nwu18t japan gala feature

The humble warriors

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team found golden inspiration in Japanese warrior culture

Quinton Amundson
|
June 17, 2019
|

Howie Draper and his staff went online to formulate a group identity that would drive Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team to gold at the 2019 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.

Ideally, the team-building notion would connect to Japanese culture, with the northern city of Obihiro hosting the eight-nation competition.

They found their answer by uncovering information about the Onna-bugeisha, a type of Japanese female warrior who fought on the battlefield alongside samurai men during times of utmost need.

These fighters gained reverence for exhibiting honour, loyalty, generosity, resilience and humility as they defended family and honour itself.

“We picked out this digital image of an Onna-bugeisha warrior and decided she would be the one who would lead us into battle in Japan,” says Draper, the Canadian head coach.

Each of the players was asked to exemplify the Onna-bugeisha.

“We had to embody the traits of a humble warrior,” says captain Maggie MacEachern. “Those traits include respect, honesty, optimism and fearlessness. Each day we picked a new word, and we would strive to follow that [value] to the best of our ability.”

A close-knit vibe, coupled with winning two of three games in a summer series against the United States, provided evidence Team Canada was positioned to succeed in Japan.

The Canadian squad received another signal glory was on the horizon when they met with the kannushi (priest) of the Tarumaesan Shrine – Tarumaesan means “power spot” in Japanese – they visited to complete Hatsumōde, a Japanese New Year custom of wishing for health, happiness and success.

“He came to us and had some dancers perform a well-wishing kind of dance for us,” says Draper. “He blessed us, and at the end of his speech, he said, ‘You will win.’

Team Canada made the kannushi’s prediction come true. However, achieving ultimate victory on the frozen battlefield was not going to be an easy feat.

Just as the Onna-bugeisha warriors sharpened their naginata blade to prepare for battle, the Canadians honed their readiness for the playoff round with a pair of one-goal contests to open the tournament. After winning 2-1 over Sweden, Canada was dealt a 3-2 loss by the U.S.

“The feeling of tasting failure is something that you need to help formulate a plan to get better and hopefully in the future succeed,” says Draper.

Canada’s lone comfortable win was a 5-1 decision over Russia to close out the preliminary round, but the rematch against the Russians in the semifinal was more difficult – the combatants dueled to a 3-3 tie through 60 minutes.

MacEachern admitted she “was pretty nervous” heading into overtime. She was one of four returnees – along with Alexie Guay, Julia Gosling and Grace Shirley – who had their dreams of gold at the 2018 worlds dashed with a 4-3 loss to the Americans in the semifinals.

“I carried that with me,” she says. “Whenever I was down on the bench, I thought, ‘This is our chance. If I am going to change the result from last year, it starts now.’”

The grit of MacEachern and the other veterans permeated to the first-year members of the team.

“Once we got down to the medal games you can see our leaders stepped up,” says Maddi Wheeler. “They wanted that extra fight, and I think that helped younger players like myself want to be as good as them.”

Danielle Serdachny provided the heroics in the semis, scoring 44 seconds into overtime to earn the Canadians a berth in the gold medal game.

Canada displayed the tenacity of the Onna-bugeisha again in the final; down by a goal entering the third period, Anne Cherkowski tied the game at 2-2 with less than nine minutes to go to force an extra period.

“It was a group that for whatever reason had that resolve to succeed,” says Draper. “When you have a group of athletes like that, good things tend to happen.”

And they did. Just 1:34 into the extra frame, with Canada on a power play, Wheeler shovelled in her own rebound after a determined drive down the right wing, putting the Canadians back atop the podium for the first time since 2014.

“I just remember I saw the puck go in and I threw my gloves, and I hugged Alexie Guay and then everyone piled on in a great big dog pile,” says Wheeler. “It was amazing.”

MacEachern ran the gamut of emotions in the gold medal game.

“It was nerve-wracking between the third period and overtime. I don’t think I have been so nervous about playing. Then there was that feeling of euphoria when Maddi Wheeler put in the puck. We’re all celebrating, and I don’t even know what happened. But we’re all out there, and we’re screaming. It was so cool.”

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

[email protected] 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

[email protected]

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

[email protected]

Recent News
Most Popular
Videos
Photos
HCC: One For All in Yellowknife
One For All celebrated women’s hockey with more than 300 participants.
2024 NWT Rivalry Series: CAN 6 – USA 1 (Game 7)
Spooner and Maltais scored twice to lead Canada to win the series.
2023-24 NWT: CAN 3 – USA 0 (Game 6)
Maschmeyer made 27 saves for the shutout to tie the Rivalry Series.
2023-24 NWT: CAN 4 – USA 2 (Game 5)
Bell, Fast and Stacey scored late to help Canada stay alive.
Schedule