A run for the records
Agosta doesn’t care if she breaks Olympic goal mark, as long as that fourth gold medal arrives
GANGNEUNG — She is perhaps being too humble or maybe just speaking in the veteran voice of the ultimate teammate, but Meghan Agosta is single-minded in her approach to her fourth Olympic Games.
Win gold at all costs is the mantra of each of the 23 players on the Canadian women’s hockey team and Agosta vows all personal accomplishments that go with it are secondary.
But if the talented forward reaches that primary goal at the end of the tournament that begins for the four-time defending champs with a Sunday evening meeting against the Olympic Athletes of Russia, Agosta could leave here in legendary company.
A gold-medal winner at Turin in 2006, Vancouver in
’10 and Sochi in ’14, she’s one golden moment away from matching the four collected by Canadian hockey legends Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford and Caroline Ouellette.
And if she continues to produce offensively over the five games it would take to capture another title,
Agosta could also surpass Wickenheiser as the leading goal-scorer in women’s Olympic hockey history.
“I don’t even know what her record is,” said Agosta, who has 15 goals in her three previous Games, four shy of Wickenheiser’s record of 19. “I’ve never thought about that. At the end of the day it’s a team game and I just want to win.”
Agosta certainly has the tools to produce offensively but it’s not as if the team is banking on her to fill the net to be successful. This version of the Canadian squad was designed to have balanced scoring throughout its 12-player forward group and the coaching staff feels confident that is the case.
“Honestly, I expect (offence) from all four of our lines,” Canadian coach Laura Schuler said after putting her team through a brisk Saturday evening workout. “I think that’s been consistent all throughout the year where we’ve seen all four of our lines scoring. That’s ultimately what we want from all of our players, everybody producing.”
That she’s back for a fourth consecutive Olympics puts the 30-year-old Agosta amongst the accomplished stars before her, although it required some personal sacrifice for the latest tour of hockey duty.
After winning gold in Sochi, she decided to pursue a career as a police officer which has landed her with the Vancouver Police Department. Agosta is on leave now and previously had to take a break from Team Canada before returning with the intent of finishing her hockey career in style.
“It’s an honour every time I put on this jersey and it’s an honour every time I put on my police uniform,” Agosta said. “I’ve very proud to say I’m part of the Vancouver police force, but I’m also very proud to be here with 23 amazing athletes representing our country and playing the game we love.”
While many of her teammates spent time with either NCAA teams or women’s pro teams over the past four years, Agosta didn’t have such an option. She got on the ice whenever she could in Vancouver to stay sharp before joining the Canadian team full-time in August.
“Working hard on and off the ice every day has been very challenging,” Agosta said.
“But I was up for that challenge. I wouldn’t change my decision for anything for starting my career and still playing this game.”
The pursuit of Wickenheiser’s women’s record isn’t on her radar, but Agosta acknowledges that come crunch time she’s ready to handle the burden of her team needing a big goal.
“I’m the type of person that I guess plays well under pressure,” said Agosta, who has had three hat tricks in Olympic play and had nine goals overall in the 2010 Vancouver Games. “You can look at that with the type of career that I have. I love being under pressure and that’s something I thrive under.
“But I don’t think about: ‘Oh my God, I need to score goals.’ We have a lot of depth on this team … anybody could get the job done on any day and I think that’s what makes our team special.”
If Agosta is at the top of those contributors, she’ll move into elite territory among the greats in her game.
“Hayley is an unbelievable person and a trailblazer for Team Canada,” Agosta said of matching the scoring record. “I mean, it would be an honour, but again I’m not really thinking about anything like that I just want to be successful as a team. If it happens again, it happens and that would be awesome.
“If not, I just want to win and that’s the mindset we have going into this tournament.”