First I'd like to congratulate the players who are here today. I think it's excellent that you've managed to play in a penalty-free game ... keep up the good work!
I'd also like to take the time to acknowledge the people who organize, as well as those who support the Milk Energy Penalty-Free Sweepstakes. I think it shows that you realize the importance of protecting our game, and our players, by keeping the game of hockey fun, fair, and clean for everyone!
I think one of the reasons I was chosen to speak to you today is because I too believe in those values. I rarely get penalties myself. When I was asked to speak to you today, I was curious about just how many penalties I've had over the last little while that I've played in the National Women's Hockey League, so I decided to look up this information. And fortunately, my husband happens to be the statistician, so of course the information was readily available.
So, at the beginning of this week, when I started to prepare my speech, I looked back through the records and discovered that I've had 4 penalties ... that is, a TOTAL of 4 penalties over the last 10 seasons! Which for our league, where there tend to be a lot of penalties, this is almost unheard of!
But ... wouldn't you know it, we had a game on Tuesday night this week, and I can give you all the usual sob stories ... like, it wasn't my fault ... or, the ref shouldn't have called it ... but yes, it's true, I did get another penalty! And it was funny because the first thing I thought of was, "oh no, now I have to rewrite my speech!" :-) But none-the-less, 5 penalties in 10 seasons isn't that bad at all!
What I thought I'd talk to you about today are some of the reasons why I personally don't believe in getting penalties, and why I think we should try to respect the game, and our opponents, by playing clean hockey.
I think there's one main reason why I haven't taken a lot of penalties over the years. And it's actually pretty simple. The reason is that I absolutely love playing hockey, and the way I see it is, every 2 minutes that I spend in the penalty box are 2 less minutes that I could be out on the ice playing! ... so that's been my motivation over the years.
Another big reason to avoid getting penalties is fairness. Penalties exist to make sure that the game is played fairly by all players and by all teams. And for as long as I can remember, I've always been really big on fairness! I'm sure many of you have brothers and sisters who at some point you've had to share something with. When I was a kid, it was always a real treat to get a big bag of potato chips, because we didn't get them very often ... and I was always the one to take control and to try to divide them up evenly ... one for you, one for me... just to make sure that everybody got their fair share! :)
And in hockey, I like things to be fair as well. It's just not fair if you can trip, hook, or otherwise cheat to get the puck. I know for me, there's absolutely nothing more frustrating than when a player on the other team holds my stick with her hand so that I can't do anything ... so I'm definitely glad there are penalties to keep things fair!
And I think that we can feel better about ourselves if we know that we've played cleanly, within the rules of the game. Winning in a sport is never as rewarding if you know you've had to cheat to do it!
But certainly the main reason and probably the most important reason why you should want to play penalty-free hockey is because many of the things that are penalized increase the risk of injury. I think most of us play hockey because it's fun. We like to win, and we'll do what it takes to win, but never at the expense of hurting others. It's important that we don't get into the habit of doing things on the ice that might injure another player. We certainly wouldn't want to get injured ourselves, or we wouldn't want a teammate to get injured, so it goes without say that we shouldn't do something that could injure a player on another team either.
I think as hockey players, we all enjoy winning, so another important reason for not getting penalties is that you can hurt your team's chances of winning, if you get a lot of unnecessary penalties. Let's imagine that there's one minute left in the final game of the playoffs and your team is winning the game by one goal. Now imagine that you get an unnecessary penalty for retaliating, and that the other team scores to tie the game on the power play. And they eventually win the game in overtime. ... Now I know for sure, that I wouldn't want to be the player who got the penalty that led to the tying goal! I wouldn't want to let my teammates down like that.
It's only fair to your teammates to do what it takes to not put your team at a disadvantage. And even if you get a penalty and the other team doesn't score, this doesn't mean that it hasn't hurt your team. Having to kill penalties often tires a team out, and it can change the momentum of the game (in the other team's favour).
My coach for the Mississauga Ice Bears this season, keeps reminding my team
that there are three reasons why teams lose hockey games.
I know there are times when you get angry or upset in a hockey game ... say if the ref misses a call, or if something doesn't go your way ... and a lot of players will retaliate and get penalties. But one thing we can work on instead, is refocusing that energy in more positive ways. Rather than taking your anger out on another player, use it to motivate yourself to work even harder and to play even better. Get more aggressive and determined to score a goal, or to play well defensively! And I can guarantee you, that you'll have a lot more satisfaction than spending two minutes in the penalty box!
This brings up an interesting point. Just because you're playing clean hockey doesn't mean that you can't be aggressive. I pride myself by playing with a lot of determination and aggression, but that doesn't mean that you have to be a dirty player. You can be an intense, tenacious hockey player, while still playing within the rules of the game. ... and that's a lot better than the goon who takes unnecessary penalties and puts his or her team at a disadvantage.
For the young players here who might have dreams of trying out for the National team or playing on another elite team one day, another very good reason for playing disciplined hockey is that it's often something that a coach looks for when choosing a team. ... If a coach has to choose between 2 players who have the same skill level, you can bet that the coach will choose the player who doesn't get as many penalties! Such a player is much more useful to her team than one who spends a lot of time in the penalty box!
Well, I think that about sums up the reasons why I believe that it's really important to play safe, fair, and clean hockey.
And once again, congratulations to the players on your penalty-free game,
and I hope you continue to play clean hockey.
Thank you.
Andria, originally from Peterborough and who now resides in Toronto, has
been an avid player of women's hockey for well over a decade. A
two-time world champion with Team Canada's women's national team, in
1992, where she was 3rd overall in scoring at the World Championship,
and in 1994, Andria continues to play at the elite level, and is
currently the top scorer for the Mississauga Ice Bears of the National
Women's Hockey League.
She attended the University of New Hampshire on an athletic scholarship,
where she played for the Wildcats in the ECAC, and then earned her
Master's degree in computer science at U of T, where she played for the
Varsity Blues in the OUA. Andria has played in the National Women's
Hockey League since 1990, and played one year in Switzerland, where she
was the top scorer in the National League A.
Outside of hockey, Andria teaches computer science at the University of
Toronto and is married to Marc Ouellette, also a computer whiz. She has
established one of the most extensive web sites in the world for women's
hockey (www.whockey.com), which, as she states, "Was as a way to put
something back into a sport that has provided her with so many wonderful
opportunities".
A lover of all sports, Andria has also been active in ball hockey,
soccer, in-line hockey, and softball, winning the Canadian national
championship in ball hockey and the North American championship in
in-line hockey. She was selected as the Amateur Female Athlete of the
Year by the Inline Hockey News in 1997.
Guest Speaker Bio
Hockey Development Centre for Ontario (HDCO)