During the early 1990s defenseman Cassie Campbell was the captain of the University of Guelph’s ice hockey squad and took the team to a collegiate championship in 1995. During her time at the school she was also a member of the Canadian women’s national ice hockey team and won her first international gold medal at the 1994 World Championships. After graduating with a degree in sociology she won a second gold medal at the 1997 World Championships in the lead up to her participation at the 1998 Winter Olympics, where women’s ice hockey was being offered officially for the first time. At the tournament she suited up for six matches, scored one goal, and brought home a silver medal. After gold medals at the 1999 and 2000 World Championships she began to broaden her career by joining the professional Calgary Oval X-Treme in 2001 and captaining it until she left in 2005. Along the way she won gold medals at the 2001 and 2003 Canadian National Championships with Team Alberta, the 2001 and 2004 World Championships, and the 2002 Winter Olympics. At the latter tournament she skated in five games and scored two goals. After a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships her next stop was the 2006 Winter Olympics, where she suited up for five matches and took home the final gold medal of her career. She retired from active play after the Olympics, having captained Team Canada since 2001. Soon after she became the first woman to appear as a color commentator on Hockey Night in Canada, one of the nation’s highest-rated programs, and has since done broadcasting work with The Sports Network in addition to working with charities such as the Ronald McDonald House and as a special advisor to Scotiabank. She was inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
Canada