Jennifer Gardiner realized a dream when she got an email from Hockey Canada on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
The Surrey-raised player was told that she’d be hitting the ice with Team Canada during the third and fourth games of the 2023-24 Rivalry Series, set for Dec. 14 and Dec. 16 in Kitchener and Sarnia, Ontario, respectively.
The series with the U.S. squad will mark Gardiner’s first games with Canada’s national women’s team following five years of camps, showcases and exhibitions.
In Ontario, the five-foot-five forward will make her national-team debut along with two other players, Coldstream’s Anne Cherkowski and London’s Nicole Gosling.
Gardiner received the emailed good news while at the rink in Columbus, Ohio, where she’s in her fifth season with the Buckeyes university team.
“It was kind of funny,” she reported. “They always tell us when the invites are coming out for the series and the whole player pool gets an announcement through email, and it either says you have not been selected or you have been selected. I just thought it was gonna be another one of the invites that said, ‘You have not been selected.’ OK, no problem, I’m still on the bubble, you know.
“Then all of a sudden the first word on the email said, ‘Congratulations,’ and I dropped my phone,” Gardiner continued with a laugh. “I just stopped everything I was doing. I was actually on the phone with my mom, just catching up, and I started freaking out. It was just super exciting, I called my coaches right away, and obviously it kind of just felt like a dream come true, a super special moment.”
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These 3️⃣ Buckeyes will play for Hockey Canada in the December #RivalrySeries games!
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) November 29, 2023
Congrats @jenngardiner12, @_sophiejaques + @emmamaltais17!#GoBucks https://t.co/WQJtwWzyaR pic.twitter.com/Z0yHaJZWgN
Surrey's Jenn Gardiner will make her Team Canada debut next month. Congrats @jenngardiner12! https://t.co/Gty1N75btl
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) November 29, 2023
Gardiner, 22, is a Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary graduate and former Greater Vancouver Comets standout.
On Team Canada, she will be sharing a dressing room with Sarah Nurse, Marie-Philip Poulin, Emily Clark and other veteran players.
Posted on hockeycanada.ca, the roster’s three goaltenders, seven defence and 13 forwards were selected by general manager Gina Kingsbury, head coach Troy Ryan and also Cherie Piper, senior manager of player development and scouting.
“This isn’t a world championship or that kind of form, but it’s super special, especially to be on Canadian soil as well,” Gardiner explained. “I’ve heard the games are gonna be pretty full. My parents will be out watching, for sure, and some local teammates and ex-teammates, they wouldn’t miss it.”
Gardiner hopes to play well enough in the Rivalry Series games to get future invitations to play for Team Canada, possibly in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“I’m just going in with an open mind, just happy to be there in general,” she said. “So no matter what my role is, I’m just excited to be part of that group and have the opportunity to wear the maple leaf and just kind of show my stuff.
“I’m not sure what my role is gonna be,” Gardiner added, “but whatever it is, I’m gonna embrace it and do my best at it, for sure. Obviously the end goal would be the Olympics, so this is a stepping stone. I’m happy to get my foot in the door and have a chance.”
In a Hockey Canada news release, GM Kingsbury says the two games with the United States will give Team Canada “another opportunity to evaluate our pool of athletes and continue to build the pieces needed to have success at the World Championship in Utica in April.”
Following the games in Ontario, the cross-border rivals will travel west in February, when the final three games of the Rivalry Series will be in Saskatoon on Feb. 7, Regina on Feb. 9 and St. Paul, Minnesota, on Feb. 11. TSN will broadcast all seven games in the series.
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