Another crushing blow for local stars
Cancellation of world hockey championship adds to time away for Fortino, Fast, Nurse and others
It was just a week ago an upbeat-sounding Renata Fast was talking excitedly about finally getting back on the ice for some meaningful hockey games.
After the folding of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2019 and COVID-19 destroying last year, the world championship in Nova Scotia starting May 6 was going to be a welcome return to action for the national team star from Burlington.
So, the news Wednesday that the event had been cancelled because of the pandemic was a punch in the gut, a kick in the shins and a slap in the face combined, all while suffering a migraine.
“Devastating,” she wrote in a text.
“Never thought it would have come to this.”
Even though it’s nobody’s fault, the players — including Fast, Hamilton’s Sarah Nurse, Ancaster’s Laura Fortino and Burlington’s Emma Maltais and Kendall Cooper — are clearly victims of a series of events that’s cutting the legs out from under them in the prime of their careers.
While chatting last week, Fast admitted it’s crossed her mind she is being forced onto the sideline right when she should be at her best.
Most say athletes peak at 27. She’s 26. Nurse is 26. Fortino is 30. This is the time they should be playing their best hockey, winning medals, building a career, carving out a legacy and showcasing the game. Yet, all the action they’ve seen for the better part of two years has been in practice arenas with no fans, no TV cameras, no media and no real stakes at play. Not to mention no income other than as carded athletes and some sponsorship dollars.
“How many events and opportunities have been taken away from us?” Fast asked the other day. “It hurts a little bit.”
Here’s guessing the real amount of hurt is more than a little bit.
We often hear about the need to grow women’s hockey. Which is true. A professional league supported by significant investment and decent wages might well spur a surge in participation among young girls.
Which would lead to more fans and more revenues and on and on.
But, to begin that process and convince investors — or even the NHL — it’s a worthwhile place to put money, you need to be seen and to build excitement. Generate some buzz. Attract some numbers. Show it could work for real.
When event after event is cancelled (last year’s worlds were dumped and this year’s event was postponed from earlier) it’s really difficult to build momentum. Impossible, really. How do you attract eyeballs when there’s nothing for them to look at?
Troublingly, things could get worse. The single biggest audience women’s hockey ever gets comes during the Olympics. But there has been chatter about boycotting Beijing due to ongoing human rights abuses in China. Right now, it’s just low-level rumblings.
If that were to happen, the blow would be calamitous. For the game, sure. But also for Fast, Nurse and Fortino, who are now veterans (Maltais is 21 and Cooper is 18 and both were hoping to crack their first senior national team roster). It would mean some would have gone three years with only a handful of competitive games.
Even if those hurdles were overcome and by some miracle a pro league was started down the road and it caught some traction and grew into something sustainable that could earn the players a living, they might be on the wrong side of the career hill to fully take advantage.
“I try not to dwell on it too much,” Fast says.
That’s probably wise. The International Ice Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada say they will be looking to reschedule the world championships, possibly to sometime this summer if it’s safe then. That would be better than nothing, for sure.
But, that just means more weeks and months training and skating and practising every day in obscurity with simply the hope that something might come together. No certainty, though.
You try to remain motivated and engaged when you have no idea if your work is actually for something.
In the meantime, the clock keeps ticking. The pages on the calendar keep flipping. The number of candles on the birthday cake keeps growing.
For Fast, Nurse and Fortino, this is lost time. Time that can never be recovered. Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com