Earlier this week, TSN announced their All-Time Women’s Team Canada roster. If you’ve seen the list, you know it’s a star-studded team filled with a who’s who of female hockey in this country over the past 30 years. I was fortunate enough to play with or against 21 of the players named to the roster. I’ve seen each of those players dominate games by making the big stop, scoring the big goal or killing that penalty in the final minute. They are more than just game-changers and difference-makers though – they are the pioneers, trailblazers, and role models for female hockey here in Canada.

Just last week, I was chatting with a coach I’ve know for over 20 years about who we thought was the best Canadian female hockey player ever. All the names we batted around are on that TSN list. Now I know there is no ranking of the players in this list and it’s hard to rank a goalie versus a defenseman versus a forward. But there is one player on that list who I would rank as the best I ever played with or against.

When you’re picking the BEST, it’s important to establish your criteria.

So here are my top 3 criteria:

1. Ability to dominate and take over a game
2. Someone who made their teammates better
3. Someone who is a champion on and off the ice – great person as well as player

This is a player who I had a lot of experience playing against. I was only on her team once at a Team Canada camp, but the rest of the time she was an opponent. And during my college hockey days, she was the most feared opponent in the country. Not because she was mean or scary in the physical sense, but because every time she stepped on the ice, you knew she was in control of the game. She led the country in scoring every year and if my memory serves me right, she averaged well over a point a game over four years and may have even averaged two points a game over a few of those seasons. I know she had a ridiculously long point scoring streak that we desperately wanted to end every time we faced off against her team.

She is also a player that I wish I had on every team I’ve ever coached. She’s what I refer to as a “spider player”. Everything runs through the middle of the spider and she touches every single part of the game. She was always involved, scoring the big goals, winning the key face-off (note: I’m not sure I ever saw her lose a face-off), making that little stick lift in the D zone that caused the turnover. She was never an in-your-face type of player – she just seemed to make everything happen when she was on the ice and she made it look effortless.

I remember playing against her in my first year of college hockey. She was on the #1 team in the country. They went undefeated that season. She led the country in scoring and played with two other Olympians as linemates. She was the best player on the best team.

In the second season, something interesting happened. A few players graduated and she had line mates that weren’t Olympians. She still led the team in scoring by a landslide and also helped her new linemates to rocket to the top of the scoring list too. And the same thing happened the next season. Some new linemates who didn’t have nearly the same playing resume as her and she helped them become all-world players out there on the ice. She wasn’t just a good player – she was a transformative player. She transformed good players into great players.

I got a taste of this first-hand when I had the privilege of playing on a line with her at one Team Canada selection camp. I was just happy to be there and when I saw that I was going to be her linemate – I was thrilled. I knew how good she was at moving the puck, seeing the game, recognizing what her line mates were good at and helping them succeed. So I did what I knew best as a hard-nosed F1 wrecking ball type of player who really only ever scored from below the hashmarks – I went to the net with my stick on the ice. She made me look like a world-class goal scorer during that camp and while I never made that team, I learned firsthand why she was such an important player on our national team year after year.

One of the biggest reasons I put her at the top of my list is because of my 3rd key criteria – being a champion on and off the ice. She was the most dominant player in college hockey for 4 years and everyone knew it. No one could stop her out there on the ice. We all hated playing against her. And then at the end of each season, she would win all the big awards at the end of the year banquets. Player of the year, MVP of the playoffs – you name it, she won it. And we were all so darn competitive that we wanted to hate her for it.

But then she would get up on stage to deliver her speech after winning yet another award, and she was just lovely. Someone you admired and wanted to be friends with. She was genuine too – it never sounded like some fake speech that was written to sound good.

Once I started to play pro, I got to know this player better personally and I realized that those speeches were absolutely genuine.

I truly believe that for our teams and players that talent sets the floor and character sets the ceiling. This player had a tremendous amount of both which is why I rank her as the best player I ever played with or against.

That player is Jennifer Botterill. She’s #1 based on my criteria and my experiences playing with and against her.

Be the player that makes everyone around them better. It will set you apart and show that you have the talent and character to be truly great.

Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS