help you achieve your ultimate dream of winning an Olympic gold medal.”

“What an extraordinary occasion this is for me; an opportunity to be part of the Olympic Movement – something that I have believed in for many years,” St-Louis herself said in the COC statement. “I want to thank the administration at the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal for being so supportive. It is going to be an honour to work alongside two incredible individuals like Steve and Jean-Luc.

“I am tremendously motivated and humbled to contribute to the Canadian Olympic Team at Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games,” she added. “I know how important it is for our athletes to be prepared both physically and mentally, in order to achieve their desired objectives, and this is exactly what I aim to deliver.”

France St-Louis teaches physical education at the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal, a post-secondary institution supporting excellence in sports and raising awareness of the importance of participating in physical activity and leading a healthy lifestyle.

GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. UNITED STATES (APRIL 14)

Here we go. Canada’s National Women's Team is one win away from a record-extending 13th gold medal at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, taking on the host Americans in the gold medal game Sunday night.

Last Game

Canada took care of business in the semifinals, shutting out Czechia 4-0 to advance to the gold medal game. Laura Stacey set up first-period goals for Blayre Turnbull and Jocelyne Larocque. Emily Clark and Sarah Fillier rounded out the scoring for the Canadians. Ann-Renée Desbiens made nine saves while Canada put 47 shots on Czechia’s Klara Peslarova.

The United States come into the gold medal game undefeated, earning a 5-0 shutout of Finland in the semifinals. University of Wisconsin forward Laila Edwards recorded a hat trick, with Hannah Bilka and Savannah Harmon finding the back of the net as well. Finland’s Sanni Ahola made 50 saves, while Aerin Frankel stopped 15 shots for the semifinal win.

Last Meeting 

The North American rivals played arguably the best game of the preliminary round last Monday, with the Canadians dropping a narrow 1-0 decision in overtime. Ann-Renée Desbiens was absolutely sensational, finishing with 29 saves, but Canada couldn’t solve Frankel. It marked just the third time in 184 all-time meetings that Canada and the U.S. went 60 minutes goalless – the other two were both in Women’s Worlds gold medal games, in 2005 and 2016.

What to Watch 

While names like Poulin, Nurse, Spooner and Fast get the headlines, Jocelyne Larocque continues to just go about her business quietly and effectively. Set to play in her 10th Women’s Worlds gold medal game, the Ste. Anne, Manitoba, product – who cracked list of top-10 oldest players to represent Canada at the tournament (she was 35 years, 10 months, 17 days for the prelim opener) – leads the Canadian contingent in time on ice (22:21 per game) and tops the tournament with a plus/minus of +15. She’s also chipped in with a goal and four assists in six games.

In order for Canada to have success today, they will need to find a way past Frankel. She has had a record-breaking tournament for the United States, allowing only three goals in five games, with a 0.59 goals-against average and a 0.962 saves percentage. With her semifinal shutout, the 24-year-old set the record for the most shutouts at a single Women’s Worlds with four.

A Look Back 

This will be the 22nd time Canada and the U.S. have met for gold at Women’s Worlds, with Canada holding a 12-9 edge in the first 21. Nor surprisingly, these two teams always seem to play a close game with a world title on the line.

Prior to last year’s 6-3 win for the Americans – which was a tie game with less than four minutes to go – seven of the previous eight gold medal games were one-goal contests, and the only outlier, in 2015, was a two-goal game. Those eight games included five that needed overtime – in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2021.

All-time record: Canada leads 104-79-1 (23-20 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 508 
United States goals: 445