The Morning Journal will be able to give its readers a first-hand account thanks to Brianne McLaughlin and our sponsor Whispering Pines Family Dentistry. Brianne will be blogging throughout the games at www.MorningJournal.com and her entries will also appear in the printed version of The Morning Journal.
By Morning Journal Staff
It was a stressful week in August for Brianne McLaughlin.
After finding out that she was invited to try out for the U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in June, McLaughlin had her work cut out for her.
Her competitive hockey career had seemingly come to an end just a few months earlier.
“At the end of my season I was kind of hanging up my skates, and at the end of June they sent out an e-mail saying, ‘we’re going to have a tryout at the end of August,’” McLaughlin said.
“So I got back on the ice and back in the weight room.”
Fast forward to August. McLaughlin was taking part in an exhausting tryout week in Blain, Minn. where Team USA would go from five goalies down to three and 40 skaters down to 22.
So when all was said and done and McLaughlin’s name was on the roster, as happy as she was, the best feeling was knowing it was over.
“When they announced my name it was more like a relief. I was excited, but at the same time I was glad I didn’t have to worry about it anymore,” McLaughlin said.
A native of Sheffield Village and Elyria Catholic graduate, McLaughlin found hockey at a young age. Wanting to be like her older brother, Michael, Brianne had the desire to get on the ice as young as age 4.
Hesitant at first, her parents eventually gave in, and her career was born at North Park Recreation Center in Elyria.
“I think I was about 5 when they let me start,” McLaughlin said.
And next Sunday, at 22 years old, McLaughlin’s career will reach a height very few American hockey players — male or female — have enjoyed when she puts on a Team USA jersey.
The way McLaughlin became a goalie was somewhat typical. When she played at beginner’s hockey sessions, anyone could put the pads on and give it a try.
“Whoever wanted to play that day could put the goalie pads on, and it was just me and another kid who always wanted to play, she said. “Eventually he stopped doing it and I got stuck with it every game, so I just started playing goalie.”
It turned out to be a good omen. McLaughlin earned herself a college scholarship and now holds a place in the NCAA record book.
Her career at Robert Morris University helped give the school’s hockey program a great start.
McLaughlin’s freshman year was the team’s inaugural season. By the time she was done, the school was on the map and she held the all-time saves record in Division I women’s hockey with 3,809 saves.
Maybe the banner moment in her career was when as a senior, McLaughlin made 63 saves to help the Colonials beat the University of Minnesota 3-2 to open the 2008-’09 season.
“That’s on a fairly large stage in the WCHA against a high-profile opponent and she really stepped into the foreground and kicked out 63 saves,” said RMU coach Nate Handrahan. “That’s an arena where they’d never lost a home opener before.”
One reason McLaughlin chose RMU was because of all the shots she’d face. Repitition is the father of learning and McLaughlin had plenty of reps.
Another reason she chose the Colonials was that she’d get the starting job. Her other possible choice was Mercyhurst, where she had to compete with another freshman and a sophomore, which meant competing for her spot every season.
So when she visited RMU and they made their pitch, it was an easy choice.
“I really liked it, and they gave me a better deal and the starting position,” McLaughlin said.
She’s humble about her accomplishment, but McLaughlin enjoys having her name in the record books.
“I feel like getting that amount of shots, anyone could have done it, but it was really cool setting an NCAA record,” she said.
When McLaughlin found out she was chosen to the Olympic team she said she only texted five people, but quickly received texts from about 35 people congratulating her.
Needless to say, word traveled fast.
“By the end of the day it was like my whole campus knew, my entire town, and my family,” McLaughlin said.
When her coach received the text, he was ecstatic.
“We were elated. We were very very excited when we found out. Handrahan said.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in Bri, that if given the right opportunity she’ll be able to shine and she did and we’re very happy for her and her family.”
McLaughlin will have several family members including her parents, Briant and Susan, and her brother Michael on hand.
Brianne says her older brother, a three-year letterwinner at EC, had plenty to do with her success, it may just not have seemed like it at the time.
“He never took it easy on me. He was always the kid taking slapshots at my face and stuff like that, she said, laughing.
“It always makes you better playing with people who are stronger and faster than you.”
The support from her family throughout her career also helped keep her going in the best and worst of times.
“They came to so many games. Even in college I could count on my hands how many games they missed,” McLaughlin said. “They were always there.”
McLaughlin and the U.S. Women’s National Team begin their quest to end the Canadians’ reign and take back the gold when they face China on Feb. 14.
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