#Beijing2022: Kleinburg's Stacey recalls 'little girls standing on blue line' chasing dream

Cut 4 times, two-time Olympian kept plugging away for Team Canada spot

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 1, 2022
John Cudmore

Don’t talk to Laura Stacey about giving up on a dream.

Four times the Kleinburg resident was cut by Hockey Canada’s national women’s team. Each time she came back to try again.

Ultimately, the forward got it right when she cracked the roster in 2017. She has been a mainstay ever since.

Gearing up for her second Olympics experience when Canada faces off Feb. 2 in Beijing against Switzerland, Stacey is a story of perseverance.

“My road hasn’t been straightforward at all,” said Stacey, 27, who attended Dartmouth College on a scholarship. “It made me the person I am. It’s never easy or supposed to be easy and there is a lot of fun and joy in that. Embracing those moments makes the chance so much sweeter. It’s about getting knocked down and bouncing back and getting up again.

“It’s easy to say, ‘I can’t do this any longer,’ and walk away and give up on those darker days. But we’re elite athletes chasing this goal since we were little girls and knowing there are going to be ups and downs along the way.”

Stacey, who played four seasons in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League, including one season for the Aurora Panthers, has been a world gold medal winner at both the U-18 and senior national levels. She completed her NCAA career in 2016. She scored the game-winning goal for Markham Thunder in the 2018 Clarkson Cup in the CWHL final.

The big prize to elude her is Olympics gold, denied in agonizing fashion in 2018 by the United States.

“Bringing silver home to Canada is disappointing, especially to lose in a shootout,” she said.

Canada is also grouped with Finland, the Russian Olympic Committee team and the United States for round-robin play.

Despite veteran status, it was a relief to make the final cut as one of 13 returning players from 2018 after several months in the centralization camp Hockey Canada stages to determine its roster.

“I think hearing those words, that you’re going to the Olympics, never gets old,” said Stacey. “In 2018, I barely even heard it. I was in shock and didn’t know what to do. It was one of those ‘in awe’ moments.

“It still hits you even the second time. It’s just hard to believe that when we were little girls standing on the blue line this was our dream and now we are here.”

As always, the United States figures to be the main roadblock to a gold medal. However, the gap is narrowing with other countries upping their game, as evidenced by Canada’s bronze medal showing at the 2019 world championships behind the U.S. and Finland.

“These rivalry games are what we live for and at the Olympics it is even more amped up when you have worked so long to reach the pinnacle and your goal.”

Staying sharp without game competition since December?

“We’re competing with the best players every day so it helps keep us sharp and living in the moment. We have to push ourselves every day. Right now is a big time to sharpen our tools and tighten up our game and put all the pieces together.”