The class of 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame will be announced on Tuesday, and on the women's side Hayley Wickenheiser is expected to be inducted.
If inducted, she would be the seventh woman, joining Angela James and Cammi Granato (2010), Geraldine Heaney (2013), Angela Ruggiero (2015), Danielle Goyette (2017), and Jayna Hefford (2018), in the Hockey Hall of Fame. She would be the first female representative from western Canada, having been raised in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan and Calgary, Alberta.
If you ask me for additional players who ought to have someone make a case for them, Karyn Bye is one I'm interested in hearing about. Angela Ruggiero suggested on the ESPN on Ice podcast last fall that Bye is one from the original Olympic era that belongs. Nafio at Pension Plan Puppets suggested the same thing, in her HHOF post last week.
One of the standards that has fairly or unfairly been set so far is Olympic Gold (with one exception in Angela James). Not too sure how I feel about that one. I do think winners belong, but a Women's World Championship is winning right? Natalie Darwitz, being a part of that 2005 team that won that first WWC for the USA, plus she captained the US team for a few years, and is all over the record books for NCAA hockey, with a couple of NCAA Championships, has a pretty strong case to be in the HHOF, even without Olympic gold. Might be able to call her the best player of that 2nd era of US Olympians (she played in the 2002, '06, '10 Olympics).
It's kind of tragic that Finland didn't win a world championship this spring, because that would have likely punched multiple women's ticket into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Noora Raty being the one most known to me. A Finnish great will get in eventually, but with the current HHOF selection committee setup, it's hard to see a path to when.
With little suspense regarding Wickenheiser, and little expectation for a 2nd woman to be inducted as a player this year, the real suspense is when the first builder will be inducted on the women's side.
There are many names to consider. I asked on twitter yesterday and people suggested Cindy Curley, Fran Rider, and Manon Rheaume. I've also thought about Jack Brodt and Paul Kennedy and their contributions in the early aughts to now, in the USA.
The most likely candidates to get in are those who are connected to people on the voting committee (ie known among the governing bodies) and had a global contribution to the game. That would be a pretty small list of people, particularly because women's hockey grew out of such a grassroots effort. And yet, it just doesn't seem right, because the grassroots aspect of it all is kind of the magic of it all. The idea that in pockets across Canada, the US, Europe and beyond, individuals with modest power set about growing the game in their locality. And look where it is today.
If global impact is going to be the as yet unknown standard, the obvious person or people to induct is whoever the ring leader was that rounded up all these people around the world and made the World Championships a thing. My understanding is two people who were particularly responsible for that were Fran Rider and Hazel McCallion, both of Ontario. Surely there are others but these are the names that arise over and over. Rider founded the Ontario Women's Hockey Association, McCallion was also involved in OWHA, and as mayor of Mississauga was involved in numerous rink building projects (perhaps the most impactful thing a builder could do, in many parts of the world, including the US and Canada). If I recall from reading On The Edge (Elizabeth Etue and Megan Williams) there was endless challenges in getting the IIHF to sanction women's hockey, and the grassroots committee literally had to grow women's hockey around the world, to achieve IIHF status. An impressive feat.
Another builder is Melody Davidson. Davidson has been involved with Hockey Canada as a coach, GM, and scout since at least 1993, and surely was building girls and women's hockey before that. She has a drawer full of medals with Hockey Canada, most impressively perhaps, the gold medal as Head Coach at the Vancouver Olympics.
Perhaps Davidson's greatest legacy will be her vocal commitment to calling for developing women to work in all aspects of hockey, particularly coaching. As a coach herself, she has long known that hockey is about so much more than just players. She has gone on record in interviews about Hockey Canada's commitment to female coaches, and just looking at the staffs of various Hockey Canada teams the commitment is evident. This is in stark contrast to Hockey USA, who has not had a female coach on their senior women's team staff since the 2014 Olympics (other than the video coach). While Davidson's contribution may not be global, she is a multi time gold medal winning champion, has longevity of service, and has an undeniable impact on women's hockey in Canada.
Cassie Campbell is well known as a player, captaining Canada to two Olympic gold medals. I see her getting into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder. Her willingness and ability to venture into men's hockey doing color commentary for HNIC and Sportsnet was a move that sets her apart, and blazes a trail for other aspiring broadcasters. Gaining prominence on the men's side, Cassie never forgot the women's game, and was on the board of the CWHL for a period of time, and was the first high profile non player to go public and call for one united league for women's hockey, last spring. Her views are not shared by everyone, but it is fair to say a majority of people want one united viable league, and Cassie's willingness to start the conversation publicly will ultimately advance the sport.
Shannon Miller has such a seemingly complicated story, and for me I feel some heartache in it, not necessarily for her, but for the generation of girls who missed out on having a successful coach celebrated, someone to be inspired by. I believe Miller belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and will get there one day, but it may take a long time. Like Davidson, her involvement with Hockey Canada dates back to the early nineties.
The Canada Winter Games added women's hockey in 1991. The chance to play for one's provincial team inspired scores of girls across Canada to join hockey. Miller was an assistant coach for Team Alberta in those inaugural games, helping lead Alberta to gold, along with the help of a 13 year old star player named Hayley Wickenheiser. Miller would remain a part of Wickenheiser's development, for the next 7 years. After the Canada Games, Miller kept coaching in Calgary, and was involved in starting the first all girls hockey team in Calgary. In the nineties, Miller won three World Championship gold medals (assistant coach I think), and and Olympic silver (Head Coach).
After the Olympic cycle, Hockey Canada did not renew Miller's contract as they were not retaining a full time women's coach, although they said she was welcome to re-apply. They further described her Hockey Canada experience as follows:
"Miller was an assistant coach with the gold medal-winning teams at the 91 Women's World
Champion, and was head coach when Canada won the 1997 Women's World's. She also coached Canada to gold medals
at the 19 Pacific Rim Championships. She led Canada to a gold medal at the 1996 3 Nations' Cup and
a silver medal at the 1997 version of this event, which involves Finland and Team USA."
The article linked to above also references the untrue and homophobic commentary that was put in print about Miller and others during that Olympic year. It is sad, and representative of the discourse that surrounded her throughout her career, not to mention the untold damage that caused to young people witnessing it play out, and wasted opportunity to inspire a generation.
Miller loved hockey though, and moved on to a new opportunity. She started the program at the University of Minnesota Duluth, a Division II school that played Division I in hockey in a power house league with three Big 10 (aka big budget) schools. Miller was the first to really recruit Europe, perhaps in response to the fact that University of Minnesota would be tough competition for recruiting blue chip Minnesotan recruits. Miller had tremendous success. She won 5 of the first 10 NCAA Championships, and coached a total of 16 years in NCAA hockey. Her record of 5 Championships was matched this spring by Mark Johnson. It's a record that will be broken eventually as Minnesota and Wisconsin assert themselves as the elite right now (along with Clarkson, and Boston College to a lesser extent), but Miller's run was nonetheless remarkable.
Other schools have tried to duplicate the recruiting Europe strategy. UND was doing a great job of it and had the edge on UMD, when their program was cut. They may have been on the path to a Championship but we'll never know. Maine has recently tried to duplicate Miller's strategy of recruiting heavily in Europe, but has not found a league championship, let alone 5 NCAA Championships.
I thought the most impressive of the NCAA Championships at UMD was the 2008 won. By then Mark Johnson was at Wisconsin, and had been named the 2010 Olympic coach a few years prior. Already a great coach, the best US players were now flocking to his program. Miller's UMD defeated Wisconsin 4-0 to win their fourth NCAA Championship. That Wisconsin roster? It had Jinelle Zaug, Erica Lawler, Megan Duggan, Hilary Knight, and Jessie Vetter. All future US Olympians. It was the only National Championship game that Duggan didn't win (she is in the rare group that has 3 NCAA titles).
Miller's 2008 squad also had some big names and future national team players: Hayley Irwin, Jocelyne Larocque, Kim Martin, Emanuelle Blais, Sara Niemi.
In her 16 year tenure in the NCAA's Miller had one losing season and one 500 season, the rest were winning seasons. Her NCAA career ended with a contract not being renewed and a successful title IX lawsuit. These are sad facts, and beyond what I wish to get into. I believe it's fair to say she was a hardass coach, who did all the things that a certain brand of successful coaches do.
Her winning ways and fingerprints on women's hockey during that big growth period of the 90's are what make her a builder. She played a role in developing the greatest player ever, Wickenheiser. And at UMD she was mentor to several, but one in particular who is changing the hockey world, and might be one of Miller's greatest legacies: Caroline Ouellette.
Ouellette shared this about Miller, on the day that the Title IX ruling was to come out:
"Thank you coach Miller for teaching us what leadership is by
always standing up for what we deserve. For teaching us what work ethic
is by being the hardest worker. For showing us that embracing our
differences and caring for one another is the greatest strength a team
can have! Today as always i stand with you. Thank you for being the best
mentor!"
***
The Hockey Hall of Fame is a complicated thing. Getting in is surely out of this world. We are still waiting for the first builder to get recognized. But rest assured, they are everywhere, with complicated stories, achievements and errors, character strengths and flaws, all of them moving the game forward. Can't wait for the first one to get it.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Friday, June 21, 2019
Captains' Blog
A few weeks ago, pro goalie and St. Lawrence alum Mike McKenna was tweeting about captains,
during a Bruins Hurricanes game. He opined that only the players in the room
can understand why a person is chosen as captain (or not), and also shared that
he’s not a fan of co-captains or more. I easily agreed with the first point,
but I’d never thought about whether co-captains or tri-captains are good or bad.
Shortly after that, Mercyhurst announced their captains for
2019-2020: tri-captains! For the first time in program history, three players
will wear the C, and no one will wear an A. Well, now I had to ponder what I
thought about co-captains and tri-captains. What I came to is this: I will
defer to McKenna on his opinion about the NHL and one captain, vs two or three.
But at the college level, if co-captains or tri-captains is the thing that
prevents your team from winning, my opinion is there’s no way you were built to
win in the first place then.
A team ends up with co or tri captains when the votes from
players come in and there is no one individual that stands out from all others
in the group of players garnering votes. Spin it however you want – is no one
differentiating themselves as a great leader, or are 3 players differentiating
themselves as great leaders? I suppose having one captain, and 2 or 3 A’s is
neat and tidy and hierarchical, but I don’t see any reason to cling to it,
unless there is evidence that winning requires that structure. Collaborative
leadership is definitely a thing, so it makes sense that some teams are going
this route.
A challenge with multiple captains is it can present a
hurdle in communications, as one role of the captain is to act as liaison
between coaches and players, as well as talk to the ref on the ice. The thing
with tri captains will just be settling in to that pattern for the Lakers. Will
the 3 C’s all act as liaisons (sharing the administrative burden of being a C)
between coach and team, and coach and ref, or will one naturally settle into
the role? If one naturally settles into the role, will the team roll with it,
or will it spark jealousy and gossip about who is REALLY the captain, to the
detriment of the team? That’s basically the extent of it as far as I can see.
The 3 need to be on the same page with each other and support each other, and
demonstrate to the team they are united in pursuit of the only goal that
matters: winning.
Mercyhurst chose Maggie Knott (senior), Michelle Robillard
(senior), and Alexa Vasko (junior) as captains. Knott was an assistant captain
this most recent year. Knott and Vasko are the top 2 centers on the team,
taking the majority of draws and playing in all situations. Both have Hockey
Canada experience. Michelle Robillard a second/third line winger from Orchard
Park, NY, who kept plugging away this most recent season until you couldn’t
help but notice her.
Being a third liner is tough, as ice time is heavily dependent
on game situations, plus there is always one or two fourth liners that the
coach is trying to get ice time, that often is split with the third line. But
you have to be ready to go when you do get your chance, and try to prove why
the coach should keep putting you on the ice. Make the coach question whether
you should actually be a top six player, should actually be out there on the
power play. Michelle Robillard did that this year, and I am so pumped to see
her as a captain in her senior year.
Robillard finished off the year with seven points in the
last six games, and twelve total points on the season. Late in the season the
Dobson, Hine, Robillard line was the best line on the team at times. Hopefully
Robillard will keep leading in her senior year, showing the underclassmen one
more reason why you keep grinding even when you’re not getting all the ice in
the world.
Just for fun, I looked at which teams went with co or tri
captains last year. Of the 35 NCAA Division I teams here’s who had co or tri-captains
this past year, (per collegehockestats.net):
CHA (6 team league): Robert Morris (3C, 1A), Syracuse
(2C, 1A)
WCHA (7 team league): UMD (2C, 1A), Minnesota State
(2C,2A), OSU (2C, 2A), SCSU (3C), Wisconsin (2C, 2A)
Hockey East (10 team league): BC (3C), BU (3C), Holy
Cross (3C), UNH (2C), Vermont (2C, 3A); Note: Merrimack didn’t list captains on
college hockey stats. Northeastern was interesting in that their 1C was a
goalie, who split playing time pretty evenly.
ECAC (12 team league): Brown (2C, 1A), Cornell (2C),
Princeton (2C, 2A), Colgate (3C). Harvard,
RPI, Union didn’t list captains on college hockey stats.
Sixteen teams with co or tri captains, of the teams listed.
5 of these teams ended up in the 8 team NCAA Tournament, and a team with
co-captains won the NCAA Championship. I’m curious if it’s like this in men’s
NCAA. A part of me wonders if comfort with and natural alignment with
collaborative leadership persists more often among women and that is reflected
in choosing captains.
Regardless, co-captains and tri-captains didn’t appear to
prevent winning, in 2018-2019:
Conference
|
Regular Season Champ
|
Conf. Tourney
Champ
|
NCAA Champ
|
CHA
|
RMU (3C)
|
Syracuse (2C)
|
|
WCHA
|
Minnesota (1C)
|
Wisconsin (2C)
|
Wisconsin (2C)
|
Hockey East
|
Northeastern (1C)
|
Northeastern (1C)
|
|
ECAC
|
Cornell (2C)
|
Clarkson (1C)
|
Saturday, June 1, 2019
The CW trophies, so where did they go?
"Destroying those books is a way of saying that the culture itself no longer exists; its history has disappeared; the continuity between its past and its future is ruptured. Taking books away from a culture is to take away its shared memory. It's like taking away the ability to remember your dreams. Destroying a culture's books is sentencing it to something worse than death: It is sentencing it to seem as if it never lived." - Susan Orlean, The Library BookFor a league that didn't have books written about it (other than the stats book by Richard Scott), the trophies value was perhaps even greater, as they were one of few resources that served to communicate the existence and results of the 12 year old league.
I wonder who bought the CWHL trophies. Or if the CWHL eventually settled its debts. And why it came to an end the way it did.
A year or so ago, I watched Katie Million, then commissioner of the WCHA, do an online fundraiser to help the WCHA raise funds, and a sponsor for the weekly awards. She also caught the attention of John Buccigross with her appeal for a Championship trophy for the WCHA. An almost 20 year old league, with no Championship trophy! Buccigross' charity bought the WCHA a Championship trophy to award.
This sweet new @WCHA_WHockey Final Faceoff Trophy from our friend @Buccigross is up for grabs today! Who will take it home today @BadgerWHockey or @GopherWHockey ? Good luck to both teams and THANK YOU @Buccigross ! 👊🏻🏒😊#WeAreWCHA #WMNSHKY #Grateful pic.twitter.com/JlzDuH1HMY— Katie Million (@katie25million) March 4, 2018
One elite women's league finally gets some hardware, and a year later another is auctioning theirs off. There is a part of me that still can't believe this was necessary; a part of me that wonders if the board was trying to make some sort of point or statement about the severity of lack of support, and figured it was worth it, no matter how much it would upset people. That is likely too charitable a view..
In the end, the MVP award sold for $6,200, the top goalie and defender trophies went for $2,600, and the coach of the year award sold for $2,000. The goalie, defender, and coach of the year dollar amounts might be the result of a parent buying the trophy, but that $6,200 MVP trophy is a pretty steep price. Still could be a parent I suppose. I'm curious who else would be buying these.
Am I the only one that wondered if Graeme Roustane purchased some of the hardware, perhaps to use in a new league? Is it possible some #ForTheGame folks have the trophies and they will be awarded again? Do gooder companies that will donate the artifacts to the hockey hall of fame? Parents?
Meanwhile, after the Angela James trophy was removed from the auction once it was determined it was not owned by the CWHL, the Jayna Hefford, Chairman's and Humanitarian trophies were removed too:
I wonder what became of those third party negotiations.The Canadian Women’s Hockey League is in discussions with third party entities on purchasing trophies without bids and having them donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame. As such we have removed the Jayna Hefford, Chairman’s, and Humanitarian trophies.— CWHL (@TheCWHL) April 30, 2019
It's funny, the NHL season isn't even over yet, and I'm kind of missing women's hockey. All in due time. Need the right league, and then they will be back. It's a shame they lost valuable evidence of their history as part of the price.
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Happy Mother’s Day, Hockey Moms
Happy belated Mother’s Day, hockey fans.
I had hoped to share this on Mother's Day but you know how it goes: I was busy with my kids. :)
Here is a compilation of stories and social media posts at the intersection of motherhood and women's hockey. First I wrote about a traditional hockey mom (my mom), then a bunch of links.
In the old days a hockey mom was a mother of a hockey player. Today, a hockey mom could be that traditional depiction, but also a player, a coach, a gm, a ref, media, a commissioner, you name it.
My own mom was a 14 year volunteer with our local minor hockey association, 4 of us kids played over the years to varying extents, and my mom did every role at some point, except be on the board, or be a referee. In 1996 she called up our local parks and rec about starting a girls team. Another hockey mom worked at parks and rec, and voila the two of them were the leaders in creating a girls team and a women's team in our home town (my mom played a couple years on the women's team), keeping it going with all the other volunteers who stepped up. After my mom was done volunteering when I graduated, girls and women's hockey in my home town kept going, with the usual bumps along the way. It may have disappeared briefly, then got reignited thanks to someone's efforts, as these things go.
Girls and women's hockey is as strong as its ever been there, is my understanding. The town hosts the senior Canadian women's camp in the fall, recently had another girl go Division 1 NCAA, and some of the girls who played on that inaugural girls team in 1996, now play for the Iron Maidens (great name), the current iteration of the local women's team. It's amazing what can happen when one person takes action, people join to help and make it bigger and better. In this regard my mom is an inspiration for me. My main interaction with Hockey Canada and USA Hockey these days is to see the high performance product, the national teams. But that high performance product comes from a foundation of hundreds of thousands of volunteers at the grassroots level, everyday hockey heroes like my mom.
Ok, here are some links and stories about hockey and motherhood that had an impact on me this past year.
1- First, a shout out to all the Olympians that became moms (or second time moms) in the past year. Meghan Agosta, Meaghan Mikkelson, Melodie Daoust, Jocelyne Lamoureux, and Monique Lamoureux all welcomed babies since the 2018 Olympics. Here is Daoust, with her little guy.
2- Toronto Furies alum Carlee Campbell wrote this and paired it with an image of her daughter on Instagram after the CWHL announced it was folding. Carlee missed most of the 2018-19 hockey season after having her baby, but ultimately came back to pro hockey:
Dear little girl, I went back for you, to bring you into a world of strong women and to show you that anything is possible.
Dear little girl, I went back for you, so that you could be part of a family that has carved the way so that you can grow up to be what you want to be.
Dear little girl, I went back for you, to surround you with women who never quit or bend at the sight of pressure.
Dear little girl, I went back for you, so you can witness unity in times of success and in times of struggle.
Dear little girl, I went back for you.
Dear little girls, we will be back for you
#noleague #onefamily
3- Mom's The Word at Summer Showcase - Hockey Canada
From 2016, a story about Nadine Muzerall, Carey Morey, and Amanda Benoit-Wark. "A trio of assistant coaches mentor the next wave of female hockey players while inspiring – and being inspired by – their own sons and daughters."
4- A Day in the Life of Hockey Playing Moms - Hockey in Society
Courtney Szto at Hockey in Society documents a day in the life of 4 of her hockey teammates, who are moms. The story illustrates the challenges that moms face trying to incorporate self care/me time into their lives.
5- Olympic Moms Gotta Stick Together - CBC Players Own Voice, Meaghan Mikkelson
Mikkelson pens an open letter to a fellow Olympian who just had a baby. She writes about the challenges and joys of being a mother, the things she didn't know before she had her son. I related to so much of this, made we want to cheer for Mikkelson, on and off the ice.
6- First, Olympic Gold for Sisters, Now Time to Start Families - AP News, Teresa Walker
Teresa Walker wrote about the maternity benefits that the USWNT got in their 2017 deal with USA Hockey: "For the Lamoureux sisters, the maternity leave benefit in the contract is crucial. They receive a full stipend paid by USA Hockey during their pregnancies and then get a stipend to help with child care. Once cleared by a doctor, they can earn their way back onto the national team, with invites to next two evaluation camps." Walker then compares the policy to those of other pro women's sports.
The Lams have now had their babies, and I enjoy their posts on Instagram. Jocelyne posted recently about working out, and having a mentality of being better than yesterday rather than back at 100%, kind of showing the self compassion, and reasonable expectation for self, given her circumstances.
7- New Canaan's AJ Mleczko returns home a hall of famer
The above link is not directly about motherhood but AJ Mleczko, Olympic gold medalist and current color commentator for NBC Sports, and mom of four, does talk a bit about coaching her kids in the above story about going into her local hall of fame. Mleczko's twitter comments about being a mom are great. Recently she lamented that her daughter had said she sent her some gifs on mothers day, but Mleckzo heard gifts. Hopefully they were really good gifs.
8- Flames Reporter Reflects on Covering NHL While Pregnant - Calgary Sun, Kristen Anderson
Kristen Anderson shares a first person piece, reflecting on what it's like to be an NHL beat reporter while pregnant.
9- Caroline Ouellette on Building a Better Team Canada, POV Podcast
The first 3 minutes and last 8 minutes of this podcast include commentary from Ouellette about her and Julie Chu's daughter, Liv, and in the balance of the pod talks about the 2018 Olympics and getting into coaching. Ouellette has previously vocalized her dream of being a head coach for Team Canada one day, but also said in this podcast, "There's going to be many more Olympic games, but only a few years where our kids are young."
10 - A Look at the Unsung Heroes Supporting Women in Sports - Yahoo Sports, Cassandra Negley
After clicking the link above, scroll down a bit and click on 'Story Continues', then scroll some more to "The Women Who Build a Following," to learn about Shannon Desrosiers' current hockey endeavor. Desrosiers leads the Lil' Knights Club, a group of 60 or 70 kids, age 2 to 10, who cheer for the Clarkson women's hockey team at all their home games.
Previously, Desrosiers was co-head coach of Clarkson when they won their first NCAA Championship in 2014. A 2003 graduate of Saint Lawrence University, Desrosiers had been with Clarkson as coach since its first year of Div 1 NCAA play, and is the only NCAA Championship winning co-head coach or head coach to have played NCAA Women's Ice Hockey. She currently works at Clarkson in a non hockey role.
11- Jillian Dempsey is the captain of the Boston Pride. But in this fifth-grade class, she's Ms. Dempsey - The Athletic, Fluto Shinzawa
OK, not a Mothers Day article! But it's teacher appreciation week at my kids' daycare this week, and this story resonated with me. Having kids has changed the way I think about teachers. They are so much more than the already very important role of educator.
12- From social media, here is Coach Muzerall visiting her daughter's school for Sports Week. Cute pictures, I thought.
Three years into her tenure at OSU, Muzerall has a 58-42-11 record, and is the fastest coach in OSU women's hockey to reach 50 wins. No team in the country had better success against Minnesota (national runner up) or Wisconsin this past season (National Champion) than OSU. OSU went 2-4-2 against the women's hockey power houses, during the regular season, before falling 3-2 to Wisconsin in the WCHA tournament. OSU finished the season 20-13-2.
13 - And finally, here is an image from the book Everyday Hockey Heroes by Bob McKenzie and Jim Lang. Hilary Knight has a chapter in the book and it's worth reading if you want insight into her mindset. Among other things, Hilary shares how her mother was a huge part of her hockey career, and has always believed in her. Here is an image Knight shared for the book, kind of a classic hockey mom pose:
Happy Mother's Day, Moms!
I had hoped to share this on Mother's Day but you know how it goes: I was busy with my kids. :)
Here is a compilation of stories and social media posts at the intersection of motherhood and women's hockey. First I wrote about a traditional hockey mom (my mom), then a bunch of links.
In the old days a hockey mom was a mother of a hockey player. Today, a hockey mom could be that traditional depiction, but also a player, a coach, a gm, a ref, media, a commissioner, you name it.
My own mom was a 14 year volunteer with our local minor hockey association, 4 of us kids played over the years to varying extents, and my mom did every role at some point, except be on the board, or be a referee. In 1996 she called up our local parks and rec about starting a girls team. Another hockey mom worked at parks and rec, and voila the two of them were the leaders in creating a girls team and a women's team in our home town (my mom played a couple years on the women's team), keeping it going with all the other volunteers who stepped up. After my mom was done volunteering when I graduated, girls and women's hockey in my home town kept going, with the usual bumps along the way. It may have disappeared briefly, then got reignited thanks to someone's efforts, as these things go.
Girls and women's hockey is as strong as its ever been there, is my understanding. The town hosts the senior Canadian women's camp in the fall, recently had another girl go Division 1 NCAA, and some of the girls who played on that inaugural girls team in 1996, now play for the Iron Maidens (great name), the current iteration of the local women's team. It's amazing what can happen when one person takes action, people join to help and make it bigger and better. In this regard my mom is an inspiration for me. My main interaction with Hockey Canada and USA Hockey these days is to see the high performance product, the national teams. But that high performance product comes from a foundation of hundreds of thousands of volunteers at the grassroots level, everyday hockey heroes like my mom.
Ok, here are some links and stories about hockey and motherhood that had an impact on me this past year.
1- First, a shout out to all the Olympians that became moms (or second time moms) in the past year. Meghan Agosta, Meaghan Mikkelson, Melodie Daoust, Jocelyne Lamoureux, and Monique Lamoureux all welcomed babies since the 2018 Olympics. Here is Daoust, with her little guy.
2- Toronto Furies alum Carlee Campbell wrote this and paired it with an image of her daughter on Instagram after the CWHL announced it was folding. Carlee missed most of the 2018-19 hockey season after having her baby, but ultimately came back to pro hockey:
Dear little girl, I went back for you, to bring you into a world of strong women and to show you that anything is possible.
Dear little girl, I went back for you, so that you could be part of a family that has carved the way so that you can grow up to be what you want to be.
Dear little girl, I went back for you, to surround you with women who never quit or bend at the sight of pressure.
Dear little girl, I went back for you, so you can witness unity in times of success and in times of struggle.
Dear little girl, I went back for you.
Dear little girls, we will be back for you
#noleague #onefamily
3- Mom's The Word at Summer Showcase - Hockey Canada
From 2016, a story about Nadine Muzerall, Carey Morey, and Amanda Benoit-Wark. "A trio of assistant coaches mentor the next wave of female hockey players while inspiring – and being inspired by – their own sons and daughters."
4- A Day in the Life of Hockey Playing Moms - Hockey in Society
Courtney Szto at Hockey in Society documents a day in the life of 4 of her hockey teammates, who are moms. The story illustrates the challenges that moms face trying to incorporate self care/me time into their lives.
5- Olympic Moms Gotta Stick Together - CBC Players Own Voice, Meaghan Mikkelson
Mikkelson pens an open letter to a fellow Olympian who just had a baby. She writes about the challenges and joys of being a mother, the things she didn't know before she had her son. I related to so much of this, made we want to cheer for Mikkelson, on and off the ice.
6- First, Olympic Gold for Sisters, Now Time to Start Families - AP News, Teresa Walker
Teresa Walker wrote about the maternity benefits that the USWNT got in their 2017 deal with USA Hockey: "For the Lamoureux sisters, the maternity leave benefit in the contract is crucial. They receive a full stipend paid by USA Hockey during their pregnancies and then get a stipend to help with child care. Once cleared by a doctor, they can earn their way back onto the national team, with invites to next two evaluation camps." Walker then compares the policy to those of other pro women's sports.
The Lams have now had their babies, and I enjoy their posts on Instagram. Jocelyne posted recently about working out, and having a mentality of being better than yesterday rather than back at 100%, kind of showing the self compassion, and reasonable expectation for self, given her circumstances.
7- New Canaan's AJ Mleczko returns home a hall of famer
The above link is not directly about motherhood but AJ Mleczko, Olympic gold medalist and current color commentator for NBC Sports, and mom of four, does talk a bit about coaching her kids in the above story about going into her local hall of fame. Mleczko's twitter comments about being a mom are great. Recently she lamented that her daughter had said she sent her some gifs on mothers day, but Mleckzo heard gifts. Hopefully they were really good gifs.
8- Flames Reporter Reflects on Covering NHL While Pregnant - Calgary Sun, Kristen Anderson
Kristen Anderson shares a first person piece, reflecting on what it's like to be an NHL beat reporter while pregnant.
9- Caroline Ouellette on Building a Better Team Canada, POV Podcast
The first 3 minutes and last 8 minutes of this podcast include commentary from Ouellette about her and Julie Chu's daughter, Liv, and in the balance of the pod talks about the 2018 Olympics and getting into coaching. Ouellette has previously vocalized her dream of being a head coach for Team Canada one day, but also said in this podcast, "There's going to be many more Olympic games, but only a few years where our kids are young."
10 - A Look at the Unsung Heroes Supporting Women in Sports - Yahoo Sports, Cassandra Negley
After clicking the link above, scroll down a bit and click on 'Story Continues', then scroll some more to "The Women Who Build a Following," to learn about Shannon Desrosiers' current hockey endeavor. Desrosiers leads the Lil' Knights Club, a group of 60 or 70 kids, age 2 to 10, who cheer for the Clarkson women's hockey team at all their home games.
Previously, Desrosiers was co-head coach of Clarkson when they won their first NCAA Championship in 2014. A 2003 graduate of Saint Lawrence University, Desrosiers had been with Clarkson as coach since its first year of Div 1 NCAA play, and is the only NCAA Championship winning co-head coach or head coach to have played NCAA Women's Ice Hockey. She currently works at Clarkson in a non hockey role.
11- Jillian Dempsey is the captain of the Boston Pride. But in this fifth-grade class, she's Ms. Dempsey - The Athletic, Fluto Shinzawa
OK, not a Mothers Day article! But it's teacher appreciation week at my kids' daycare this week, and this story resonated with me. Having kids has changed the way I think about teachers. They are so much more than the already very important role of educator.
12- From social media, here is Coach Muzerall visiting her daughter's school for Sports Week. Cute pictures, I thought.
Three years into her tenure at OSU, Muzerall has a 58-42-11 record, and is the fastest coach in OSU women's hockey to reach 50 wins. No team in the country had better success against Minnesota (national runner up) or Wisconsin this past season (National Champion) than OSU. OSU went 2-4-2 against the women's hockey power houses, during the regular season, before falling 3-2 to Wisconsin in the WCHA tournament. OSU finished the season 20-13-2.
13 - And finally, here is an image from the book Everyday Hockey Heroes by Bob McKenzie and Jim Lang. Hilary Knight has a chapter in the book and it's worth reading if you want insight into her mindset. Among other things, Hilary shares how her mother was a huge part of her hockey career, and has always believed in her. Here is an image Knight shared for the book, kind of a classic hockey mom pose:
Happy Mother's Day, Moms!
Saturday, April 27, 2019
7 Takes: Mercyhurst tidbits and a women's hockey team from 1926
Happy Saturday hockey fans. I offer you 7 takes, these ones mostly Mercyhurst themed, except for the very last one.
1- Congratulations to Emma Nuutinen, a rising senior at Mercyhurst, who just won a historic silver medal with Team Finland at the Women's World Championships. Emma has been a fixture on the Finnish team for years, and lead Mercyhurst in points this past season with 28 points in 30 games, coming off her Olympic bronze medal performance in 2018. The silver medal was certainly controversial, given the disallowed goal, and you can see the emotion in the team picture below.
2- Congratulations and good luck to Vilma Tanskanen, who graduates from Mercyhurst this spring. Vilma recently signed with Linkoping, one of 10 pro teams in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (referred to as the SWHL or SDHL). Tanksanen finished her college career with 57 points in 129 games. She played her first two seasons at UND, before transferring to Mercyhurst. A big strong forward with a great shot, Vilma was the first alternate for Finland at the most recent Olympics. Hopefully her game continues to develop at the pro level and we see her on a team Finland roster once again.
3- The Ice Garden published a piece on Mercyhurst alum Jess Jones' 2016-2017 season with the Brampton Thunder, when she put up 37 points, tying Marie-Philip Poulin in scoring and winning the Angela James Bowl. Jones said in regards to that special season: “[One] game that stood out most to me was the All-Star Game at the ACC. I was able to share the ice with the league’s best and I was fortunate enough to score a hat trick...having all my friends and family there to watch was really special.”
Jess Jones played at Mercyhurst from 2008 to 2012, finishing with 154 points, 7th on the all time scoring leaders at Mercyhurst.
4- Tangentially related to Jess Jones, if you haven't seen the Markham Thunder twitter account thread about the birthday party for Megan Bozek's dog Boone, do yourself a favor and click on through. You will smile! Or, just watch this one short vid from the thread of Jones trying to supervise. Her dog Laker was a party guest.
5- Former Mercyhurst assistant coach Delaney Collins made news in March when she was the Head Coach of Team BC at the Canada Winter Games. The team won bronze, the first time they won at a medal since 1991. Hockey Canada published this story about the gold, silver, and bronze winning coaches. I liked this quote from Collins:
“We definitely want girls that are hard-working and mentally are able to show a lot of compassion for themselves,” Collins says. “At the end of the day, it is a game of mistakes. So, how do you respond after making a mistake? We are looking for athletes who are open to learning and are not too critical about the mistakes in the game.”
Collins is a former Canada National Team member, and coached at Mercyhurst from 2011 - 2016.
6 - Collins was also a guest on the Champion Minded podcast recently. It's worth a listen if you are interested in coaching or leadership. I often lament the fact that women's hockey is so far behind women's basketball in terms of infrastructure. It's rare to get to hear a women's hockey coach speak at length about topics relevant to us fans, so this was really cool.
7- Ending on a bit of a sad note. If you are a CWHL fan, you probably saw yesterday that the CWHL is auctioning off its assets, including its trophies. I am praying that someone with money can buy the trophies and get them in the Hall of Fame where they belong.
The sadness is not just about hockey. It is about the pain of witnessing how the history of the accomplishments of women are vulnerable to being erased, because we as a society do not value and support women (and all marginalized people) to the extent we are worthy. There is value in knowing what the women who came before us did, value in documenting their struggles and successes. It is a shame to be forever calling people pioneers, because we haven't properly documented, shared, and preserved the stories of those who have achieved. At some point we must learn, and must stop doing this.
I want to share a picture my sister sent me just last week. She found this in her detached garage, damaged beyond being salvageable, but I am grateful for the digital image. The woman that used to live in the house my sister now lives in was named Jean Murray, and she was the head mistress at a school in Newfoundland called Bishop Spencer, I'm not sure when exactly. Here is a picture of their girls hockey team, dated 1926:
I look at this picture and think about a book report I wrote in the fifth grade about Howie Morenz and a couple other NHL players, because I had a book that told their story. Why was their no book about these women, or women like them? I was not special for playing hockey in the nineties, girls and women had played for decades. I was no pioneer, I was just like those other girls - Helen, Esther, Joan, Gertrude, Ruth, Ethel, Kathleen, Edith, Caroline, and the lady who's first name I can't read, so I will call Bursell. It gets to a point where it is just crushing that the stories of only specific people get told, and it is on us who care, to change it.
Bit of a coincidence, but Mercyhurst was founded the same year this picture was taken, in 1926, by the Sisters of Mercy. The original mission of the school was to educate poor women, people who by virtue of their sex and social class were deemed less worthy by society at the time. I assume the nuns were not rich, but they were powerful just the same, and their work effected change. I think I can learn from that.
There is a narrative in our culture that women do not show up for each other, do not support each other. It's not true; we have always shown up for each other, in fact we have done so against all odds. But the amount of work to be done is great, and we must continue to show up for each other, to teach each new generation that this is what we do, what we've always done. We are learning a lot of painful lessons with the demise of the CWHL - whatever comes next, let's show up for them. Let's not go through this again.
1- Congratulations to Emma Nuutinen, a rising senior at Mercyhurst, who just won a historic silver medal with Team Finland at the Women's World Championships. Emma has been a fixture on the Finnish team for years, and lead Mercyhurst in points this past season with 28 points in 30 games, coming off her Olympic bronze medal performance in 2018. The silver medal was certainly controversial, given the disallowed goal, and you can see the emotion in the team picture below.
Jääkiekkoliitto palkitsee #Naisleijonat historiallisesta MM-saavutuksesta kultabonuksin: https://t.co/KWM0vkOYqR #MM2019 #Espoo2019 #MMkotikisat #MMkisat #Leijonat #WomensWorlds pic.twitter.com/YdbkRLpaBz— Leijonat (@leijonat) April 18, 2019
2- Congratulations and good luck to Vilma Tanskanen, who graduates from Mercyhurst this spring. Vilma recently signed with Linkoping, one of 10 pro teams in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (referred to as the SWHL or SDHL). Tanksanen finished her college career with 57 points in 129 games. She played her first two seasons at UND, before transferring to Mercyhurst. A big strong forward with a great shot, Vilma was the first alternate for Finland at the most recent Olympics. Hopefully her game continues to develop at the pro level and we see her on a team Finland roster once again.
I am happy to announce that I am going to continue my hockey career in the SDHL with @Lhcdam 🏒 I am so excited for this opportunity and even more excited to play with my buddy @EveliinaSuonpaa again— Vilma Tanskanen (@TanskanenVilma) April 19, 2019
Thank you Mercyhurst, UND, and all the people who have helped me along the way pic.twitter.com/jeiZytsSf7
3- The Ice Garden published a piece on Mercyhurst alum Jess Jones' 2016-2017 season with the Brampton Thunder, when she put up 37 points, tying Marie-Philip Poulin in scoring and winning the Angela James Bowl. Jones said in regards to that special season: “[One] game that stood out most to me was the All-Star Game at the ACC. I was able to share the ice with the league’s best and I was fortunate enough to score a hat trick...having all my friends and family there to watch was really special.”
Jess Jones played at Mercyhurst from 2008 to 2012, finishing with 154 points, 7th on the all time scoring leaders at Mercyhurst.
4- Tangentially related to Jess Jones, if you haven't seen the Markham Thunder twitter account thread about the birthday party for Megan Bozek's dog Boone, do yourself a favor and click on through. You will smile! Or, just watch this one short vid from the thread of Jones trying to supervise. Her dog Laker was a party guest.
And here is @jones22__ providing adult supervision. We couldn’t have the party get too wild pic.twitter.com/njYHdK7W7r— Markham Thunder 🌩 (@ThunderCWHL) January 11, 2019
5- Former Mercyhurst assistant coach Delaney Collins made news in March when she was the Head Coach of Team BC at the Canada Winter Games. The team won bronze, the first time they won at a medal since 1991. Hockey Canada published this story about the gold, silver, and bronze winning coaches. I liked this quote from Collins:
“We definitely want girls that are hard-working and mentally are able to show a lot of compassion for themselves,” Collins says. “At the end of the day, it is a game of mistakes. So, how do you respond after making a mistake? We are looking for athletes who are open to learning and are not too critical about the mistakes in the game.”
Collins is a former Canada National Team member, and coached at Mercyhurst from 2011 - 2016.
6 - Collins was also a guest on the Champion Minded podcast recently. It's worth a listen if you are interested in coaching or leadership. I often lament the fact that women's hockey is so far behind women's basketball in terms of infrastructure. It's rare to get to hear a women's hockey coach speak at length about topics relevant to us fans, so this was really cool.
7- Ending on a bit of a sad note. If you are a CWHL fan, you probably saw yesterday that the CWHL is auctioning off its assets, including its trophies. I am praying that someone with money can buy the trophies and get them in the Hall of Fame where they belong.
The sadness is not just about hockey. It is about the pain of witnessing how the history of the accomplishments of women are vulnerable to being erased, because we as a society do not value and support women (and all marginalized people) to the extent we are worthy. There is value in knowing what the women who came before us did, value in documenting their struggles and successes. It is a shame to be forever calling people pioneers, because we haven't properly documented, shared, and preserved the stories of those who have achieved. At some point we must learn, and must stop doing this.
I want to share a picture my sister sent me just last week. She found this in her detached garage, damaged beyond being salvageable, but I am grateful for the digital image. The woman that used to live in the house my sister now lives in was named Jean Murray, and she was the head mistress at a school in Newfoundland called Bishop Spencer, I'm not sure when exactly. Here is a picture of their girls hockey team, dated 1926:
I look at this picture and think about a book report I wrote in the fifth grade about Howie Morenz and a couple other NHL players, because I had a book that told their story. Why was their no book about these women, or women like them? I was not special for playing hockey in the nineties, girls and women had played for decades. I was no pioneer, I was just like those other girls - Helen, Esther, Joan, Gertrude, Ruth, Ethel, Kathleen, Edith, Caroline, and the lady who's first name I can't read, so I will call Bursell. It gets to a point where it is just crushing that the stories of only specific people get told, and it is on us who care, to change it.
Bit of a coincidence, but Mercyhurst was founded the same year this picture was taken, in 1926, by the Sisters of Mercy. The original mission of the school was to educate poor women, people who by virtue of their sex and social class were deemed less worthy by society at the time. I assume the nuns were not rich, but they were powerful just the same, and their work effected change. I think I can learn from that.
There is a narrative in our culture that women do not show up for each other, do not support each other. It's not true; we have always shown up for each other, in fact we have done so against all odds. But the amount of work to be done is great, and we must continue to show up for each other, to teach each new generation that this is what we do, what we've always done. We are learning a lot of painful lessons with the demise of the CWHL - whatever comes next, let's show up for them. Let's not go through this again.
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