In Canada we like to think we are the best in the world at hockey.
On the women鈥檚 side of the game there is some startling evidence to support that claim.
The Canadian National Women鈥檚 Hockey Team has been one of the most successful teams in the sport for an extended period of time.
The team won four straight Olympic gold medals from 2002 to 2014 and were World Champions for 14 straight years from 1991 to 2004.
That is impressive by any standard.
However, as a sports fan I admit to knowing a limited amount about the teams, or the program.
Past Cassie Campbell who was Canada鈥檚 longest-serving captain in the history of the Canadian National Women鈥檚 Team and now does colour on Calgary Flames games, and of course Saskatchewan鈥檚 Haley Wickenheiser, easily the best female hockey player ever, the names of players are barely known, even for a guy who watched the Olympic wins.
And that list does include Esterhazy鈥檚 Dana Antal who won an Olympic gold in 2002, and Kennedy鈥檚 Colleen Sostorics who patrolled the Canadian blueline for three straight Olympic medals.
So when I got my hands on the new released book; The Role I Played, by Sami Jo Small I was rather pleased as it promised a look inside the aforementioned juggernaut women鈥檚 team.
Who is Small you might ask if not a close follower of the Canadian women鈥檚 program?
Small is a Winnipeg-born goaltender, and a three-time Olympian, and five-time world champion with the Canadian national women鈥檚 team.
Still not twigging a memory?
Well that might be because Small was the third goaltender on the Canadian women鈥檚 hockey team at Turin and Nagano.
鈥淚 was just a small cog in its operation, serving as a goaltender for 11 years, from 1997 to 2008,鈥� writes Small in the book鈥檚 intro.
That might be true, although it tends to sell her efforts a bit short. Canada is deep in talent at the top levels of hockey, and third goaltender still puts Small in elite company.
When talking who should be on a particular national team players left off rosters could just as easily have starred, depending on luck, circumstance and the whim of coaches, and that holds true for the women too, coming through rather clearly in this book.
For example, Small would win the 2014 Clarkson Cup, making her the third women鈥檚 ice hockey goaltender to have won Winter Games gold, IIHF gold and the Clarkson. That鈥檚 a pretty solid resume of work.
Small also earned the Directorate Award, Best Goalie, at both the 1999 and 2000 Women鈥檚 World Hockey Championships.
So Small was good, very good, even if she watched from the seats as third goaltender. That certainly would not have been any fun as a player, but for the goaltender turned author it gave her a perspective of some distance from the heat of the action. It was a position where she may have been cheerleader, but also one who saw the game unfold in a different way.
鈥淯ltimately, I want you, the reader, to understand what made our team successful,鈥� she writes in the intro. 鈥淚 want you to appreciate the various personalities that created the fabric of our team and how each person had an impact on me, how we impacted each other. We were all thrust into different roles throughout our careers, struggling to maximize our potential while still contributing to the team.鈥�
You get a lot of that in this book, but you also get to know Small much better too, and that is a good thing.
This is a player who did whatever was asked of her, and that sometimes meant being the third goaltender, part of the team, yet not even recognized by the Olympics to be given a medal in the first years women鈥檚 hockey appeared.
You can feel Small鈥檚 hurt, disappointment, even anger, but in the end she did what was asked, the team coming first.
In a telephone chat Small said the perspective of time has changed how she feels about some decisions, although having kept a diary and notes the rawness of the moments still comes through in the book.
鈥淣ow that I鈥檓 in the position of coach and administrator ... I realize I was just a small cog in the operation,鈥� she reiterated, adding while she had emotions surrounding the decisions coaches made at the time, she realizes now 鈥渢hey faced pressures we never knew existed.鈥�
No matter what choices were made 鈥渢here would always be somebody upset, or mad,鈥� and coaches simply did not have the time to communicate the bad news of being 鈥榗ut鈥� 鈥渋n a soft way,鈥� said Small. While the decision might be huge in her life it was ultimately 鈥渁 small decision鈥� in terms of the overall Team Canada machine.
鈥淏ut, I still get my anger and my hurt in there,鈥� she noted.
Small also offers something of a guideline to dealing with the hard knocks of a sport such as hockey at the highest levels. Throughout the book she reflects back to moments playing the game as a youth in Winnipeg, to moments on a high-performing volleyball team, to times at college at Stanford, moments that taught her mental toughness, of the need to cope, to continue to work hard. Life lessons are building blocks laid throughout life and Small shows that well.
In the end, all Small鈥檚 successes, and yes her failures too, were for the game she writes about with much love.
鈥淚n 1997, during my first year with the National Team, I was asked to write a short passage to the rest of my teammates travelling to an away game,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚 chose the quote, 鈥淭o win the game is great. To play the game is greater but to love the game is the greatest.鈥� In the end hockey gave me the greatest reward of all: I truly love the game.鈥�
That sentiment is infectious throughout The Role I Played, making it a book fans of Canadian hockey should enjoy as they get to know Small, her journey and Team Canada鈥檚 journey.
