EP54 Rebecca Johnston - Hockey Olympian

This is episode 54 of the Empowered Athlete podcast. Hey, everyone. Thanks for downloading. Thanks for streaming. Before I introduce you to today's guest, I want to quickly bring up our October 1230 challenge. The challenge for this 30 days of October is getting outdoors for a minimum of 30 minutes every single day. That'll score you a point because we're keeping points. It's competitive, so 30 minutes outside gets you a point. But if it's in actual nature, if you're in the woods or on a trail or hiking in the mountains or away from town or the city, it doubles up your points. Every 30 minute block in the day is a point. So see me, you can score. The highest we've had so far in the challenge this month is five points in a day. See if you can top that. But again, every single day, that's the key. Get out for 30 days. Get outside, grab the kids, grab the dog, hike, jog, walk, spread, sprint, bike, do whatever it takes, but enjoy the great outdoors. It's a beautiful time. The leaves are turning, the air's got a nice chill in it. Get outside, you'll love it. Now, today's guest is a three time Olympic medalist. Twice gold, once in Vancouver, once in Sochi, and a silver medal in Pyeongchang. It's none other than Rebecca Johnson, star of the Canadian Women's National Hockey team, joining us to talk about growing up in a massive family competition with brothers and sisters, pushing her to be the best athlete she could be and getting her all the way to the women's national Hockey team. Her story is great. She's got some awesome insights into what it takes to be a champion. Don't miss this episode and please share it with everyone you know.

Welcome to the Empowered Athlete Podcast, created to support athletes in their pursuit of excellence and inspire others toward their best lives. Hosted by Kari Schneider, coach to top performers in sport and life, and Paul Durden, former national and professional volleyball player.

We're back. It's the Empowered Athlete Podcast. I'm Paul Durden, joined by my lovely wife, Kari Schneider, and we are stoked. We're revved to have Rebecca Johnston on the show. Thank you so much for making the time to chat with us and we are so excited to learn about you, your story, what got you into hockey and all the amazing experiences it's brought to your life. So welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

So this is pretty cool because, I mean, we get to chat with all kinds of athletes, but you're a three time Olympic medalist and it's the kind of thing that, that's relatively rare in the world of sports.

So, yeah, there's not a lot of those around.

You know, it's like finding four leaf clovers and that kind of thing.

So.

And we're, we're lucky to know you from a few years back. So we, you know, we want to get into some of the history of how you got to where you are, because knowing you and knowing some of your background, you've got tons of siblings, all of which were in sport. You've got really supportive parents, and you were just kind of naturally good at a whole bunch of things. So how, when you were younger, how did that all get you into hockey? What drew you to that sport?

I think at a young age I, I played multiple sports. Like you mentioned. I was really into soccer, basketball, I did track and track and field at a high level and, and hockey. And those are the main sports that I really enjoyed. And I think growing up, not like, like nowadays, I find a lot of, a lot of kids focus solely on one sport and try to critique that as much as possible. I really focus on a wide variety of sports. I just love playing. I love to be outside. I love to be with my siblings and my friends and just doing anything active, basically. So for me, it was playing sports and that was like my fun time and my social time. So growing up, I did that. And I think hockey definitely was my true passion. It was a sport that I absolutely loved to play. And I remember I would always come home from school when I was younger and call my mom at work and say, when are you going to be home? When are you going to pick me up? You know, you can't, you can't be late because I have practice at this time because I was always just so excited to be outside, to be at the rink, you know, on the ice. And that was, that was where I loved, you know, where my heart was and where I really enjoyed to be. So I think at a young age I realized that hockey was my true passion, but I really enjoyed doing, doing a bunch of sports, you know, in the summertime and, and focusing on other things as well.

Do you, do you think that the draw to the sports originally was because of your siblings? Or do you think it was just, or your parents? Or do you think it was just something that, you know, you had extra energy to burn off, you loved it and you just couldn't, you know, you couldn't get enough of all kinds of different team sports especially?

I think, I think it's Just kind of. It's how we. We grew up. You know, all my siblings played. Played a lot of sports, and I. I looked up to my siblings, and I think that's how. That's how I started into hockey. Both my sisters and my brothers played. And I remember the first time I went on the ice, it was the outdoor rink. I was on the same team as my older brother and two older sisters. And so I was really young. I was four years old and didn't really know how to, like, stick, handle or shoot or anything, but I could. I could skate fairly well. So I just kind of skated around and I just enjoyed to be out there with my siblings. I. I really looked up to them. And just even playing road hockey and all that, just playing sports with them, I think, was the main. The main reason why I probably started to play sports at a young age. Also, my parents were very athletic as well, and so they definitely instilled in us the importance of being active, being outside. We definitely didn't play video games or watch TV that much growing up.

I'm curious to know. And you've got two younger brothers as well, right?

Yes.

Okay, so what was the dynamic like? Obviously, everyone's active and playing sports and you're doing things together. Was it hyper competitive? Was it supportive? Was it a mix of that? Because, I mean, you know, as a young kid, I remember playing street hockey with friends, and brothers would often fight or, you know, just be at each other all the time, or, you know, like, what was the dynamic? Like, you've got so many siblings. I guess maybe there's a little bit of everything. But what was. What was the general environment like?

You know, the funny thing is, you would think that my family, you know, hated each other or, like, would hate to play sports because it always ended in a fight. Always. And I think that's just our competitive nature is that we're all so competitive and we all want to win and we don't want to lose, and we. We get that from each other. So I think, you know, it was a good thing and probably a bad thing at the same time, because we didn't enjoy it as much, or it always ended up in my parents yelling at us. But we definitely pushed each other. And I think I can really say that a lot of my success today is because of my siblings and the rivalry and the competitiveness that we had when we were younger. And even growing up today, I mean, I still go on the ice with my brothers, and they push me, and they definitely don't don't let me get off easy. So. And same with my dad. My dad's always been very, you know, tough. Tough on me in terms when it comes to sports and push. Pushed me to be better every day.

So that's great.

So to give people. To give people an idea of how accomplished you are, you've. You've played at Cornell University. You've had multiple championship medals. You've got two gold medals from the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, plus the silver from the 2018 Olympics. You know, there's a ton there I can't even begin to dive into, you know, what led to what. But can you look back on all of your success and kind of discern a pivotal time that really caused a lot of growth for you? What was maybe a challenge that you overcame? What do you think made the big difference that caused you to take the step up that maybe you needed to at the time?

Yeah, I think there's two points that I would like to talk about that I think were definitely a big part in my growth as a hockey player, but also as a person. And I think I really matured going into college. After my freshman year, I definitely was not prepared to. To be on my own. My first year of college, I mean, I hadn't left home at all. I grew up just in Sudbury, living at home and playing. I know a lot of people nowadays go to prep school and play there, but I stayed at home, played for a club team at home in Sudbury, and then left for college. And I think I learned a lot about myself, what I can do, especially in the classroom with grades and. And being diligent that way. My parents are always so strict with the importance of getting a good education, getting good grades and education was just so important to them. And so to have them always on my back, you know, you have to do your homework before you can do this. And then going into college, it was quite a transition. I didn't have that, and I think it took a year for me to really figure it out and realize that, oh, I do have to go to class. I can't miss it. Class, or go out with my friends instead of doing my homework. So, you know, being a student athlete is tough, and you really have to manage your time appropriately and get all your homework done before. And then having to go to practice and train and focus on hockey as well. There's very little time for the social part. And I quickly realized that after. After my freshman year, and I think I really grew as a person and just figuring out how I learn and how to study.

What was the wake up call like? Was it poor grades or was it the panic at exam time? What was the kind of smack in the face?

Yeah, I would say both the panic and I definitely didn't do as well my freshman year in terms of grades. And I quickly learned my lesson and I, after that I was totally fine and got and received good grades the last three years of college. But yeah, that definitely was, was the sign where I was like, okay, I need to, I need to figure this out or else this is not going in the right direction for me.

And would your hockey team have suspended you or anything? Like, would the, with the Cornell team have take an action?

Oh, for sure. I mean, at an Ivy League school, like education is number one and varsity sports is second. So you have to be above a certain GPA for you to continue to play. So that was definitely, you know, something where I didn't want to fall below that. And just for myself, I mean, I knew I could do better than I was and so I just had to really figure out how to prioritize my time appropriately and, you know, get all my schoolwork done and be able to train and go to practice as well and be focused when I'm there.

You graduated with a degree in communications, right?

Yes.

And did you know at that time what you wanted to do with that type of degree?

No, I don't. I did not and I still do not. I'm almost 30 years old and I'm still a hockey player. But no, I definitely would love to stay in sports in some capacity. I mean, I love being around, you know, that competitive atmosphere and I mean, hockey would be awesome. So I'm not exactly sure what I want to do, but I have had some part time jobs just to gain some experience and try to figure out things that I like and don't like and where I can see myself when I'm done playing.

Nice.

And what would you say is the second?

Right?

Yeah. What was that? We got the first of the kind of maturing that you went through at school. It was the second big kind of pivotal moment for you.

Yeah, so I, I definitely had some, some struggles throughout my career. And I would say the first one I'm. I mean, I've had two, I've had a back injury that took me out of the season for like three quarters of the year. But also one of the struggles was before 2010, so 2009, I mean, I went to Cornell University for two years and then I was asked to be centralized for the 2010 Olympic team. So what that means is 28 players are asked to move to Calgary and train there from August up until the Olympics in February. And then cuts were made throughout the year, and they had to make six cuts throughout the year and make that final roster before Christmas in December. And for me, I was asked to be centralized in 2009, and usually, you know, you'd be so excited. And I was. I was. At the time, I was struggling with confidence. I really, you know, put a lot of pressure on myself in college. I knew that scouts would be there all the time. I'm at my games. Like, I knew I always had to perform every game, and I really am competitive that way, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to. To be the best every game. And, you know, I'm a little bit of a perfectionist on the ice. So at the time, I. I didn't know how to deal with all that pressure, and. And my confidence was. Was down, and I just wasn't enjoying the game. Um, and I forgot what, you know, what the feeling was when I was playing when I was younger, why I started playing hockey in the first place, and I got away from that. And, you know, that can happen at a high level when you're training, you know, full time for a sport and trying to make the highest level possible. So for me, that was a time where, you know, I almost didn't. I didn't want to even try to make the Olympic team. At the time, I just was, like, so down and not motivated to be there and had no confidence in my abilities. I didn't believe I should be there. And my dad was really good, and he pulled me aside and just told me how great of an opportunity this is, which it obvious was. And I knew that, but I just wasn't having fun at the time. And so he really talked to me and told me I would regret this for the rest of my life if I didn't give it a shot, and I really had nothing to lose.

Did you feel that there's something about the process with the national team and the selection that created that insecurity or lack of confidence in yourself? Because obviously you're having massive success at Cornell. You know, you were, you know, one of the top NCAA players, but then brought into that environment, your confidence is shaken a bit as you're describing it. Is it. What was it something specific about the environment or just the pressure of wanting to be on that team? Like, what was it? If you can pinpoint it, Yeah, I.

Think it would be a mix of both. I mean, I think there was the pressure from, you know, the national team to always be at your best, you know, to wanting to crack that roster. And then when I was invited to the centralization, like, I still hadn't made the team, so I still had to, you know, make that roster in December, and there was going to be five people that were cut, and I just, you know, I didn't have the confidence and belief myself that I was going to make that team. And I think the years prior on the national team, you know, you're playing with all these amazing players that you grew up watching play, and it's intimidating and it's scary. And I was. I remember when I was young, I was just. I mean, I was. My first olympics, I was 19, turning 20. Like, the first time I was on the national team, I was 17 years old, and I was scared shitless. Like, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't talk. Like I wasn't. Just, like. It almost wasn't that fun for me because I was so nervous and shy and scared all the time. And. Yeah, so that. That is not an environment if, you know, if you feel that way, it's. It's not an environment for you to succeed. I mean, I didn't play the best hockey. I mean, I go to Cornell at school, and I'd play way better than I would when I was with the Nashville team. And it's because I was so scared, intimidated, nervous, and I didn't have the mental strength and ability that I, you know, do now to be able to deal with that. And I think the turning. Sorry.

No, no, go ahead.

I was just gonna say, I think the turning point for me was in 2010. You know, my dad was like. He just kind of tried to talk me through it and said, you have nothing to lose. You might as well go and give it your all. Don't be scared every time you're on the ice. Just have confidence and believe in what you bring. And, you know, if it's, you know, just bring your speed, bring your energy, and just don't worry about anything because, you know, if you get cut, you get caught, you already believe you're gonna get cut, so you might as well just try. And in August, we had a pre Olympic tournament, and I did really well. I was with two line mates, and I played really well with them, and I had a really great tournament. And then from there on, you know, we stayed together as a line, and I just gained confidence from there. And was like, wow, maybe I do belong here. I can play at this level.

You were starting to get the evidence along the way.

Yeah.

And what, I mean, what you are experiencing the lack of confidence and some of that lack of self belief along the way.

What.

How was it manifesting in other ways? Like, you obviously had the anxiety, but were you also going through. You had the nervousness, but was there a lack of sleep? Were you, you know, like, were you having a hard time eating? Was there like, were there other things that were going on that was just starting to eat away at you?

Not that I can remember. To remember, and I'm still this way, like to this day, is that I still have to work on my mental side of the game. And that's something that I still struggle with at times and need to really work on and focus on throughout the season and because, you know, the mental side of the game is something that can really hold a player back if, you know, if they don't have the ability to focus or to, you know, to have that confidence and gain that energy from that. So for me, I just think the mental side of the game is definitely a weakness of mine. And I can have a lot of confidence one day and then it can be shaken pretty bad the next day. And so being able to adapt and you know, just go back to your core, core values and what you believe in and what you believe that you bring, it's. It's really hard sometimes. But I think that for me is just. I'm a sensitive person and it's. I read into things a lot and so that's just kind of my nature and it can bite me in the butt sometimes.

If, if you don't mind, I think it'd be really valuable if you could kind of expand on kind of that self talk that you're having when you feel a little bit shaken and what you're doing to get, you know, your, your positive edge back. Like, is there certain moments you're reliving or thinking about to take and draw confidence from or what. What's your strategy if you give just a little more detail? Because I think that's so important because obviously you've been able to deliver. You don't win Olympic titles without overcoming these, these moments and pushing through them. So anything you could share for listeners I think would be amazing.

Yeah, I think for me it's just going back to. It's a lot of self talk. It's a lot of visualization for me and just a lot of just remembering what my strengths Are and what I bring and why, and I know that I belong to where I am. Like, they chose me for a reason. So get. Just always go back to your strengths. Like, you know, I think about, okay, I have to bring my speed, I have to bring my. My smarts, my, you know, abilities to shoot, whatever that may be. I think you go back to those things and you focus on those. And especially during the game, you know, if you have a bad shift and I come back off the bench, it's just trying to, you know, forget about what had happened that shift and just be in the moment and focusing on, okay, well, how can I turn this around? What am I going to bring? And focus on one thing that you're going to do that shift really well. It's when your mind starts to go and you're like, okay, I have to do this and this and this, and I have to do this really well. And when you're focusing on too many things, it really creates a spiral and you're just trying to do too much. And then that's when things start to go in the wrong direction.

There. There are so many sports like hockey and soccer and rugby and volleyball that there are so many things that are out of your control that if. If you allow those to get to you, you know, you're never going to feel like you're having any success at all.

It's.

It's only those things that you can control that allow you to feel like your confidence is building or like you can do what you want to do.

Oh, for sure. That's another thing where. And I still have to have to do this and focus on this because, I mean, I focus on things that I can't control and, you know, things will bug me or something that, you know, I try to evaluate something that, like, the coaches are doing. And I worry. I sometimes worry too much about that. And when really, you know, I can't control what's happening with other people, I can just control what I can do and my mindset, and it's so much easier said than done, but it's definitely an important thing, is to just focus on what you can control and what you bring.

Now, you ended up with a pretty serious back injury that pulled you off the ice for quite some time that would fall right into that realm of, okay, that feeling of being out of control because you can't do what you've always done. You've always been so physical, and when it comes to your fitness, your training, your ability on ice, you were always such. And still are just such a physical phenom. So tell us about the injury. What happened there?

Yeah, so I had. I had back issues before I had heard it. So in 2007, around I. My first year of college, the summer before that, I was having back issues and back pain, and I wasn't sure what it was. And I got an X ray. It didn't show anything, so I just assumed everything was okay. And I went to college. And before, in preseason, before I even played a game, I had fallen into the boards. Weird. And something kind of went. And my L5, actually just a part of it broke off in my. In my back. So I had a lot of pain for. For two weeks. It was hard to. To walk for me. And it was just. It was just. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I think I went back a little too soon. You know, I started playing like two and a half weeks later. I had like a back brace, but just took some. A lot of pain medication basically. And do you think it was you.

You that got you back too early or was it. Did you feel like there was a school pressure to get you back too early or a bit of both?

Maybe a bit of both. I think we just thought it would be fine. You know, I was like, I didn't want to miss any games, so I said, yeah, I can do this, whatever, it's fine. Yeah. And I think for the most part it was okay. I definitely was in pain throughout the year. I wasn't able to run for a whole year, which is something I love doing, as you know, but so I definitely had caused some issues. And I think me going back soon, you know, I started to move differently to protect my back when I skated. So I think it caused issues down the road. So my, I think it was 2015, 2016 season is when it's really started to get bad again. And I've always had back pain after that, but nothing to this extent. And it started to affect my hips and I basically kept pulling my hip flexor every time I tried to skate. And I had no clue what was going on. And the worst thing about this injury, it was like there was no clear cut. Okay, this is what's hurt or this is what's the problem. And so you just have to do this and then you'll be better. It was more of like, we're going to try this. You know, you definitely have some inflammation here. And basically my ligaments were hypermobile in my back, so they moved too much, which caused a lot of Issues around my hips. And so my hips and glutes were really weak and I wasn't able to skate without pulling something. And so I basically got a procedure. I got prolo injections all throughout my back and my hips. Basically it stiffens your ligaments because they were too hypermobile. So it stiffened them so that they would stay more sturdy. So when I skated, I'd have more support in my back. And that was a really long process. It took. I mean, I had to get about six to eight injections and you had to wait at least two weeks in between each one. So it took a while to get it all complete and then you needed to rest and make sure. And then it was a slow process after that. You know, you can only skate 50%, 70%, 80%. So it was quite the regimen that I had to do each and every day. And I had a lot of physio every day.

Um, quite the exercise and patience too. Just. Oh, yeah, mental side.

I went from never missing any hockey games, like I never had to watch hockey my team play in the stands to, you know, missing almost an entire season. And that was. That was the tough thing for me was, you know, I didn't know how long I was going to be out. I didn't know after this. These injections even helped me play. Exactly. You know, everyone reacts differently to them and I fortunately, what reacted really well to them. So I was just. The future was unknown for me and that was the scariest thing, you know, was I able to. Will I be able to play at 100% when I'm back? You know, will it be to play at all or, you know, is this my time to retire?

So for me, that's tough emotionally and mentally. Like, were you pretty down or were you trying to stay really positive throughout?

I definitely, I definitely was down. But I also had a lot of. I had a few really great friends that actually outside of hockey that I had turned to and was able to see and be around because I just felt like it was really hard to be around the team all the time and not be able to play. And so to have, you know, the. An outlet where, you know, I have a couple friends that, that weren't involved in hockey at all and. But they were involved in sports there. One was a figure skater, other was a speed skater. And so they, they kind of helped. They helped me. We got became really close that year and I was able to see them. I had a lot more time on my hands, obviously, so I think they helped me through it too as well. But it definitely, I think I grew as a person, um, for sure. I mean, mentally being able to, to deal with that. And I think for me it was the process and I really focused on my workouts and my exercises and was really diligent that way because I knew if I did everything to T and everything that I needed to do as the best I could, then I'd get back sooner. So I really focus on doing whatever I could so that I can get back playing as soon as possible and.

Make that outcome as highly likely as possible.

Yeah, yeah. But I could tell you physio exercises, they're not fun. You have to do it every day.

Was that in Calgary or was that in Toronto?

That was in Calgary, yeah.

And did you know anyone who'd had the same procedure so they could at least kind of talk you through it?

No, no, I had. No, no, I didn't know anyone. But lots of people hadn't heard of it or anything. So yeah.

Did it. I mean, at least it's nice that the friends you had, even though they're not in hockey, they get the high performance mentality. They understand likely some level of injury if they've been through something as well and can like have your back and really get who you are versus someone that's a friend who's not an athlete or someone who just doesn't understand.

Oh, for sure. I mean, they both. I mean, I had some great friends on the team, but at, you know, a lot of the points, especially when they were gone or playing and I didn't go like travel, it was nice to be able to see these other friends and they actually were both going through different things in their lives that they were struggling with as well. So it almost seemed like it was, you know, we helped each other in different ways.

Now you're, you, you mentioned a little while ago that you're a 30 year old hockey player. You're not sure what you want to do exactly with your degree. Clearly as, as a human, your identity is really, really wrapped around hockey as well. What. Give, give listeners a sense of what it's like to make a living or you know, what kind of, whether it's sponsorships or what kind of finances occur being being a medalist in women's hockey because every sport is so different and in talking to different sports, you know, we're talking to Olympic snowboarder or a curler or a rugby player and we're getting a real sense for different Canadian or professional athletes and what the lay of the land is when it comes to earnings, what's it like for a female hockey player in your situation?

I would say, I mean, we're fairly fortunate. We're. I mean, amateur athletes. We're not getting paid millions of dollars. We really play the sport because we have a passion for it, and we love. We love playing. We love what we do. Same, you know, us, we. I mean, I love. I love playing, and I'm fortunate. I'm able to make a, you know, a livable wage while playing. And you do rely on sponsorships a lot. You rely on, you know, that heavily, actually. I mean, it helps. It helps a lot. And to have that support. And there's always a lot of people and companies that want to support Olympic athletes and, you know, our fans and are really supportive of what we do and are proud that we represent our country and work so hard to do so. That's definitely a major thing. And we're also, you know, supported through Hockey Canada and the government through carding money, which is. Which is very helpful as well. So, I mean, hockey players, we are. We are fortunate to have a lot of support, but it is also tough for us. I feel like, in terms of sponsorships, you know, it's a team. It's a team sport. You don't. We don't get that TV promotion, the media promotion as much. Especially even with our games, I mean, we have masks on. You can't really see what our face. So you people don't really know who we are. And we don't. They don't have that. You know, we don't have that.

The celebrity. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, you know, like, I could be walking down the street, and I mean, I do walk around the street, and no one. No one knows in me, because no one. No one knows who. Who I am. And it is. It is tough to have that media image because, you know, when we are on tv, it's tough to know what we actually look like. And I get that all the time. Be like, oh, like, I didn't know that's what you looked like. Or, you know.

Well, and compounding that problem as well is just the fact that, you know, the IOC locks down all of your images, all of the video, so somebody can't go online and, you know, relive games that you guys have played. It's all locked down. So in terms of, you know, young fans in the country wanting to watch Team Canada Games in the Olympics, it's a real challenge.

Yeah, that is a lot. Yeah, that's true.

I was just gonna Ask along those lines, have you seen how is the landscape of women's hockey in Canada changed? Like from participation standpoint or from. Because kind of, however you want to describe it, it's a, you know, it's been 10 years since you guys won gold in Vancouver. What have you seen being, you know, at the pinnacle of hockey in Canada? Have you seen changes at the grassroots level? What, what do you see going on in women's hockey in general?

Yeah, I would, I would say ever since 2014, that gold medal game at the Olympics. And it's so funny because every four years, you know, women's hockey is at the Olympics, is the most watched sport. Everyone loves it, everyone wants to watch it. And 2014 was definitely the turning point. And I think it really put women's hockey on the map. Just, you know, how exciting that game was. It was a fairytale ending for us. You definitely could have made a movie, you know, about that, that game in that Olympics for us and just the road that we were on, it was, you know, it wasn't looking very promising for, for us, especially in that last game. And we were able to come back after a 2 nothing deficit and tied up and then went in overtime. It was. Everything about that game was, you know, was surreal. And I just. People still talk about it to this day. And after that game, I remember coming home and every. Everyone was talking about it. It was all over the news. I didn't realize how big it was until we got back to Canada and realized that how, you know, how proud everyone was, but more. But just how crazy of a game that was and how people realized how great women talking is and the talent, you know, the spirit, speed, everything about the game and people love watching it. And I think 2014 was definitely a turning point where, like, where a lot of people that might not have watched women's hockey before definitely jumped on the bandwagon. Also, just growing up in, when I played in Sudbury, I had to play on a guys team. And now I go back and I, I see there's multiple girls teams from each age group. There's so many girls playing hockey now. There's the most enrolled sport. I think it's really growing and a lot of people are wanting to sign up for women's hockey and a lot of people are talking about it and that's just awesome to see.

Yeah, that's great to hear. It's awesome.

It is.

It's such a, like, I know that for, for our kids, the opportunity just wouldn't have been there for my Oldest. Whereas now for our youngest it, it's an easy option because there's all kinds of options especially around here for, for girls hockey, whereas that just wasn't there before. So it's, it's really. Yeah. It's neat to see. It's neat to see that change. And do you, what do you like, what's next for you? Are you. Do you want to keep playing for a certain amount of time? Are you looking for career opportunities or both right now? What's, what's on the radar for you?

I think I'm definitely taking it year by year. You know I can't say that I'm going to be there in, in three more years for another Olympics but I mean it's definitely a goal that I want to achieve and work towards. But I want to take it year by year and who knows how my body will feel in three years. I'm getting up there in age, come on now. But. Well, I mean you never know what can happen in three years. So for me I'm just definitely taking it year by year and focusing on playing still for sure and, but also other opportunities and I can definitely work part time as well or make connections that way and get a sense of what I want to do to make the transition from playing to the working world a little bit easier. Yeah.

And right now you're in a situation of kind of waiting to see what's happening with the women's league.

Yeah. So yeah, right now I'm just. We're just waiting just to figure out. I just want to figure out where, where I want to be. I mean I am from Ontario from, from Northern Ontario. So part of me would like to be close to home but I have had made Calgary my home for the last five years. So I, I do, I love it out there as well. So for me it's just figuring out, you know what, what's best for me and what will suit me in the long run for just hockey wise as well in training.

And you don't have a preference really. Like you could go either place. They're so different.

Like they're different. To be honest, I truly love Calgary. It's just my, my type of lifestyle. Like I'm, I'm. I love going hiking and I love.

You got the mountains. Yeah, it's different.

Yeah. Living in the city is a little bit. It's totally opposite basically.

So yeah, it's intense. It's a different kind of. Kind of thing. Do you have any other kind of main before we wrap up with kind of some little personal questions. Do you have other main things that you want to share that maybe people don't know about you or you'd like to let them in on?

Oh, geez.

You'll think of it later when we're off air.

I probably will. Yeah. I can't really think of anything now.

But now that you've. Now that you've worked more on the mental side of things, do you think you want to do your best or be the best?

Oh, see, like I mentioned earlier, I feel like I'm. I'm a very competitive person. And, yeah, I definitely. I think back when I was younger, I would have been okay with doing my best, but now, I mean, I definitely want to always do my best, but I have, I guess, high expectations of myself, and for sure, I want to. I want to be the best. I always want to be the best. And I work towards trying to try to be the best every day on the ice and whoever I'm playing against. And that's just something that drives me and pushes me to keep working and trying to get better every day.

That pressure you put on yourself always.

Yeah.

And on some more personal side of things, do you have a favorite food or dessert?

Oh, geez. I'm really not very picky in terms of eating, but I do. I mean, for dessert, I love. I do love chocolate. I. I would say dark chocolate or milk chocolate. I like. I like dark chocolate, but I also love white chocolate pretzels. For some reason. I just love them.

Oh, my God. So specific things that come up. And what about, like, a favorite movie and favorite book?

Oh, gosh. I would say it really depends. I really like a lot of different movies, but I. I mean, like, a funny movie. I like Wedding Crashers a lot and, like, a mystery. I like mystery thriller. Like, I like. I like Double Jeopardy.

Nice.

Yeah, there's, like. I mean, is that the one where.

She kills her husband? Because she's already been charged with it.

Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, that was a spoiler alert, by the way. Everyone.

Everyone listening. I was just gonna say, what are.

What are you.

I was like, what is Double Jet?

I mean, it's an older one, so.

Yeah, that's why they haven't really reached in there, but yeah. Well, it is an awesome twist.

It is. I did. I like movies like that, so. Favorite book, I would say. I mean, I love. I liked. I love the Hunger Games series, to tell you the truth.

You know, when that came out, my. My daughter slammed it on the table in front of me when I was Eating a meal. And she just looks at me. She goes, read this.

Yep.

And then I was like. I was like. I was like, okay, thank you. And she stares at me. And she opens the page. It opens the COVID and taps on it and says, read this now. I was like, okay. And so I did. And I read the series and yes.

Yeah, I love the movies, too.

Yeah.

Like, and then I can also say Harry Potter. I mean, Harry Potter's always. I mean, read all of them. Saw the movies. So just.

Just started reading the first Harry Potter to our youngest.

Like. Oh, really?

So, yeah, so the one that was in the stroller, you know that one?

Yeah.

She's eight now.

Oh, my God.

I know. So she's. Now we're reading her Harry Potter. That's how old she is now.

Wow.

Isn't that crazy? And then what do you. What's a thing outside of hockey that you. It might be a hobby, but just something that you're really drawn to that's different than your sport.

Tough questions.

I know. I know. I feel like I'm not, like, I wish I could say, like, I could play guitar or, like, sing or something, but, like, I can't.

I can't.

I'm solely like. Like, I feel like active, athletic. That's just kind of what I'm drawn to. So, I mean, I love. I love going hiking and going for long walks. Actually, I go for, like, walks, like, every day almost. Um, that. And just, like, reading. I like to read.

Yeah.

Nothing really. Nothing really exciting.

No, but you know, what you like, that's. That's key too.

So that's good.

And then what. What would you have as a tip to young. Young athletes or young hockey players? What would you give as a tip for them just going for their sport and following their dream?

What's.

What's there for you?

I think I would. I would say to. I think just enjoy what you're doing and, you know, have fun with it. I feel like sports, it can get, you know, like I mentioned earlier, very competitive and you can lose track of the fun and why you started playing as sport in the first place. And, you know, I think just. Just having fun, believing in yourself, you know, anything is possible if you just. If you really. If you just believe. I mean, like, just having that mental side. Side of it, it goes a long way. And I'm. I'm a small town. I'm from a small town, you know, played hockey. Never dreamed of being able to. To compete at the Olympics, to make the team and to even win. Let alone win a gold medal at the Olympics for Canada. And so I would say to anyone, if you have a dream, just believe in yourself and work hard, because it's not going to be easy, but believe that you can do it as anything is really possible.

That's amazing.

That's, that's excellent.

So on that note, let's wrap up. We, we so appreciate having you on and it's, it's a real honor to chat with you and have you share some of your personal experiences and have people really understand how real you are and that what you go through is what other athletes go through as well, whether you're an Olympic medalist or not. And we really appreciate your time.

Yeah, I think I want to say actually one more thing is that I know, like, even me growing up, that I feel like a lot of, you know, kids or people think that, you know, Olympians don't go through or high elite level athletes don't, you know, have problems or go through struggles. It's just all easy sailing. And I can definitely assure you that there's, there is nothing easy about, you know, being an Olympian and being an elite athlete. You know, we're not superhuman. It's. We go through struggles. You know, you go through lack of confidence, you go through injuries, you go through a lot of things. And so it's, it is good for people to know that, that it's okay to struggle at times and it's okay to go through adversity because that is normal and you can just bounce back even stronger.

That's awesome. And so needed to hear, like so many need to hear that message from, from people like you. So that's huge. Thank you so much, Rebecca.

No, thanks for having me.

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