Danielle GOYETTE

Ice hockey forward Danielle Goyette dabbled in the sport for many years in her youth but, as women’s hockey was all but non-existent in her hometown, she directed her athletic talents towards tennis and fastball at first and found success in both. By 1991, however, she had chosen ice hockey and joined the Canadian women’s national squad, winning gold medals at the 1992 and 1994 World Championships, but suffering from a lack of fluency in English. By the time she won gold at the 1997 World Championships, however, she had moved to Calgary and perfected her English, which helped her earn a spot with the delegation that was sent to the 1998 Winter Olympics. At the tournament she scored eight goals in six games, emerging as the nation’s top goal scorer, and took home a silver medal. From then on hers was a story of almost constant success, with gold medals at the 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2007 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2005 edition. At the 2002 Winter Olympic ice hockey tournament she scored three goals in five games and won a gold medal. Her achievements with the national team earned her the honour of being Canada’s flagbearer at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where she brought back another Olympic gold medal with four goals in five matches. She retired from Team Canada in January 2008 to focus on her job as head coach of the women’s ice hockey team at the University of Calgary, which she had begun in 2007. At nearly 42, she was the squad’s oldest member and had suffered 24 shoulder dislocations during her career.