Title/Author:
“The Role I Played:
Canada’s Greatest Olympic Hockey Team” by Sami Jo Small
Tags:
Ice Hockey, memoir,
women, Winter Olympics
Publish date:
September 29, 2020
Length:
260 pages
Rating:
4 ½ of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
Women’s hockey has grown exponentially in the past 25 years,
thanks in no small part to the sport being part of the Winter Olympics in that
time frame. The two most dominant teams during that time have been the United
States and Canada. One player who was
part of the first three Canadian teams, goaltender Sami Jo Small, has written a
memoir sharing her experiences at those three Olympics and brings the reader
inside the life of a hockey player.
The format of the book is not the typical memoir in that
Small will often take the reader back to her youth when a moment during
practice with Team Canada or a break in one of the games at the Olympics will
connect with something that happened during her formative years. One such occurrence
was when she was handling her goalie equipment while on the bench. The next chapter starts when she mentions her
equipment when playing hockey with the boys as a young girl. The transition there is fine but the reading
of the book seems to be interrupted in these parts, especially when the
flashback is done and the narrative returns to the game or practice with Team
Canada. There are also some sentences thrown
into a paragraph that don’t feel like they belong. One example – when talking
about teammate Sari Fisk during a game against Finland, Sari takes a pass from
the defense. The next sentence talks about her young daughter running around
the rink waiting for Mommy to finish practice.
Then in the next sentence Fisk makes a pass to a teammate. How does the sentence about the daughter fit
into a nice hockey play? This was the
only quibble I had with this book that is otherwise filled with great stories.
It should be noted that while Small was a part of the first
three Canadian teams at the Olympics in 1998, 2002, and 2006, she saw playing
time in only 2002 as she was listed as the third goalie the other two times and
therefore was not officially on the roster for playing nor were third goalies
allowed to be on the medal stand should the team win a medal. Canada did win a medal in all three years –
silver in 1998 with a heartbreaking loss to the United States in the gold medal
game, and gold in 2002 and 2006. Despite
the relatively little playing time, Small writes about her time with the
national teams with an upbeat, positive vibe and the reader will learn much
about the inner workings of a hockey locker room and the routines of a backup
goaltender.
Playing with goaltenders such as Kim St. Pierre, Manon
Rheaume and Charlene Lebonte, Small writes with a roller coaster of emotions as
she works hard to compete for playing time against her teammates but at the
same time will support them when they are playing. The two Olympics in which Small doesn’t play
shows the gamut of emotions. As a rookie
with the 1998 team, Small is thrilled to simply be a part of history as the
first women’s Olympic tournament is played.
After seeing playing time and having a gold medal draped around her neck
in 2002, she is devastated to learn that she had to serve as the third
goaltender once again in 2006. Credit should
be given to her for fulfilling that role admirably and being the biggest
cheerleader for Team Canada as they defended their gold medal.
However, this book is not just about Small’s experiences with the Olympic teams. Small played hockey with men in both Canada and at Stanford University where she graduated with an engineering degree. She also played in the women’s professional leagues that were operating in Canada and even helped ensure the survival of one by doing administrative work for one as well after her Olympic career was finished. Small also talks about her personal life in just the right amount of text and emotion. The reader will feel like he or she knows about Small, but without getting too much information to make it feel intrusive.
While many hockey fans will recognize the contributions to
the women’s game by American and Canadian stars such as Cammi Granato, Katie
King, Haley Wickenheiser and Danielle Goyette, the contributions of players
like Sami Jo Small should be recognized as well and this book will bring a lot
of information and enjoyment to hockey fans everywhere.
I wish to thank ECW Press for providing a copy of the book
via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
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