Hard work pays off in gold-medal win

Atwood Observer Staff

AT JUST 16-YEARS-OLD, CAITLIN KRAEMER is already making a name for herself in the hockey world. She not only led Canada’s gold medal winning team at this month’s women’s world U18 championship in Sweden with 11 points, she also broke the Canadian record for goals at the tournament with 10. This bettered the previous record of eight held by women’s hockey legend Marie-Philip Poulin.

“It’s so crazy, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches. They’re the sole reason that happened. They’re so skilled, anyone could have done it. It just happened to be me this time,” Kraemer said

“It’s a pretty incredible accomplishment, she should be so proud. Her hard work and determination has really paid off and will continue to pay off. She was very humble about her accomplishment, that’s for sure,” said Canada’s head coach at the tournament, Courtney Birchard-Kessel.

Coming from Elmira roots, Kraemer is currently a member of the KW Rangers U22 team, where she is coached by Chad Campbell, who says her success was not surprising.

“We see it all the time. We see what she does in games; we see the hard work she puts in. I think playing in the U22 elite level, she just took her game to the next level. Her desire and her willingness to improve and take her game to that level. It was amazing to watch,” Campbell said.

“A lot of coaches say ‘play like you practice,’ while she plays like she practices. She practices hard every practice. She’s 100 per cent all the time. She never stands still in practice...she’s always trying to better herself as a player. She works just as hard off the ice. She’s always building her stamina. She’s working on her conditioning off the ice.”

Birchard-Kessel saw Kreamer’s confidence and determination throughout the tournament.

“Caitlin is a 200-foot

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ANSWER: While your mom may have warned you that going outside case and three game series against the United States last August, followed by the phone call in December letting her know she had made the team. player; she is very strong and is a threat every time she is on the ice. At such a young age, she is very powerful and strong. She is always willing to battle and is very creative around the net” she said.

“It was a big weight lifted off your shoulders because it was pretty stressful leading up to that, but to get the call was very relieving,” she explained.

As a whole, Team Canada set the record for best goal differential, with a total of 28 goals for and 3 against. The team’s closest game was the semi-final where they defeated Finland 3-2 in overtime.

Kraemer also set the record for fastest hat trick in tournament history with her four-goal perfor- mance in the gold medal game which saw Canada defeat Sweden 10-0. She was also named to the media selected all-star team and was chosen as one of Canada’s best three players by her coaches.

Kraemer explained the lengthy process it took to make the team, starting with the summer show-