Botterill takes her place among hockey legends First Manitoba woman inducted into hockey’s hallowed hall after a career defined by family, dedication and love of the game By: Ken Wiebe Posted: 8:13 PM CST Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025

TORONTO — Jennifer Botterill was doing her best to be present and soak in the scene inside the hallowed halls.

The Winnipegger had been given her Hockey Hall of Fame ring and blazer roughly one hour earlier and after working her way through her various interviews, Botterill took a deep breath and was ready to skate down memory lane with the Free Press.

“It starts to really sink into your heart, the magnitude of all this and the recognition,” said Botterill. “How do you describe it? It’s difficult. It’s beyond what I dreamed about as a kid. For me growing up in Winnipeg, the biggest thing is that I feel fortunate. For the teams I got to play on, the experiences that we had.”

Those experiences began with mini sticks in the basement and out on the outdoor rink at Wildwood Park Community Club, which was just a few steps away from her childhood home.

On Monday night, Botterill will join the Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2025, which includes Winnipeg-born and Fort Frances, Ont., raised Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Alex Mogilny, Brianna Decker in the player category and Jackie Parker and Danielle Sauvageau in the builder category.

Botterill is the first Manitoba woman to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Making that achievement even more special was that she received the call while at her family’s West Hawk Lake cabin back in June.

“The first thing you think about, through the gratitude and reflection, is your childhood,” said Botterill. “For me, it was growing up in Wildwood Park in Winnipeg and going to the community centre, walking to school with my friends through those neighbourhoods.

“Playing basement hockey with (her brother) Jason and all of those days on the outdoor rink.

“From that phase to going on (to the national team) and coming back to play in Winnipeg for the world championship, I love that now girls in the province have great opportunities for hockey and for sport. That city and that province provided that opportunity for me to pursue all of these dreams and ambitions that I had.”

Those various opportunities led Botterill to a magnificent hockey career that included an extended run on Canada’s national team through four Olympic Games (where she won three gold medals and one silver) and eight women’s world championships (where she captured five gold medals and three silvers).

Botterill was also named Most Valuable Player of the women’s world championship on two occasions, in 2001 and 2004.

Not only is Botterill one of the most decorated athletes from Manitoba, her hockey career included four prolific seasons with the Harvard Crimson, where she scored the overtime winner to propel her team to the NCAA national championship in 1999.

She also became the first two-time winner of the Patty Kazmaier award for the top player in NCAA women’s hockey in 2001 and 2003.

Botterill was also a dominant force with the Toronto Aeros and Mississauga Chiefs in the NWHL and CWHL, two of the leagues that paved the way for the PWHL.

“She was such a pro. She just went about her business,” said Cassie Campbell-Pascall, a longtime teammate on the national team. “Technically, she was a perfect player. You rarely found her out of position. She was always in the right place at the right time. The technical side of her skating was just perfect. She just did everything well and she was a really smart player. You rarely would beat her one on one in a battle. You’d rarely catch her on the wrong side of the puck. She was just responsible on both sides of the puck. It wasn’t flashy or anything like that, it was just solid. A player that I’m sure coaches, to some degree, didn’t have anything to worry about.”

When Botterill retired from the national team in 2011, she was third all-time in games played (184) and fifth in points (174).

But the thing about Botterill’s game is that her impact stretched well beyond the impressive numbers she posted.

“I think of humility and I think of her grace. I think of her ability to connect. She made everybody around her better. She elevated those around her,” said Sami Jo Small, a fellow Winnipegger who was Botterill’s roommate and longtime teammate. “She never sought attention. She was never the one that was the rah-rah person in the middle of the dressing room. But she always gave attention. Anybody who has ever been in her sphere, whether it’s a friend, whether it’s a colleague, whether it’s somebody that she first meets, you feel like you are the most important person at that time — and that’s a really unique ability.”

Many of those friends were on hand to help Botterill celebrate this weekend in Toronto.

On Friday night, Botterill’s husband Adrian Lomonaco organized an event that brought people together from various points in Botterill’s life, including a group of childhood friends from Winnipeg who made the trek.

“The Manitoba crew, the Harvard crew, the Team Canada crew, the Sportsnet crew, the neighbourhood crew. It was really nice,” said Botterill. “I didn’t know I was speaking. It was amazing to stand and look around the room at every person. I’ve said it from the first time I got the call. For me, it’s about gratitude. That’s been the ultimate.

“Every stage in my life was so important for me, in terms of shaping who I was and how I developed as a person, as a hockey player. The opportunity to reconnect with everyone, to laugh, to smile, to celebrate, to cry and to feel that all of these people have all had a great influence on me.”

Botterill continues to have an influence on people through the sport of hockey, as she’s worked tremendously hard both on and off the ice to help grow the game, a role she’s extremely passionate about — whether that’s while coaching her three girls (Maya, Brooklynn and Willow) or through her role in the media as an analyst.

“For me to see the PWHL, the success it’s had and the players playing at that level is a real sense of fulfilment because that’s what we wanted and that’s what we hoped and wished for when we were playing,” said Botterill. “We knew it wasn’t going to happen right away, but the patience that the current players had, to do it properly and to do it well, and now they have this league they believe is sustainable and just made another expansion to two great cities that are deserving of teams.

“I just love that it’s a possibility for young athletes that see this and go to the games and know that it’s a possibility to have a great life in the sport.”

Botterill and Decker are the 13th and 14th women’s hockey players to be inducted.

Sauvageau coached Botterill on the national team and mentioned her consistency as one of her greatest qualities as a player and a person.

“Being driven, knowing what to do, going to the next level, trying to prepare physically and mentally, being a great teammate, this is where (Botterill) excels,” said Sauvageau. “I’m not surprised to see what she does today. She is so disciplined, she is growing the game in her own way. I’m sure there are little girls saying I would like to be Jen Botterill as a media person. Others that have seen her play are saying I would like to be like her as a player.

“What she portrays is there’s a path in life and there are chapters. You can succeed at many things and just keep going. That’s what I’ve learned from her.”

Botterill has spoken often about the positive environment she grew up in.

Her mother Doreen was a two-time Olympian in speed skating (1964 and 1968), while father Cal played for Canada’s men’s national hockey team and became one of the most influential sports psychologists of all time.

Her brother Jason became the first player to win three consecutive world junior hockey championships with Team Canada and later went on to play 88 games in the NHL before a series of concussions forced him to retire.

Jason has carved out an excellent path in hockey management and is currently the general manager of the Seattle Kraken and he’s thrilled to see Jennifer be recognized for her incredible career.

“Not to sound cocky, but I always assumed that she would get in it one year. There’s just so many talented young women that have come through the last few years,” said Jason Botterill. “You always respected how hard she worked at her trade. In today’s world of specialization, she was on the other end of it. She was a great athlete, whether it was volleyball, basketball, track, hockey, ringette. Being a great athlete first allowed her to be a great hockey player afterwards. She was a very good student of the game too, to go with her work ethic.

“You always like to see people who have put the effort into something be rewarded. She’s certainly done that.”

Doreen fondly remembers the many nights spent on the outdoor rink.

“Well, they had so much fun. It was great that the community club was so close. She had so many friends and they would just meet at the community club and have a great time,” said Doreen Botterill. “It’s where they learned a lot of the skills, playing shinny with a whole range of ages of kids. Everybody was involved and it was great.”

“She’s always been motivated and always wanted to do her best. She works so hard.”

Although she’s had several months for the moment to soak in, Botterill found herself taken aback after receiving her Hockey Hall of Fame ring and blazer and listening to the various stories about how the others in the class of 2025 received the news of their induction from members of the committee.

“It’s pretty special. It’s just such an honour, said Botterill. “You look across this entire Hall, which just gives you shivers of excitement, but also the class and the inductees. Whether it’s the coaches or the players, how outstanding they were on the ice or on the bench. But also who they are as leaders and people and the energy (they carry). You feel that immediately.

“I think about sharing this with all of them, but it really does start to hit you in the heart, when you see all of this in the Hall. I’m just super, super thankful.”

Botterill is no stranger to public speaking, but that didn’t mean she didn’t require multiple drafts for the speech she will give on Monday when the formal part of the induction takes place.

“That was hard. My first draft was a little lengthy, having to narrow that down,” said Botterill. “I don’t want to sound repetitive, but it’s about thanking all the people that have made this journey possible and standing there, it’s sharing that with everybody. So, it’s hard to make that concise because there’s a lot of gratitude that I want to share.

“I’ve thought about it and I’m looking forward to it, because of the things that I mentioned. Great people, great leaders. I’m so looking forward to hearing their words of reflection. I think it’s going to be a really nice night of celebration.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld