Rideau Hall, Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Welcome all of you to Rideau Hall!

Sharon and I are thrilled that you were able to join us as we celebrate the talented players who will compete here in Ottawa at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, in April. It is also wonderful to have with us today Bob Nicholson, president of Hockey Canada, and two former Team Canada players, Jennifer Botterill and Cheryl Pounder, who both know a thing or two about women’s hockey.

It is an honour for Sharon and me to be patrons of this championship, continuing this office’s connection to women’s hockey, which dates back more than a century. In the late 1800s, Lord Stanley’s daughter, Isobel, became one of the first female hockey players in Canada, starting a great tradition that women across this country have followed.

Lord Stanley—who donated the Stanley Cup—his sons and Isobel were all hockey fans and often skated at Rideau Hall. In fact, they helped form this institution’s first hockey team: the Rideau Hall Rebels.

As many of you know, I am an avid hockey fan, and I have a special place in my heart for women’s hockey.

We have five daughters, and each one grew up with a hockey stick in her hand. Some of my best memories, in fact, are associated with hockey and my daughters—one of them, Sharon, even went on to play for the Harvard team and then captain the Cambridge women’s team as I did with men’s hockey several decades before. So it is quite natural for my wife and me to be surrounded by hockey players!

I’ve said before how much I love the game. It is one of the fastest games on earth, and there is nothing more thrilling than two teams facing off, using teamwork, skill and strategy in tandem.

And, in my opinion, women’s hockey, which has made great strides in the last 25 years, may just be the pinnacle of hockey.

Women play the game as I love to see it played. In fact, the most exciting sports rivalry I have seen in the last 20 years has been between the Canadian national women’s hockey team and the U.S. national women’s team.

I see the talent that has gathered from around the world for this championship and I am excited at the prospect of even more unforgettable plays.

I would like to say a special welcome to the Pee Wee girls’ hockey teams, the Ottawa Ice and Les Extrêmes de l’Outaouais. Perhaps some of you will play in the Women’s World Championship in the future!

It is heartening to see young girls taking an interest in physical activity, and I hope you are all learning from playing this great game. Healthy living and a healthy mind go hand in hand, after all, and there is so much to strengthen both mind and body in hockey!

From the importance of teamwork, to the hard work necessary in each outing, to learning about strategy on the ice, there are so many skills to be gained.

I hope you and everyone in the National Capital Region will watch these games with interest, just as Sharon and I will. As patrons, we are proud to be associated with women’s hockey. As fans, we cannot wait to see the games.

Thank you.