ESTEVAN — Growing up in the small southeast village of Kennedy, Colleen Sostorics had big dreams when it came to hockey – the sport she loved.
"I was going to be the first girl to play in the NHL, and I was going to play on the Calgary Flames," she said.
The Flames were her favourite team, and she wanted to be on the same defence tandem as Hockey Hall of Famer Al MacInnis.
She didn't play in the NHL, but without those goals, dreams and aspirations, she doesn't believe her long list of accolades in hockey would have happened.
For the second straight year, Sostorics was part of the All Girls Hockey Camp in Estevan. She led more than 40 kids through a series of on-ice sessions July 30 at Affinity Place to help them build their skills, and then she delivered her Gold Medal Hockey Talk to the youths and others at the Days Inn's Taylorton Room.
Sostorics was a blue-liner on Canada's gold medal-winning entries at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. She has been inducted into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. Sostorics is currently a coach with the University of Regina Cougars women's hockey team and she guides her kids' hockey teams.
"Hopefully, at the very end of my chat, you guys, at the very least, understand that anything is possible, because I am a small-town girl … playing hockey," said Sostorics.
As a child, she was playing with boys in Kennedy because girls' hockey wasn't an option at that time. Now her 10-year-old daughter dreams of playing in the Professional Women's Hockey League, which is entering its third season.
"You guys all have a professional women's league to dream of, because did I make it to the NHL? No, not quite, but I think I got to do some pretty cool things," said Sostorics. "But now if I was playing, I'd get to play in the PWHL and be a professional hockey player, and get paid to play the sport I love, which would be amazing."
She encouraged the kids to constantly get better, to be their best and adapt, which Hockey Canada had to do to keep winning gold medals.
"We had to grow as individuals, and I had to change and be a better Colleen, but as an organization, we also had to change. Hockey Canada had to grow and do better, and hopefully we can continue to do that," she said.
She also spoke to the kids about the process in being selected for Team Canada. When she was earning her place on the squads, there wasn't a professional women's hockey league for evaluations. In 2010, for example they had to go through a boot camp in Dawson Creek, B.C., play exhibition games against U18 AAA boys' teams from Alberta and play other pre-tournament games before the Olympics.
There were tough times, she said. They were a team but they were competing for spots against each other. Players were cut.
"You have to be a team together," said Sostorics. "You're not going to succeed if you don't all work together. You can only do what you can do and let the coaches make a decision."
The Olympics are the pinnacle of sport, she said. Sostorics said she can't explain the thrill of winning a gold medal, because putting on the jersey for Team Canada is one of the best feelings imaginable, and it's an amazing feeling to be selected for the Olympics.
The win in Vancouver is her favourite, she said, because it was at home and it was her final chance to represent Team Canada before she retired in 2010.
"Once the opening ceremonies are done, now it's time to get to get serious, it's time to get serious about hockey," said Sostorics.
Sostorics encouraged the young people to go home and talk about their "crazy dream". If it's hockey, that's great, she said. If it's outside hockey, Sostorics thinks that's awesome too. But for these dreams to materialize, the girls will need their family and friends, and they'll have to experience some setbacks along the way. Sostorics said she did, such as when Canada lost the gold-medal game at the 2008 and 2009 women's world championships.
"I told everyone that would listen that I would be a hockey player. And then they knew. That's Colleen. She's a hockey player," Sostorics said.
She also urged the kids to thank their parents for all their support.
Sostorics wrapped up her presentation by answering questions from the kids, passing around her Olympic gold medals, her 2010 Olympic championship ring and other medals from her career. Then she posed for pictures and signed autographs for the girls in attendance.
