AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Run — don’t walk — to see the Jocelyne Larocque play this weekend

If you don’t already have tickets to see Richer’s Jocelyne Larocque on the ice with her Ottawa Charge teammates against the Montréal Victoire in PWHL (Professional Women’s Hockey League) action this Sunday, get your tickets fast.

This will be the last chance for Manitobans to say goodbye to a genuine hometown hero.

Despite the fact that Jocelyne has represented Canada with distinction, pride and honour for nearly 20 years, this Sunday’s game might be the first (and last) time to see the pride of Richer live and in person.

Jocelyne is the niece to a well-known hockey player in southeastern Manitoba. Her late uncle Guy played Junior B with the Steinbach Millers and senior hockey with the Ste. Anne Aces in the HTHL. (Full disclosure: Guy was my winger and teammate on the Millers.)

Guy was a marvelous hockey player. He had the goal scoring ability of a Nathan MacKinnon, the toughness and all-around skill of a Sidney Crosby and an uncanny ability to get under the skin of opposing players, like a Brad Marchand.

Tragically, Guy died way too early. If he were around today he would be the president of Jocelyne’s fan club.

With her Ottawa team in town this Sunday, Jocelyne is getting all kinds of media attention. She richly deserves all of it. Much has been written about her four Olympic medals (2 gold, 2 silver), all her medals from the World Championships (4 gold, 5 silver), and her being named the Manitoba Indigenous Female Athlete of the Decade.

It’s a glittering, hugely successful career. Given her longevity – and her importance – to the national team, Larocque will one day be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. She has been a leader and a core member of the national team for a very long time.

As astonishing as her on ice career has been, a strong argument can be made that it’s her perseverance and resilience that elevates her to the stature of a true sporting hero.

Five Olympic cycles ago, Jocelyne was the very last player cut from the national team heading into the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Missing out on playing for her country, in her country must have been devastating. For most athletes, that kind of heartbreak would be the end of their hockey career, as it would be hugely challenging – not to mention a big risk – to continue training and playing in the hope of making the next Olympics four years later, but with no guarantees.

Many athletes would call it a career and say goodbye to the sport they loved.

Not Jocelyne.

She persevered, kept working, kept believing and made the national team four years later and went on to represent Canada at the next four Winter Olympics (Sochi in 2014, PyeongChang in 2018, Beijing in 2022 and Milano Cortina in 2026).

And she wasn’t just “on” the national team. She was a key player; a vitally important member of the team.

With her four Olympic medals, she is the most decorated Indigenous Olympian from North America.

There aren’t enough words in ChatGPT to describe what kind of talent and dedication it takes to be an Olympian in four consecutive Olympic games.

There can be no doubt that she has been – and continues to be – an inspirational role model for young girls across the country who dream of playing professional hockey and one day playing for their country.

As her career winds down, Sunday’s game is a chance for her legions of fans, young and old, to say thank you and express their pride in Jocelyne’s enormous impact on women’s sport in our country.

Canada, Manitoba, Richer, Ste. Anne, the Métis Nation and all of southeastern Manitoba is proud to call Jocelyne Larocque as “one of our own.”

Game time between Jocelyne’s Ottawa Charge and the Montréal Victoire is this Sunday, 6:00 pm at the Canada Life Centre. Tickets are available online at thepwhl.com.