Clark savours golden moment with Team Canada

The outcome of the gold-medal game at the world women’s hockey championship hit the right note for Saskatoon’s Emily Clark.

Clark and Team Canada won the title Monday with a 3-2 overtime victory over the United States in the final in Calgary. It was the Canadians’ first world championship since 2012.

“On my path and my journey, there’s a lot of dreams coming true, whether it’s making the roster for the first time, going to the Olympics (or) anytime you get to wear the jersey,” Clark told The Green Zone with Jamie Nye and Drew Remenda.

“But as a little kid, I also dreamed about singing the anthem at the blue line at the end of the tournament. So to be able to finally get to do that with my team, it was so special.”

And how was Clark’s long-awaited rendition of O Canada?

“I don’t know if my pitch was so good,” she said with a laugh, “but it was just a lot of fun to be able to belt it out loud.”

Clark, 25, first cracked the roster of Canada’s women’s team in 2014. She appeared in her first world championship in 2015 and won silver — the first of three second-place finishes in as many years for the Canadian squad.

On Monday, she and her teammates took the next step up the podium.

“It was a long time coming,” Clark said. “I’ve dreamed about that moment since I was a little kid. It has been since 2019 that we’ve even got another chance at it (because the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19). I didn’t even realize it has been since 2017 that we’ve seen (the Americans) in the final at a world championship.

“It was definitely a long time coming, but worth the wait.”

The Canadians had an agonizing wait Monday to find out if they had won the game.

Marie-Philip Poulin appeared to score the winning goal 7:22 into the first overtime period, but play continued. A video review subsequently determined her shot had crossed the goal line and pandemonium ensued.

“Seeing (Poulin) get that break, in my gut, I had a really good feeling,” Clark said. “I’d put my money on her to put that in.

“Then we think she scores but the play keeps going and she’s coming to the bench and I was actually changing for her. So now I’m on the ice wondering what’s going on and trying to play it out.

“Then we heard the horn go (signalling the goal) and there was a second of confusion. Then realizing we just did this thing and getting to celebrate was super-special.”

But the celebration took a toll on the Canadians. Assistant captain Blayre Turnbull suffered a broken right fibula after landing awkwardly when she jumped into the arms of goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens.

Clark was among those who initially didn’t notice Turnbull’s injury.

“You’re so in the moment,” Clark said. “When that buzzer goes off, you’re just trying to get in the dogpile, rip your helmet off (and) your gloves off and all of a sudden people started to notice that Blayre was along the boards getting some medical attention.

“Our initial reaction obviously (was) we were super-worried about her, but we didn’t want her to miss out on the celebration. We’ve all been waiting for this for so long.”

Turnbull didn’t miss much of the celebration. After getting some treatment, she was wheeled onto the ice on a stretcher to join her teammates on the blue line for the singing of O Canada.

Now, the question becomes: Will that anthem be heard again five months from now in Beijing during the 2022 Winter Olympics?

The win over their rivals from the U.S. on Monday could help the Canadians in China.

“For a lot of years, we’ve struggled just to get over that hump and win that final game,” Clark said. “We’ve definitely been putting in the work. To see the reward for the work getting put in, it’s a lot of confidence for our group, especially (considering) the timing.

“It’s September now and the Olympics are in February, so we’re just going to keep building off that confidence and that momentum going into Beijing.”

Speaking of confidence, Clark’s has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years.

Since joining Team Canada when she was relatively young, she’s now one of the team’s seasoned veterans. She has accepted the fact younger players look to her for leadership, just as they do with the likes of Poulin and Turnbull.

“This tournament was really special for me,” Clark said. “I feel like I’m coming into my own as an athlete. I felt that way the last season we got to play and then I definitely matured a lot over COVID.

“It has been really fun to have a little bit bigger of a role in that sense on the leadership side — and maybe some more ice time as well.”