Watching Canada's national women's hockey team on TV when she was little made Taryn Baumgardt want to join CanSkate in Innisfail. More than a decade later following an impassioned performance at the 2013 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship Dec. 26 - Jan. 5, she was the one returning to town as a Team Canada gold medalist.
ìI was so honoured and excited to be able to represent my country,î she said. ìIt was an unbelievable experience.î
Having been undefeated throughout the tournament, Canada was behind for the majority of the final against the U.S. A goal scored by Catherine Dubois with 13 seconds left turned the tide, and Karly Heffernan banged in the winner 58 seconds into overtime.
ìOur D broke it out of our end, made a nice pass up to Karly, she gained the red line and dumped it in,î she said. ìHannah Bunton skated her heart out, beat them to the puck, battled in the corner and came out with it, and passed it out to Karly.î
As the puck went in the bench erupted.
ìWhen it happened everyone just jumped on the ice,î she said. ìIt was just an unreal moment.î
According to head coach Jim Fetter, Baumgardt's poise under pressure was a key ingredient to Canada's unbeaten record in the tournament, held in Finland, particularly in that championship game.
ìThere was many times where their forwards were putting all kinds of pressure on her in the neutral zone, and she'd just do a little tight turn back and avoid the traffic,î he said. ìShe would just kind of do a tight turn, and head back up the ice and pass the puck.î
After hugs between the girls when they met at the airport, Canada warmed up by beating a boys' team in an exhibition game.
The first official game of the tournament was against Hungary.
ìThey challenged us from early on, and they never gave up,î Baumgardt said. ìWe had to be on top of our game.î
Canada won that match 4-2 and took on the hometown squad next.
ìThere was a lot of Finnish fans there, so it was a pretty big crowd,î she said, but noted the about 50 Canadian supporters mounted a fierce opposition in the stands.
ìAll our parents, family and friends were over there too. It was pretty cool to experience.î
Seeing Taryn on the ice sporting the Maple Leaf was a point of pride for mom Teri Baumgardt.
ìThey all sang O Canada at the top of their lungs and that was pretty amazing to witness live,î she said. ìTo see your daughter hit the ice with the Canadian jersey is pretty awesome, knowing how hard they have worked to get there.î
Canada hammered the Finns 4-0 and faced off against the Germans next.
ìOur team got stronger and stronger in each period and each game,î said the younger Baumgardt. ìWe really started to see the chemistry.î
Following the 7-0 win over Germany, the team did battle with Sweden in the semifinals. Ashleigh Brykaliuk picked up a hat trick on the way to a 7-2 victory.
That set the stage for the final against the U.S.
ìThey came at us pretty hard in the first period,î she said. ìThey're a really, really strong team. They're fast and they move the puck well and they have good goaltending.î
A U.S. goal knocked in by Jennifer Ryan early on put Canada behind. But the girls didn't lose hope, and Baumgardt says the girls will always remember those golden moments that came late in the game to push Canada over the top.
ìWe never gave up,î she said. ìWe had confidence.î
Fetter says now with this win under her belt the real journey begins for Baumgardt.
ìOverall the experience was just a chance of a lifetime,î he said. ìIf this is something she really wants she's going to have to commit to it on and off the ice. It all lies in her hands now.î
"To see your daughter hit the ice with the Canadian jersey is pretty awesome."Teri Baumgardt, mother
