NJ miscellany

Julie's nickname is "Chewie"; Weiland's is "Monkey". Cahow said the story of Weiland's nickname will be revealed later.

Cahow told a hilarious story about her first hockey experience. Her mom had her signed up for figure skating as a youth, and one day getting off the ice she noticed college girls with full hockey equipment and pony tails getting preparing to get on the ice. "That's when I knew I wanted to play hockey," said Cahow. She signed up for a house league, only her mom made her play with old skates. "I played a season with a bicycle helmet and figure skates...the only one on the ice with figure skates! ...If I could make it through that season I could survive anything."

During the demonstration on the FHCD gym floor, all the Olympians had sticks and were firing orange street hockey balls at a hockey net. All the girls were wearing sneakers except the tall, striking blonde Gigi Marvin. Her listed height of 5'8" appears quite short of her actual height, and she chose to wear 3" high heels, that had her towering over her teammates, particularly the 5 foot Lawler, there appeared to be at least a foot differential in their height. Not surprisingly, Marvin's one-time slapshots were flying all around the gym, adding to the giddiness of the jet-lagged athletes.

The tiny Lawler, the one-time reluctant hockey player, has no shortage of personality, and is always the most energetic skater on the ice. Fearless, the 5 foot pepperpot has never shied away from a confrontation, and she LOVES to dance! Her teammates almost talked her into her rendition of Beyonce's dance from the music video "single ladies." there is a small sample of the moves from the Quest tour "All-Access" behind the scenes videos. Aboard a ferry out in the Vancouver Islands she had the camera turned on her for a few seconds and started the routine before returning to her role as shooter.
http://www.qwestallaccess.com/qwesttour/qwest-podcast/
USA Hockey P.R. manager Christy Jeffries calls it "a treat to watch". Her teammates seem to love it.

touching down in Jersey!

5 members of this year's Women's Olympic hockey team (presuming they aren't the final cut) dropped by Far Hills Country Day school for a fundraising visit, having just flown in from Finland. You would never have guessed that Erika Lawler, Gigi Marvin, Caitlin Cahow, Kerry Weiland and Julie Chu had just been spanked by Canada 5-1 in the gold medal game of the Four Nations tournament two days ago. They were all smiles while spending over an hour giving hockey demonstrations, talking about themselves and answering questions. They were so jet-lagged and weary from a 20 hour day that they became giddy and acted as if they were on truth serum.

Chu conceded that she was a "nerd" and a "dork," but they were so close as a team that she didn't mind and the team didn't either. Lawler admitted that she wanted out of hockey a few times growing up, and that her Mom had to push her to continue playing and to go to prep school for a year just to give it a try. "You see, hockey gives you these big leg muscles, and a big butt," said Lawler. "I wanted to have thin little legs that everyone looked at...I wanted to be the girl that boys looked at, not the girl that played on the same team." These were the kind of uninhibited comments you would never hear in a typical press conference.

Far Hills and Bernardsville are the richest towns in the richest county (Morris) in the richest state in the richest country. Weiland tried to get across how unusual her background was. "I come from Palmer, Alaska, farming country just north of Anchorage," she explained to the students who were wearing their uniforms of skirts for girls and blue blazers for boys. "I grew up on a farm, now how many of you have ridden a horse?" Nearly half of the students shot their hands toward the gym ceiling, something Weiland did not expect. Most of the Far Hills riders were trained on English saddles for dressage and riding exhibitions, which is not the kind of horse riding Weiland was referring to, but a connection was made.

Far Hills loves their hockey: they play on co-ed teams, practicing a few miles away at a "Hunt club" (think English saddles chasing hounds) on a rink with no roof. It's quite a romantic throwback, as are the women Olympic players--true amateurs who make lots of personal sacrifices to keep playing the game they love. Marvin talked about growing up in Warroad, Minnesota in a hockey family. "I had skates on at one and a half or two," she said, telling everyone how normal that is in northern Minnesota. "I could stand in my back yard and yell, and they can hear me in Canada, that's how close we are to Canada."

Chu spoke about how special it is to play in Canada, and why she is so geeked for playing the Olympics north of the border. "They love hockey so much in Canada, that they fill NHL rinks when we play them. 18,000 people are rooting against us, but they are rooting FOR women's hockey. It's so loud when we play them, but when we score, the place goes silent, you can hear a pin drop. Now that's cool, silencing 18,000 people." The students were in awe.

When asked about being nervous before games, Weiland and Lawler spoke about concentrating on their breathing to help them stay present. Cahow said that if she weren't nervous before a big game it's time to find a new passion. Chu said that nerves were normal, and a good thing before games. "I get more scared picking up a microphone like this, and speaking in public." Now Julie is a forthright person, but I suspect she was fibbing here to make a point. USA Hockey officials and her father Wah think that politics, maybe even presidential politics, is in her future. She was the youngest class-president at the prestigious Choate-Rosemary Hall prep school, and has NEVER been shy in front of a mic.

I pulled Cahow aside and asked her about the recent stretch that has seen Canada take 3 of the last 4 against the U.S. in impressive fashion. "There's a progression going on," she said, making a hand gesture of a line graph moving up. "It's not where you are in November, it's where you are in February."

So, less than 48 hours after a painful loss, followed by a transatlantic flight into prevailing winds, these 5 athletes were anything but glum. Fresh from a lengthy spa session with ample time perfecting hair and makeup, these girls were the brightest and most energetic faces in a school full of amped up bright lights. Fans and hockey insiders who might have expected gloom and doom were swept up in the enthusiasm and positive energy that is the trademark of American women's hockey.

Now if only they could solve Team Canada's latest addition, scoring sensation Megan Agosta from Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania. With four goals in her last four games against the U.S. and speed to burn, she is the X-factor that is tipping the scales in Canada's favor these days. 1998 Olympic gold medal heroine Shelly Looney said that Agosta was easy to root against. "According to others, when she was looking at schools, she made lots of demands, like time on every power play. At least that's what I heard."

Cahow had a fresher outlook. "She (Agosta) has learned to be a team player now that she's playing for Team Canada." Cahow conceded how tough she is to play against. They must neutralize her if they are to win the gold.