An Olympic medalist’s view on growing women’s hockey in wake of skills competition

History was made and barriers were broke. It was such an honor to be the first woman to compete in the @nhl All Star Skills Competition last night. I can’t wait to see what the future holds! #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/Sc125oBGCx

— Kendall Coyne Schofield (@KendallCoyne) January 26, 2019

The U.S. women’s hockey star raised many eyebrows, skating her way to a seventh-place finish in the eight-player competition with a time of 14.346 seconds. Smith-Bell said she was proud of all four women.

“That’s our game,” she said. “Our game is about finesse, speed and skill. I think it was a huge milestone for women’s hockey and what we needed.”

A question that arose following her performance; will we ever see a female player in the NHL?

Earlier this year, La Ronge iced the first woman in the SJHL, Taylor Keast, who assumed the role of emergency backup in a game against the Kindersley Klippers. In the past, it was Shaunavon’s Hayley Wickenheiser breaking the mould and suiting up for a professional team in Finland, but as a trailblazer for the sport and women’s hockey always seems to fall to the name of Manon Rheaume. Rheaume broke the barrier in Major Junior in 1991-92 with the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs in the QMJHL, then into the NHL, playing a pre-season game with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Smith-Bell’s viewpoint is that many girls just simply don’t want to play in the NHL.

“(They) aspire to be in the Olympics… Personally, I think any girl that’s playing at a high level, doesn’t want to play junior or the NHL,” she said. “If the girls this weekend didn’t prove that they can play, I’m not sure what will.

“We don’t want to be compared to the NHL, to see how far the games come, and how far it’s going. It’s nice to see we’re getting the recognition now that we deserve.”

The road towards respect for women’s hockey could be described as ungraded and gravelled rather than a double lane highway. Throughout that, Smith-Bell has seen it all. Ironically, a gravel road was what she travelled along to play in small town rinks when she was younger.

“That’s our game. Our game is about finesse, speed and skill. I think it was a huge milestone for women’s hockey and what we needed.” _{Fiona Smith-Bell}

That all started for Smith-Bell at just three-and-a-half-years-old. She played hockey up to her Bantam years with boys across northwest Saskatchewan. Smith-Bell said playing hockey in this part of the province wasn’t as tough as many of the other athlete’s she’s heard from throughout her career. She admits there was the odd person that may have doubted her, but feels lucky about her path on the ice.

“I know that there are lots of females that can’t really say the same,” she admits. “Maybe they’ve had a different path and different experiences, but overall, mine was really positive.”

Her family moved into North Battleford in 1986, where she continued to play minor hockey. It was here doors started to open to the national women’s team. She made the provincial team when she was 14.

Smith-Bell recalls looking up to some of her teammates on the Maidstone Saskies and realizing many of the women in the dressing room could have been her parents’ age. Though young, she knew if she kept with the program, she would be able to play on the national team.

Being released from the national team in 1993 as one of the final cuts to the roster is something she still looks back on as one of the most disappointing times in her career. But it was also a moment that lit a fire under the then 20-year-old. She came back the next year, made the team and joined the squad for her first of eight seasons with the Hockey Canada crest on the front of her threads.

Smith-Bell knew she needed to take her game to the next level in terms of training and preparation. Back then, there were no personal trainers, no programs for the aspiring women’s hockey star to take part in. She pushed herself and continued to do so until 1996 when she made the tough decision to leave home and head to Alberta to get proper training. She ended up signing on with the Edmonton Chino’s of the Western Women’s Hockey League.

She continued to push herself as the inaugural year for women’s hockey in the Olympics loomed. She played in the 1997 World Championships before hitting the Olympic stage in Nagano in 1998.

Smith-Bell considers that year a cornerstone in the growth of women’s hockey. She remembers watching the game grow exponentially, year-over-year, but nothing like it does every four years when the Olympics captures the attention of the world.

What happened this past weekend, Smith-Bell said, can be considered another milestone in the growth of the game. Never has there been such exposure to the skill of the women’s game in her eyes.

There are two leagues for women’s professional hockey; the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and the National Women’s Hockey League. These have a combined 11 teams, including the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays, which play out of China.

Smith-Bell, in speaking with other people around the game, believes they need to be combined.

“There’s potential for a professional league where we’re eventually probably going to get support from the NHL, especially after what happened (at All Star weekend). That’s the NHL right now for the girls,” she said.

Moving forward as one cohesive unit would be the start to establish a common goal for young female hockey players, she said.

While growing up, she did have aspirations of playing in the NHL. Watching hockey as a kid, she was always behind the Edmonton Oilers, looking up to players such as Dave Semenko if she was playing physical, or Gretzky when it came to finesse and putting the puck in the back of the net.

For the women’s game at this point, there is a large focus on becoming athletes in their own right and players the younger generation can look up to.

“We want to be recognized as hockey players,” she said. “We want to have our own identity, as we have a female league, or we have our women’s pro league, as the men have the NHL.”

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brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangBFN

by Brady Lang

An Olympic medalist’s view on growing women’s hockey in wake of skills competition

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