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Sunday, January 13, 2013 - North Shore News - A35
YOUR NORTH SHORE GUIDE to THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
Golden moment for NV’s Miller
Hockey star helps Canada win world U18 title Andy Prest aprest@nsnews.com
NORTH Vancouver’s Hannah Miller remembers calmness in herself and her Canadian teammates in the dying moments of gold medal game of the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship held Jan. 5 in Heinola, Finland.
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It might not be the feeling you’d expect given that the Canadians had just called a timeout and were losing 1-0 to the United States with only 22 seconds left in the third photo Phillip MacCallum/HHOF-IIHF Images period. Miller, however, was still strangely confident. NORTH Vancouver’s Hannah Miller (number 14) battles for the puck as Team Canada takes on the United “It was weird, everyone States in the final of the U18 Women’s World Championship. Canada claimed a thrilling 2-1 victory. was calm about it,” Miller told the North Shore News following the on the ice for the dog pile,” said Miller. tournament. “I wasn’t nervous at all, “I still have some bruises from trying I was like, ‘You know what, we’ve got to get out of the gate.” The world championship medal is an this.’” Sure enough, Quebec City’s early highlight in Miller’s blossoming Catherine Dubois scored with 12.7 young career. She started playing the seconds left to send the Canadian sport at age eight at Ice Sports North bench into a frenzy and the game Shore, following in the skate tracks of into overtime. Now as they gathered her father Jim who played junior A in their dressing room before the and was good enough to earn a tryout overtime period the Canadians had the with the Winnipeg Jets. Miller said her opposite problem — they needed to parents never pushed her to play the sport but her curiosity got the better find that calmness again. “Coach came in and he was like, of her. “One day I just told my dad, take OK, let’s all take some deep breaths,” said Miller. “Everyone was super fired me out to practice,” said Miller. Her up, we had to just take some breaths father obliged and Miller became and calm down and realize the position hooked almost immediately. “I was that we put ourselves into. We were like, ‘Dad, I want to play hockey.’ And he was like, ‘Are you sure? If I go out back in it to win it.” And win it they did, with Karly and buy you all this gear you’ve got to Heffernan of Belleville, Ont. recording stick with it.’ Ever since then I’ve just the winner just 40 seconds into the loved it.” photo Phillip MacCallum/HHOF-IIHF Images Things got more serious last year extra frame. That’s when, finally, the team could finally let it all out. CANADA’S Sarah Steele (left), Hannah Miller and Hanna Bunton “We were all just trying to get out See Late-game page 36 celebrate with their world championship trophy.