NEW MOM BACK ON ICE
Ouellette rejoins Canadiennes
Caroline Ouellette said she felt a bit tired, but that was to expected as she played her first hockey games since her Canadiennes won the Clarkson Cup last spring.
Ouellette was pregnant at the time and she and her partner, Concordia University women’s hockey coach Julie Chu, welcomed Liv Chu-Ouellette on Nov. 5.
Ouellette described the birth as one of the happiest moments of her life and she was beaming Sunday as she cuddled her daughter after Les Canadiennes crushed the Vanke Rays 14-0 at Michel-Normandin Arena. That gave Les Canadiennes back-to-back wins over the China-based team, with a third game scheduled for Tuesday evening.
“I missed the game and it’s great to see all my friends,” Ouellette said. “I think they’re a better team than the score showed.”
While she hasn’t been playing, Ouellette was never far from the game. She did some work with the national team, ran her summer camps for girls and served as Chu’s assistant with the resurgent Concordia program until a month before her due date.
She resumed skating at the end of December.
“I got the okay from the doctor and I felt good,” said Ouellette, who picked up an assist in each of the weekend games. “I still have a lot of work to do. It’s a very intense sport and I get tired quicker. I’ll need four, five, six games to get back to where I want to be.
“I feel like one second behind but it’s going to come back with more practices and more games.”
Ouellette said she received advice from Meaghan Mikkelson, a former Olympic teammate who played in the world championships six months after giving birth.
“That was more difficult because she was playing for the national team at the highest level.”
Those days are over for Ouellette and Chu, who were on opposite sides of the fiercest rivalry in women’s hockey.
Ouellette was part of four gold medal-winning teams for Canada at the Winter Olympics since 2002, including as captain for Sochi in 2014. Chu was at the same four Olympics as one of the leaders of the U.S. team and won three silver medals and one bronze.
In addition to being a married couple, they share a work relationship at Concordia, where they guided the Stingers to their first CIS Championship appearance in 10 years last spring.
“Julie’s not here today because they’re playing in Ottawa this afternoon, but I don’t know how they did,” said Ouellette.
Spoiler alert: The Stingers lost 5-3 to the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
Former Boston University star Sarah Lefort led the rout with five goals while McGill alumna Katia Clement-Heydra scored four. Karell Emard scored twice and Emerance Maschmeyer made 16 saves for the shutout.
Vanke Rays coach Rob Morgan was grasping at straws as he switched his goalies three times.
On Saturday, Ouellette picked up an assist in her first game back as Les Canadiennes ran up a 7-0 lead against the Rays and coasted to a 7-3 victory. Clement-Heydra led the local side with a pair of goals.