{"id":8287,"date":"2017-12-15T14:41:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T19:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=8287"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:03:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:03:36","slug":"hockeyfest","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/hockeyfest\/","title":{"rendered":"HockeyFest on the Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n HockeyFest on the Hill\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

It was a typical Canadian night when groups of eager young girls crowded on to a skating rink right in the centre of it all on Parliament Hill. Parents and bystanders donned fluffy jackets and cozy toques as the snow swirled. The nation\u2019s flag rippled gently above and the light show projected festive patterns on the historic Centre Block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chances are, the scenery didn\u2019t have much of an impact on the girls, who were focused on improving their hockey skills. They zoomed around the ice in groups, carving figure eights into the smooth ice and shooting pucks into the boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ottawa\u2019s annual Girls HockeyFest<\/a> had begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ravens
Several members of the Ravens deliver a pep talk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each year, Scotiabank partners with the Ottawa Senators to offer hockey lessons for girls aged 13 and under. The lessons are led by the women on hockey teams at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, there were a few special surprises in store.  The event took place on the special Canada 150 rink<\/a> and the girls received an inspirational speech from Canadian gold medal Olympian, Cassie Campbell-Pascall.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThis year is unbelievable,\u201d said Pierre Alain, coach of the Carleton women\u2019s Ravens hockey<\/a> team.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe site is absolutely unreal.  It feels great.  It\u2019s once in a lifetime, literally, and I really enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Ravens<\/figure>\n\n\n

HockeyFest Provides a Once in a Lifetime Opportunity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Valerie Bouillon, a member of the team and a third-year student, brought her go-pro to record the evening. She hopes her future children will watch the video.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity to be there.  Not everyone can skate in front of the Parliament,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Bouillon began playing hockey when she was six years old.  She says her lifelong love for the sport taught her to be a good teammate, to keep a disciplined work-ethic, and to improve her leadership skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ravens
Raven Valerie Bouillon skates during HockeyFest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt brings much more than just playing hockey,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I like to tell people, that my hockey is my personality too. It built my personality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the cold sky and bright lights, she was teaching a whole new generation of girls the same lessons she learned.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Ravens<\/figure>\n\n\n

Teaching a New Generation of Girls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bouillon was on the boy\u2019s hockey team until she was 10 years old because there was no girl\u2019s league in her hometown of Victoriaville, Quebec.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cBeing the girl in the team was always like you\u2019re less good than them, so you have to be better than every guy in the team to be respected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Bouillon admits that things are much better now, but that female hockey players still receive the short end of the stick sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe men\u2019s team is more on the spot than the woman\u2019s team,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe way we play is kind of controversial still.  They can fight and everything, but us, we cannot do this<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“(Our games are) fast. It\u2019s really good, but we face the kind of stereotype that we just pull hair and things like that, but that\u2019s definitely not what\u2019s happening.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That\u2019s why events like Girls HockeyFest are important,” said Boullion. “They help empower young women.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ravens
Olympic gold medallist Cassie Campbell-Pascall wears the Captain’s jersey during HockeyFest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Donna Owen, who watched her daughter skate, agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think it\u2019s great that they have the Carleton Ravens women\u2019s hockey team because they\u2019re awesome role models for girls and the speech by Cassie Campbell was really great too. She talked a lot about education, which I think is really important.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten-year-old Stephanie Robinson was certainly inspired.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“You can get new friends and you can experience new things,” she said when asked why she liked the event.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It was a great way for a the hockey players to celebrate as Canada 150 draws to a close.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Ravens<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a typical Canadian night when groups of eager young girls crowded on to a skating rink right in the centre of it all on Parliament Hill. Parents and bystanders donned fluffy jackets and cozy toques as the snow swirled. The nation\u2019s flag rippled gently above and the light show projected festive patterns on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":8315,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[18,28],"cu_story_tag":[1928],"class_list":["post-8287","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-athletics-recreation","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_tag-athletics"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97869,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8287\/revisions\/97869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=8287"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=8287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}