Botterill a key Canuck

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/02/2002 (8609 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Jennifer Botterill isn’t a fourth-line centre anymore.

On the eve of Team Canada’s opening game today versus weak-sister Kazakhstan, the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games could be the flashy Winnipegger’s coming out party.

And everybody’s invited.

After all, Botterill, just 22, has already graced the pages of Canada’s Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated for Women and the Hockey News Olympic special editions — all touting her emergence as one of the world’s most talented female players.

She’s Team Canada’s cover girl.

Long gone are the days when Botterill, just 18, played sparingly for Canada’s silver- medal winning team at the 1998 Nagano Games.

But is the cover girl ready to assume the critical role as one of Canada’s leading point producers?

“Absolutely, and I am loving it,” Botterill said. “Last time (in Nagano) it was great because it was all new and I was a rookie and it was all very exciting. But there were different expectations from the coaching staff and from myself.

“And this time, having had a lot more experience and different roles on the team, I am so excited,” she added. “I really am. And to feel like I can really make a difference and contribute in different ways. It’s something I’m absolutely ready for.”

Indeed, Botterill is not the same player Canada saw in Japan. Not even close. Following Nagano, the swift, left-handed forward spent the next two seasons starring for Harvard University, where last year Botterill became the first Canadian to ever receive the prestigious Patty Kazmaier Award, awarded to the top female player in U.S. college hockey.

Then, during the 2001 World Championships, Botterill led Canada in scoring and was named the tournament MVP after the Canucks captured their seventh world title.

“She really has come a long way,” confirmed Team Canada veteran Haley Wickenheiser, of Botterill. “She’s become a more complete player. She’s a good two-way centre and very strong up the middle.

“You usually know what you’re going to get from her every night, which is a good solid effort. And that’s something our team really counts on.”

So the added pressure facing Botterill is not her foe.

“It’s there,” she acknowledged. “But you know what? That’s what makes it exciting. And that’s what makes it the Olympic Games, because it’s the whole world that’s interested. It’s the top level of sport.

“So you can think about those things (the pressure and importance of the Games) and let them bother you, or you can just look at it as, ‘Wow, all these people are interested in what we’re doing’.

“I think I’m the kind of person that thrives in big situations,” she added.

However, training for Team Canada, which has been centralized since last September, has been an eye-opening experience, as the Canucks prepare to challenge the defending Olympic gold medallist Americans in Salt Lake.

“It’s kind of been an ideal year,” Botterill said. “We get to be full-time hockey players. I’ve certainly appreciated and enjoyed the entire journey. You definitely have your ups and downs because when you’re training so hard, you’re very busy.

“Initially, after school last year I thought, ‘Hey, I’ll have a little free time this year,” she added. “I just have to play hockey’. But our schedule has been so intense that you really don’t have much time. And you have to make sure you’re looking after yourself in terms of rest and recovery.

“But it’s been great to play with these kind of players each and every day. It’s all the game experience we get at the top level, the international game.”

However, the Canadians’ stiffest test has yet to come, as they enter the tournament on an eight-game losing streak to the ever-improving Americans. In fact, it’s because of Team USA’s surge that Botterill’s role on Team Canada could become even more vital.

“She (Botterill) is still young so her best is probably yet to come,” offered head coach Daniele Sauvageau, of Botterill. “But she’s a key player who Team Canada needs to play her best in the next two weeks. She was the best player at the World Championships last year, so her learning curve is big.”

How big? Beginning today, Canada is about to find out.