‘Gold in our hearts’
Hometown proud of Stellarton athlete’s role with Canada’s women’s hockey team
There was a lot of disappointment for the players of Canada’s women’s hockey team as they lost the gold-medal game to the arch-rival U.S. on Thursday, 3-2 in a shootout.
But in Stellarton, there was still a lot of pride as many stayed up late to cheer on their hometown girl Blayre Turnbull.
“She’s gold in our hearts for sure,” said Stellarton Mayor Danny MacGillivray. “The entire town is very proud of her efforts. Even though it was not the result she was looking for, we’re still very proud of her.”
He said she will be a role model to other youth.
Turnbull had an assist on Canada’s second goal of the game. Previously she had two assists in Canada’s victory over the Russians.
Blayre’s grandparents Sam and Leona Turnbull stayed up to watch the game and were cheering from home.
“She wanted it badly,” Sam Turnbull said, “but we’re very proud of her. I thought she did great. She played well, I thought, but I didn’t know why (Turnbull and her linemates) weren’t playing in the overtime. And I don’t like this shootout, there aren’t many who are fans of it, especially in an (important) game like that.”
Stellarton’s Jeff Green coached Turnbull when she played at Northumberland Regional High School for parts of her Grade 9 year, before she went to prep school in the U.S. for three years.
He stayed up well past 3 a.m. Wednesday to watch Canada’s attempt to take the gold and saw “every minute of it,” he said.
“The way I look at it, the teams were so close that it isn’t really a loss — somebody had to be declared the winner. It was a fun game to watch, a great brand of hockey.”
Green said he too was surprised that Turnbull didn’t see any ice in overtime, when her speed might have made a difference as Canada struggled to keep up with the quicker Americans during the four-on-four.
But, he added, “I thought Blayre played quite well and did well for herself.”