'Building that warrior mindset:' Women's Olympic hockey team trains in N.B

Over the next three weeks, 28 women vying for spots on Canada's Olympic hockey team will train, build and bond in Fredericton.

Known as the national women's team "centralization roster," the players will complete a training camp at the University of New Brunswick from now until June 12.

"This camp is about, honestly, building mental toughness, about building that warrior mindset," said Laura Schuler, the new head coach of the women's team. "It's about taking our bodies and training our mindset to go beyond what we think we're capable of going."

"It's a huge off-ice component," said Schuler, speaking from experience as a member of Canadian hockey team in 1998 in Nagano, where Canada won silver.

"We're going to challenge our team. And when you get them to do things that they might have not thought they could have done, that's when teams come together, and start to trust one another, and start to respect each other."

5 players to be cut eventually

Only 23 players will head to South Korea for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang.

"The purpose of this camp is to kick our Olympic journey off," said Melody Davidson, general manager of the national women's team programs. "A strong focus [is] on our off-ice, so our physiological training, our team-building, all of the things that you don't normally get to work at with your club teams or when we're decentralized."

Davidson said it was time the players spent some time in the Atlantic region.

"We'd been to Charlottetown in 2005, and we've been in B.C. a couple of times," she said. "It's important that we leave a footprint, and we leave a legacy across Canada."

Training days

Over the next few days, players will settle into a routine of different activities on and off the ice. Much of the focus will be on player interactions.

"A normal training day will start with something like a run in the morning, a group warm-up, and then break into groups, and developing different skills," said goalie Shannon Szabados. "And fun activities, like yoga and boxing, stuff like that to keep us going and help us grow as a team."

Haley Irwin, a gold-medal forward on the team at the last two Winter Olympics, said team building will be central.

"We'll start at 7 a.m. and go all the way through until 8 or 9 at night," she said. "We'll know each other even better coming out of this."

And that includes coaching staff.

"This is a critical part of our development," said Schuler. "And I plan on doing it with them."

Girl's game

The growth of women's hockey in recent years is not lost on the team.

"I think for me, even though I grew up in a big city in Edmonton, there wasn't a lot of places for me to play on a girls team," said Szabados. "A lot of us only got to see guys on the TV, and same with hockey camps and summer camps.

"Now you see a lot of our own players run their own camps and it's great to see the female game growing. I'm excited to be a part of it, definitely."

Marie-Philip Poulin, a two-time gold medallist for Canada, said she grew up in a small town, where not many girls played hockey. She's feels lucky to be setting an example now for a younger generation.

"Knowing that those little girls are growing up and wanting to play on that team and knowing that we impact them not only as a hockey player, but as people — I think we're on the right path and lucky to be a part of that."

Even her hometown has a girls team now.

"And it's really fun to be a part of that," said Poulin, who scored the game-winning goals in both her Olympic gold-medal games. "And having that chance to be a part of that growth in women's hockey, it's pretty special, because when we were kids there was no girls hockey on TV. Now you can see the Clarkson Cup and the World Championship and it's pretty exciting to see."

She started feeling confident about women's future in the game when watching the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, she said.

"Knowing that it's grown so much since then, I think it's quite awesome."

Local controversy

The women's Olympic hopefuls have touched down in the capital city while a controversial motion is before Hockey New Brunswick that would prevent girls and boys from playing together.

"If a young girl wants to play, and there is a team in their community, girls or boys, they should be able to play," said Davidson. "I grew up in rural Alberta, and my family comes from rural Alberta, and I know my nieces and nephews at one point, if it wasn't for the girls in the community the boys wouldn't have had a team."

Irving had a similar hockey experience growing up in a small town.

"Everyone just went down to the rec centre and signed up," she said. "Everyone who signed up, that was your roster for the year. So I played with both male and females."