I never expected that I’d end up taking hockey so seriously, because I joined it for the love of the game. I don’t remember myself as being different from other little girls; in fact I was like most girls, because I wanted to do what my brother did. He played hockey on the pond at home, and on a team, and I wanted to join in. I was around three years old when I started asking my parents if I could play. There was a girl on my brother’s team and so I figured I could do the same!
Looking back, I think that’s when I fell in love with hockey.
At that time, hockey was definitely not a sport most girls played. After all, there was nothing to play “for”, in a sense. A Women’s National Hockey League hadn’t yet been invented and hockey as a female Olympic sport was still a dream yet to materialize.
Somehow, even before I ever put my stick on the ice, I knew I wanted to play hockey. And so, I nagged my parents daily. As a child, it never made sense why I shouldn’t be allowed to play. After all, it was playing! I can remember the day like it was yesterday when they finally conceded – but it was on the condition that I begin with figure skating. I humoured them, enrolled in figure skating for a year, and was promptly given permission to play hockey.
Over time, I watched friends leave the game and move on to other sports. This happened because there was never a sense that female hockey players would ever be able to compete at any elite level. But, for some reason, I kept on playing. When I was 18, I had the opportunity to go to the Canada Winter Games. This experience was profoundly significant to me. I began to see a future in hockey.
Some of my girlfriends made fun of me because I was always playing hockey, so I tried to surround myself with people who supported me and the sport. I loved everything about hockey; dedicating the time to become the best I could become at it never felt like a sacrifice. It was my parents who sacrificed, doing what it took to provide me with the opportunity to continue. While attending the University of Guelph, I played in two leagues and was on the ice seven days a week. Friends were socializing and I wasn’t able to join in too often, but I didn’t feel like I was missing out.
I played hockey for many years and consequently, I spent a lot of time in the dressing room with my teammates. I remember Becky Keller’s son came along to the dressing room and just became part of our “family” there.
Real life in the dressing room was about trusting and accepting each other’s weaknesses and strengths. We weren’t all close friends outside the game, so it was even more important to mesh both on the ice and in the dressing room.
In the corporate world, you’re with your team from nine until five. But the team you play with on the ice is very different. Goals are more individual. And so, learning what matters to the team is crucial for building trust. Individual success can definitely play a part in a team’s triumph, and these accomplishments deserve recognition; but it’s also important for individual contributors to keep their personal wins in perspective.
When it’s time for an athlete to go into the “real world”, it can be tempting for some to take things for granted; assuming their reputations might carry them. I think the opposite. Being so immersed in sports tends to leave athletes lacking in “real world” experience, and therefore we need to work twice as hard.
In the corporate environment, there can be more resistance to letting yourself go and knowing you’ll be fully accepted. I endorse bringing the team aspect to everything you do and to everyone you encounter. It makes it easier to work together. In short, learning what matters to the team allows you to build trust through familiarity and genuine engagement.
As a team captain, I learned that when you have trust, people on your team will be willing to play any position, any role, at any level of competition.
I remember when I was first starting to become recognized. The notoriety felt uncomfortable, and being on a pedestal wasn’t easy. I learned to accept the recognition when I shifted the attention to promoting the sport as a whole. There’s a process each athlete goes through when recognition happens. Some athletes, just like extraordinary celebrities or business people, develop a sense of entitlement. I had my own stint with this once during the ’98 Olympics. But fortunately, I was quickly brought back down to earth by those close to me.
It’s easy to get caught up in portraying yourself publically as “perfect”, but the reality is, anyone who chooses to compete at their highest level is a regular person doing something extraordinary. So through it all, I’ve learned that accolades are for the team and I take that seriously.
People always ask me: “What’s it like to perform under pressure?” In sports, I can’t imagine a situation involving more pressure than competing at the Olympic Games. I was fortunate to compete in them in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
There were millions of people watching, but we chose to keep things in perspective. We reminded ourselves that we’d played hundreds of games before. We focused on our own performances which is all we could control. The outcome of the game is a team outcome. Ultimately, preparation is key no matter what type of pressure you’re facing. There are lots of tools out there and everyone should use what tools work for them, whether it’s sports psychology, repetition, or visualization.
If you’re really dedicated to something, making it happen starts by not taking “no” for an answer. I never listened to the notion that I couldn’t play hockey, or that I couldn’t do anything I set my mind to. There’s absolutely no room for negativity in the dressing room or in life.
Ultimately, if you work hard, you can be prepared and perform under instinct rather than pressure.
I like to draw parallels from the game that takes place on the ice and the game that happens in life. Take for example, my job with Hockey Night in Canada. It was 2006 and I had just started my job as a rink-side reporter. On October 14th, veteran broadcaster Harry Neale couldn’t make it in that day, so I was asked to commentate live with Bob Cole.
It was incredible to be given such an opportunity. To me, there was no question I needed to accept the challenge! It turned out that I was more prepared for it than I thought. Being prepared and accepting challenges is why I moved up quickly, and I’m very proud to be the first woman to do colour commentary on a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.
Being willing to take a risk and learn something new is a great way to grow.
I’ve had many mentors in my life. I remember watching the 1990 Women’s Hockey World Championship on television. The first captain was Sue Scherer and I admired her a great deal. Funny how she ended up being my coach at the University of Guelph. I also greatly admire Geraldine Heaney, a defenseman at the ’97 Worlds. Two other mentors I had were my parents. They owned their own business and worked hard, going above and beyond whatever was required of them, both personally and professionally. They had interests outside their work lives and this helped keep them grounded. And most of all, they supported me no matter what, which has been an incredible gift to me all these years.
There are so many things for which I’m grateful and so many moments that I will never forget. One was watching the Canadian flag go up at the Olympics while we listened to the anthem being played. It was nothing short of magical. Twice we won gold and each time, emotions were high. We worked incredibly hard and had a lot to prove. Looking back, it seems crazy how long we prepared for victory and how quickly things returned to normal. A couple weeks later it seemed that we just moved on the next challenge at hand.
One such moment took place in September 2008, when I found out about the Cassie Campbell Community Centre in Brampton, Ontario. For the grand opening, they surprised me with a big celebration. I thought the event was going to be a small ribbon cutting so I couldn’t believe my eyes when Steve Yzerman, Wayne Gretzky, my teammates, friends and family showed up to mark the occasion. The Cassie Campbell Community Centre has been a great addition to Brampton. This huge facility is a positive gathering place for community and provides a broad range of athletic and leisure services for all residents.
I’m currently spending my energy on being a mom. This is an experience my sporting career could not have prepared me for. There’s something new and exciting every day. Had someone suggested that there could be a better feeling than winning an Olympic gold medal, I wouldn’t have believed them. But becoming a mother has topped that experience. It has been the absolute most spectacular time of my life.
I want to pass onto my daughter the importance of being real; of owning who she is and embracing the possibility of who she can become. I want her to know she doesn’t have to be perfect. That being genuine and humble and confident and strong are noble choices.
I love spending time with my husband as he shares my passion for hockey. My family keeps me grounded.
I’ve been so fortunate in my life – being a successful athlete and feeling like I’ve achieved some big personal goals. Since retirement, I’ve been able to focus my energy on supporting Ronald McDonald House and its important work in helping sick children and their families. The Street Hockey Charity is going into its eighth year and has raised over two million dollars. It’s crazy to think that we started this initiative when the economy was struggling; in that first year we raised about $38,000 and it’s definitely grown from there. I’m very lucky to have friends and colleagues who have stepped up in support of this cause, giving it bigger and better exposure each year.
Recently, I spent some time with a young girl who had cancer. I brought my baby, Brooke, in to see this girl; she enjoyed holding her. The next day that same little girl came off her oxygen machine. She told her mom it was because of the baby that she felt better.
These strong little kids are inspiring because they face and conquer terrible things. Their families have to be strong, to not only see their kids in fragile health, but to stay strong for them. That’s why I believe the street hockey charity is so vital in supporting Ronald McDonald House. I enjoy charity work and I see myself establishing programs in the future to help women.
The career landscape is evolving for women. There are more choices and opportunities than ever before. Little girls have the choices to be whatever they want. My nieces are playing hockey and there’s no issue about it. There’s a fantastic variety of role models out there for girls so the choices are endless. My first book, H.E.A.R.T. is as much about my own experiences in the game as it is about the experiences of my teammates. It’s an intimate and detailed look about what it takes to succeed in hockey, but my hope is that it can be used to inspire us to be better athletes and better people.
H.E.A.R.T. stands for Hard Work, Experience/Education, Attitude, Responsibility and Respect and Teamwork. Whenever I get the chance, I like to share my message with young girls.
I believe it’s essential to show your passion for something, find what you love to do, and just seek it out. If you’re passionate, you will be successful. When hard work is paired with education and self respect, the sky really is the limit. When we work as a team and take the risk to try anything, we begin to create in ways we never imagined.
I never expected that I’d end up taking hockey so seriously, because I joined it for the love of the game. I don’t remember myself as being different from other little girls; in fact I was like most girls, because I wanted to do what my brother did. He played hockey on the pond at home, and on a team, and I wanted to join in. I was around three years old when I started asking my parents if I could play. There was a girl on my brother’s team and so I figured I could do the same!
Looking back, I think that’s when I fell in love with hockey.
At that time, hockey was definitely not a sport most girls played. After all, there was nothing to play “for”, in a sense. A Women’s National Hockey League hadn’t yet been invented and hockey as a female Olympic sport was still a dream yet to materialize.
Somehow, even before I ever put my stick on the ice, I knew I wanted to play hockey. And so, I nagged my parents daily. As a child, it never made sense why I shouldn’t be allowed to play. After all, it was playing! I can remember the day like it was yesterday when they finally conceded – but it was on the condition that I begin with figure skating. I humoured them, enrolled in figure skating for a year, and was promptly given permission to play hockey.
Over time, I watched friends leave the game and move on to other sports. This happened because there was never a sense that female hockey players would ever be able to compete at any elite level. But, for some reason, I kept on playing. When I was 18, I had the opportunity to go to the Canada Winter Games. This experience was profoundly significant to me. I began to see a future in hockey.
Some of my girlfriends made fun of me because I was always playing hockey, so I tried to surround myself with people who supported me and the sport. I loved everything about hockey; dedicating the time to become the best I could become at it never felt like a sacrifice. It was my parents who sacrificed, doing what it took to provide me with the opportunity to continue. While attending the University of Guelph, I played in two leagues and was on the ice seven days a week. Friends were socializing and I wasn’t able to join in too often, but I didn’t feel like I was missing out.
I played hockey for many years and consequently, I spent a lot of time in the dressing room with my teammates. I remember Becky Keller’s son came along to the dressing room and just became part of our “family” there.
Real life in the dressing room was about trusting and accepting each other’s weaknesses and strengths. We weren’t all close friends outside the game, so it was even more important to mesh both on the ice and in the dressing room.
In the corporate world, you’re with your team from nine until five. But the team you play with on the ice is very different. Goals are more individual. And so, learning what matters to the team is crucial for building trust. Individual success can definitely play a part in a team’s triumph, and these accomplishments deserve recognition; but it’s also important for individual contributors to keep their personal wins in perspective.
When it’s time for an athlete to go into the “real world”, it can be tempting for some to take things for granted; assuming their reputations might carry them. I think the opposite. Being so immersed in sports tends to leave athletes lacking in “real world” experience, and therefore we need to work twice as hard.
In the corporate environment, there can be more resistance to letting yourself go and knowing you’ll be fully accepted. I endorse bringing the team aspect to everything you do and to everyone you encounter. It makes it easier to work together. In short, learning what matters to the team allows you to build trust through familiarity and genuine engagement.
As a team captain, I learned that when you have trust, people on your team will be willing to play any position, any role, at any level of competition.
I remember when I was first starting to become recognized. The notoriety felt uncomfortable, and being on a pedestal wasn’t easy. I learned to accept the recognition when I shifted the attention to promoting the sport as a whole. There’s a process each athlete goes through when recognition happens. Some athletes, just like extraordinary celebrities or business people, develop a sense of entitlement. I had my own stint with this once during the ’98 Olympics. But fortunately, I was quickly brought back down to earth by those close to me.
It’s easy to get caught up in portraying yourself publically as “perfect”, but the reality is, anyone who chooses to compete at their highest level is a regular person doing something extraordinary. So through it all, I’ve learned that accolades are for the team and I take that seriously.
People always ask me: “What’s it like to perform under pressure?” In sports, I can’t imagine a situation involving more pressure than competing at the Olympic Games. I was fortunate to compete in them in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
There were millions of people watching, but we chose to keep things in perspective. We reminded ourselves that we’d played hundreds of games before. We focused on our own performances which is all we could control. The outcome of the game is a team outcome. Ultimately, preparation is key no matter what type of pressure you’re facing. There are lots of tools out there and everyone should use what tools work for them, whether it’s sports psychology, repetition, or visualization.
If you’re really dedicated to something, making it happen starts by not taking “no” for an answer. I never listened to the notion that I couldn’t play hockey, or that I couldn’t do anything I set my mind to. There’s absolutely no room for negativity in the dressing room or in life.
Ultimately, if you work hard, you can be prepared and perform under instinct rather than pressure.
I like to draw parallels from the game that takes place on the ice and the game that happens in life. Take for example, my job with Hockey Night in Canada. It was 2006 and I had just started my job as a rink-side reporter. On October 14th, veteran broadcaster Harry Neale couldn’t make it in that day, so I was asked to commentate live with Bob Cole.
It was incredible to be given such an opportunity. To me, there was no question I needed to accept the challenge! It turned out that I was more prepared for it than I thought. Being prepared and accepting challenges is why I moved up quickly, and I’m very proud to be the first woman to do colour commentary on a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.
Being willing to take a risk and learn something new is a great way to grow.
I’ve had many mentors in my life. I remember watching the 1990 Women’s Hockey World Championship on television. The first captain was Sue Scherer and I admired her a great deal. Funny how she ended up being my coach at the University of Guelph. I also greatly admire Geraldine Heaney, a defenseman at the ’97 Worlds. Two other mentors I had were my parents. They owned their own business and worked hard, going above and beyond whatever was required of them, both personally and professionally. They had interests outside their work lives and this helped keep them grounded. And most of all, they supported me no matter what, which has been an incredible gift to me all these years.
There are so many things for which I’m grateful and so many moments that I will never forget. One was watching the Canadian flag go up at the Olympics while we listened to the anthem being played. It was nothing short of magical. Twice we won gold and each time, emotions were high. We worked incredibly hard and had a lot to prove. Looking back, it seems crazy how long we prepared for victory and how quickly things returned to normal. A couple weeks later it seemed that we just moved on the next challenge at hand.
One such moment took place in September 2008, when I found out about the Cassie Campbell Community Centre in Brampton, Ontario. For the grand opening, they surprised me with a big celebration. I thought the event was going to be a small ribbon cutting so I couldn’t believe my eyes when Steve Yzerman, Wayne Gretzky, my teammates, friends and family showed up to mark the occasion. The Cassie Campbell Community Centre has been a great addition to Brampton. This huge facility is a positive gathering place for community and provides a broad range of athletic and leisure services for all residents.
I’m currently spending my energy on being a mom. This is an experience my sporting career could not have prepared me for. There’s something new and exciting every day. Had someone suggested that there could be a better feeling than winning an Olympic gold medal, I wouldn’t have believed them. But becoming a mother has topped that experience. It has been the absolute most spectacular time of my life.
I want to pass onto my daughter the importance of being real; of owning who she is and embracing the possibility of who she can become. I want her to know she doesn’t have to be perfect. That being genuine and humble and confident and strong are noble choices.
I love spending time with my husband as he shares my passion for hockey. My family keeps me grounded.
I’ve been so fortunate in my life – being a successful athlete and feeling like I’ve achieved some big personal goals. Since retirement, I’ve been able to focus my energy on supporting Ronald McDonald House and its important work in helping sick children and their families. The Street Hockey Charity is going into its eighth year and has raised over two million dollars. It’s crazy to think that we started this initiative when the economy was struggling; in that first year we raised about $38,000 and it’s definitely grown from there. I’m very lucky to have friends and colleagues who have stepped up in support of this cause, giving it bigger and better exposure each year.
Recently, I spent some time with a young girl who had cancer. I brought my baby, Brooke, in to see this girl; she enjoyed holding her. The next day that same little girl came off her oxygen machine. She told her mom it was because of the baby that she felt better.
These strong little kids are inspiring because they face and conquer terrible things. Their families have to be strong, to not only see their kids in fragile health, but to stay strong for them. That’s why I believe the street hockey charity is so vital in supporting Ronald McDonald House. I enjoy charity work and I see myself establishing programs in the future to help women.
The career landscape is evolving for women. There are more choices and opportunities than ever before. Little girls have the choices to be whatever they want. My nieces are playing hockey and there’s no issue about it. There’s a fantastic variety of role models out there for girls so the choices are endless. My first book, H.E.A.R.T. is as much about my own experiences in the game as it is about the experiences of my teammates. It’s an intimate and detailed look about what it takes to succeed in hockey, but my hope is that it can be used to inspire us to be better athletes and better people.
H.E.A.R.T. stands for Hard Work, Experience/Education, Attitude, Responsibility and Respect and Teamwork. Whenever I get the chance, I like to share my message with young girls.
I believe it’s essential to show your passion for something, find what you love to do, and just seek it out. If you’re passionate, you will be successful. When hard work is paired with education and self respect, the sky really is the limit. When we work as a team and take the risk to try anything, we begin to create in ways we never imagined.