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SPORTS Visit insidehalton.com for more coverage OLYMPICS gold It was Jenner's goal that ignited Canada's comeback in the gold- medal game in Sochi, scoring to pull Canada within one with less than five minutes to play. It was also a Jenner goal that tied the game at the world championships to send the gold-medal game into overtime. In the third game of the their six-game pre-Olym­ pic series against U.S. in December, Jenner scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 Canadian victory in front of a pro-U. S. crowd of more than 9,000 in St. Paul, Minn. That was the second of five straight Canadian wins in the series after losing the opener. But just as Jenner isn't about to be comfortable with her standing on the team, she's not willing to suggest Canada's play in the series guarantees any­ thing. "I don't think the out­ come matters. It's more about the process and how the team prepares," Jen­ ner said. "To go 5-1 against them, we're happy about that, but it doesn't mean anything." What matters is how the team performs in Pye- ongchang. That's what Jenner and her teammates have been working toward since winning gold in Sochi. And with the Olympics just weeks away, Jenner is looking forward to help­ ing Canada defend its gold medal. "I'm looking forward to this group performing in front ofthe world," Jenner said. "We have a special group and we're ready to perform on the big stage." And Jenner will be working hard to make an­ other dream come true. Jenner driven to defend Canada's Women's hockey veteran "just as excited to be here" as she readies for second Olympics HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com Brianne Jenner's team had just suffered a 9-0 loss when the coach of the op­ posing team stopped her in the handshake line. Even in a lopsided loss, the coach of the national champion Shuttuck-St. Mary's recognized the 16- year-old centre's ability and took a little extra time to talk to her. "She's the most com­ plete player we've played against in the last two years," Gordon Stafford said after the exhibition game. "I just told her to keep working hard and a lot of her dreams are go­ ing to come true." Ten years later, Jenner is still working hard. Many of her dreams have come true. Olympic gold. World champion. But she's not finished yet. As the Canadian wom­ en's hockey team pre­ pared for the upcoming Olympics, Jenner had no reason to worry. A staple of the Canadian women's hockey team for the last seven years and an alter­ nate captain at last year's world championships, her spot was secure, even if she says you can never be certain. Still, she couldn't help but feel for what her team­ mates were going through that day. "Centralization is a year long. Cuts are a tough day," Jenner said, "but it's part of the pro­ cess." Jenner is as equipped as anyone to understand the range of emotions players go through when they're called into the coach's office that day. Prior to the 2010 Olym­ pics, just 18 at the time, she was one of the final two players cut from the team that went on to win gold in Vancouver. Four years later, Jen­ ner got the good news that she made the team and helped Canada defend the gold in Sochi. "Last time I was the sec­ ond youngest on the team. Fast forward four years and you have a different role on the team, but I'm just as excited to be here," Jenner said. "It's been a different story each time. You try to get that experi­ ence and learn from it." The 26-year-old will brings a wealth of experi­ ence into her second Olympics as Canada tries to win a fifth straight women's hockey gold medal. She's had success at every level. She led Stoney Creek to back-to-back Ontario Women's Hockey Associa­ tion intermediate titles, won gold with Ontario at the Canada Winter Games, led Ontario to two under-18 national titles and captained Canada at the world under-18 cham­ pionships. At Cornell she was a two-time conference play­ er of the year, led the Big Red to two conference ti­ tles and graduated as Cor­ nell's second all-time leading scorer. She's won Olympic and world championship gold and captained the Calgary Inferno to a Clarkson Cup title. "She's such a great Brianne Jenner was named to Canada's Olympic women's hockey team for the second time. Jenner's late goal sparked Canada's comeback in its gold medal victory in Sochi. leader. She's calm and fo­ cused and someone who is so easy to talk to," said Ca­ nadian blueliner Renata Fast, one of nine first-time Olympians on this year's team. "And you can al­ ways count on her in those big moments." Dave Holland | O akville B eaver | Thursday, January 18, 2018 insidehalton.com mailto:hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com SPORTS Visit insidehalton.com for more coverage OLYMPICS gold Jenner driven to defend Canada's