Legends Making Legends: Natalie Spooner and the Golden History of Women’s Ice Hockey
As the world gets ready for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, one narrative stands out—the legacy of women athletes who are reshaping the future not just through winning, but through mentorship, grit and the essence of sisterhood.
For generations, Canada’s women’s ice hockey programme has exemplified excellence, continuously outputting champions. Since the sport was introduced to the Olympic stage at Nagano in 1998, Canada has reached every final, proudly winning five gold medals. Their greatest rival has always been the United States—except for a memorable win against Sweden in Turin 2006.
And there is something about women’s hockey in Canada that is great beyond medals and rivalries. It has a culture of passing the torch, where lessons are delivered not on the grand stage of an arena, but in the hushed moments of a locker room, from the bench, and from good words that create another star.
Few players illustrate this golden thread better than Natalie Spooner.
Back in 2014, Spooner was a rookie Olympian, stepping onto the ice alongside the very icons she grew up admiring—Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette, and her linemate Hayley Wickenheiser, all four-time Olympic champions. For a young athlete, it was a dream realized, but also an intimidating moment.
She remembers one impactful piece of advice that stuck. At the 2025 IIHF World Championships Spooner talked about how Wickenheiser’s words changed her pathway;
“Go out there and play your game. Don’t worry about anyone else thinks. There could be millions of people watching, but it’s really just us on the ice—believing in ourselves. ”For Spooner, this wisdom became a lifelong compass. “That moment was huge for me—to trust myself, to trust my abilities. I’ve carried that lesson throughout my career,” she said.
Now at 33, Spooner stands on the other side of the legacy. Milano Cortina 2026 is approaching quickly, and she has now become a mentor, supporting younger teammates in the same way she was once supported. The cycle continues—legend-making legend.
Her story is not just a sports story; it is a story of women supporting women. Natalie Spooner shows that through mentorship and belief, with the added ingredient of hard work, victories are not just shown on scoreboards, but in the lives that are inspired and touched along the way.
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