VPD's Meghan Agosta to play three-on-three at NHL All-Star Weekend
Credit to Author: Randy Shore| Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 23:54:24 +0000
Vancouver police officer Meghan Agosta will add another personal highlight to an impressive list of sporting achievements when she skates this Friday in the women’s three-on-three tournament at the NHL All-Star Weekend.
“About three weeks ago, I got an email from the NHL, so I clicked on it and did a double-take. So I read it again and I haven’t stopped smiling since,” she recalled.
The three-time Olympic gold medallist is one of 20 women from Canada and the United States hand-picked to play by hockey legends Hayley Wickenheiser, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Cammi Granato and Angela Ruggiero.
“It’s a real honour to be chosen as one of the top (players) for Canada and to showcase what women’s hockey is all about,” said Agosta.
While NHL all-star games can be a little casual on the men’s side, the Canadian women will be facing their arch-rivals from the United States. Agosta’s speed and opportunistic scoring are well-suited to the free-wheeling style of a three-on-three match.
Meghan Agosta with daughter Chance Robillard.
“I think it’s going to be a battle, like it is every time we put on those Canadian jerseys and play the Americans,” she said. “I met some of the Americans in Florida last summer in a friendly way, but when we step on the ice it’s all business.”
At 32, Agosta still believes she has enough gas in the tank for another Olympic tournament, but working as a police officer with three kids to care for, it will be a challenge. She fits in workouts and ice time when and where she can.
“If anybody can juggle all that, it’s me,” she said. “The Vancouver Police Department is going to support me to continue my career in hockey, so I’ll just take it one step at a time. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m still good enough to make a difference.”
Hockey Canada was equally accommodating when Agosta took a leave in 2014 to pursue a career in law enforcement.
“They were 100 per cent supportive when I said I needed to go to the police academy, and I absolutely love what I do, so I wouldn’t change a thing,” she said.
The women will kick off Friday’s skills competition at Enterprise Center in St. Louis with their three-on-three tournament.
Agosta will be joined by Canadian forwards Marie-Philip Poulin, Melodie Daoust, Rebecca Johnston, Blayre Turnbull, Sarah Nurse and Natalie Spooner, along with defenders Renata Fast and Laura Fortino, as well as goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens. Jayna Hefford — head of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association — will coach the Canadian side.
“It’s great that the NHL has stepped up to grow the women’s game,” said Agosta. “It might not be in my lifetime that women get paid to play hockey, but I want to leave a legacy behind for my baby girl, Chance. If I can inspire the younger generation to do something special in their lives, and if they do, my job is done.”
One woman from each of the Canadian and American teams will also go head-to-head against NHL players in a shooting drill. The NHL’s Twitter account is asking fans to vote for the women who will face the men in the Shooting Stars challenge.
The American team includes Kendall Coyne Schofield and Brianna Decker, who generated buzz at the 2019 skills competition.
Coyne Schofield, the first woman to test herself against NHL players in a skills event, laid down a competitive time in the speed lap last year. Her circuit of Anaheim’s Honda Center has 1.8 million views on YouTube.
A social media campaign also erupted for Decker to be paid winner’s prize money, with the argument she was faster demonstrating the passing drill than the men who were competing in it.
“After what happened last year, most of the headlines were about the women being there, about Kendall and Brianna breaking a lot of barriers,” Canadian forward Sarah Nurse said.
“I think a lot of us would have been surprised if they didn’t include any women this year,” she said. “When we got told about the three-on-three event they were planning on having, we were so excited. It’s not just a couple of us going to hang out with the guys during skills, but it’s going to be us being able to put on a show.”
— with file from Canadian Press