Two kids, knee surgery, and determination all contributed to Meaghan Mikkelson's journey to her ancestral home for the Women's Worlds.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
Meaghan Mikkelson was in the middle of a great hockey career until one day everything changed. On 29 May 2021, playing for the PWHPA in a Dream Gap Tour game in Calgary, she collided with Renata Fast and suffered significant ligament damage. Two weeks later, she underwent surgery, and 15 weeks later she was back on skates.
She had had two children during her Team Canada career, and came back strong and healthy both times. Her son, Calder, was born in 2015, and daughter Berkley in 2018, after the Olympics. But this injury was way different. This required months of rehab with no guarantees.
As it turned out, she didn’t have enough time to prove herself at the centralization camp for the Beijing Olympics, and she was released. Mikkelson turned her attention to the TV studio, working along retired goalie Shannon Szabados and host Kate Beirness for CBC. She didn’t mope around and wallow in self-pity because she knew the knee wasn’t ready. And she knew she'd be back.
“At that point, when I was released from the team, I knew that I still had probably six months of rehab left to do,” Mikkelson said after Thursday’s 4-1 opening-game win over Finland, a game in which she scored a goal for the first time in six years. “I was just focused on that and really enjoying the opportunity to be able to tell the story of our team at the Olympics. I think it was so important for Canada to hear what a special group that was. That was my focus. But as I continued to go through rehab, I realized how much I missed playing the game and being around my teammates. For me, having been around the team last year, and being close to some of the players, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of.”
Looking back, had she never played again, her place in Team Canada history would have been well established. Her father, Bill, played in the NHL, and she started in IIHF competition in 2008. She played in the next seven top events, winning Olympic gold in 2010 and ’14 and Women’s World gold in 2012. After missing 2015 because of Calder’s birth, she returned for the 2016-18 era and then took another pause for Berkley.
But once the Olympics were over, and she watched her friends and teammates reclaim gold, she knew she wanted back in. Coach Troy Ryan was only too happy to welcome her to camp for the 2022 WW, and she was ready to go all out to prove she still had it. She was 37, a mother of two, and the owner of a surgically-repaired knee, but she was up for the challenge.
“For me to be at my best, I need to focus on my play and not the things out of your control, like how others are performing,” she recalled of training camp. “I was focused on taking it one day at a time and doing everything that I could to contribute to the tryout team that I was on. And I think that was a success, and it helped my performance and my teammates’ performance. If it was going to be my last camp, I knew that I wanted to play my absolute best, and I think I did.”
But there was further motivation. Mikkelson had discovered some years ago that her father's side of the family came from Denmark, and for her to play in her ancestral land was an alluring double benefit.
She tweeted: “Random facts. Pretty cool getting to play a World Champs in Denmark. This is where the “Mikkelson” side of my family originates. Originally spelled “Mikkelsen”, the family went to Manitoba in late 1800s. We will be in Herning, an hour from where the original Mikkelsen’s lived.”
She had had two children during her Team Canada career, and came back strong and healthy both times. Her son, Calder, was born in 2015, and daughter Berkley in 2018, after the Olympics. But this injury was way different. This required months of rehab with no guarantees.
As it turned out, she didn’t have enough time to prove herself at the centralization camp for the Beijing Olympics, and she was released. Mikkelson turned her attention to the TV studio, working along retired goalie Shannon Szabados and host Kate Beirness for CBC. She didn’t mope around and wallow in self-pity because she knew the knee wasn’t ready. And she knew she'd be back.
“At that point, when I was released from the team, I knew that I still had probably six months of rehab left to do,” Mikkelson said after Thursday’s 4-1 opening-game win over Finland, a game in which she scored a goal for the first time in six years. “I was just focused on that and really enjoying the opportunity to be able to tell the story of our team at the Olympics. I think it was so important for Canada to hear what a special group that was. That was my focus. But as I continued to go through rehab, I realized how much I missed playing the game and being around my teammates. For me, having been around the team last year, and being close to some of the players, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of.”
Looking back, had she never played again, her place in Team Canada history would have been well established. Her father, Bill, played in the NHL, and she started in IIHF competition in 2008. She played in the next seven top events, winning Olympic gold in 2010 and ’14 and Women’s World gold in 2012. After missing 2015 because of Calder’s birth, she returned for the 2016-18 era and then took another pause for Berkley.
But once the Olympics were over, and she watched her friends and teammates reclaim gold, she knew she wanted back in. Coach Troy Ryan was only too happy to welcome her to camp for the 2022 WW, and she was ready to go all out to prove she still had it. She was 37, a mother of two, and the owner of a surgically-repaired knee, but she was up for the challenge.
“For me to be at my best, I need to focus on my play and not the things out of your control, like how others are performing,” she recalled of training camp. “I was focused on taking it one day at a time and doing everything that I could to contribute to the tryout team that I was on. And I think that was a success, and it helped my performance and my teammates’ performance. If it was going to be my last camp, I knew that I wanted to play my absolute best, and I think I did.”
But there was further motivation. Mikkelson had discovered some years ago that her father's side of the family came from Denmark, and for her to play in her ancestral land was an alluring double benefit.
She tweeted: “Random facts. Pretty cool getting to play a World Champs in Denmark. This is where the “Mikkelson” side of my family originates. Originally spelled “Mikkelsen”, the family went to Manitoba in late 1800s. We will be in Herning, an hour from where the original Mikkelsen’s lived.”
Asked for more information, she happily obliged. “I’ve known for quite a while. We almost named my son Calder Mikkel after a first-generation Mikkelsen that was born in Denmark, just an hour from Herning. My dad gave me the full rundown of the family tree knowing that I was coming here and the Worlds would be in Denmark. It’s a little bit special, obviously, knowing that my dad’s family is from so close to here. There are probably some Mikkelsens still in the area. It was my great-grandfather who was from here. My dad has the full printout of the family tree. It’s neat to see, and I think it’s important to know where you come from.”
Mikkelson’s double return became even more special when she scored Canada’s third goal against the Finns, her first red-light shot since the 2018 Olympics, knocking in the rebound of an Ella Shelton shot.
“If you look at players as they get older, if you want to stick around, you have to evolve,” she said, offering a stream of consciousness explanation of the goal's importance. “The game is changing so quickly, and you have to change with it. I used to be a forward. I used to get a lot of points, but I think I focused so much on becoming a shut-down, penalty-kill specialist that I kind of lost that part of my game. The coaching staff here is really encouraging. Five-on-five, they want you to be involved in the play and active and jumping in, so I know that’s a skillset that I do have, so I’m just trying to bring more of that now.”
In other words, yes, it was my first goal in a long time, but it won’t be my last.
Ever the competitor, Mikkelson’s attitude and play more than makes up for her knee issues. And reviving her career in Denmark makes every game all the more special, whether she’s a Mikkelsen or Mikkelson.
Mikkelson’s double return became even more special when she scored Canada’s third goal against the Finns, her first red-light shot since the 2018 Olympics, knocking in the rebound of an Ella Shelton shot.
“If you look at players as they get older, if you want to stick around, you have to evolve,” she said, offering a stream of consciousness explanation of the goal's importance. “The game is changing so quickly, and you have to change with it. I used to be a forward. I used to get a lot of points, but I think I focused so much on becoming a shut-down, penalty-kill specialist that I kind of lost that part of my game. The coaching staff here is really encouraging. Five-on-five, they want you to be involved in the play and active and jumping in, so I know that’s a skillset that I do have, so I’m just trying to bring more of that now.”
In other words, yes, it was my first goal in a long time, but it won’t be my last.
Ever the competitor, Mikkelson’s attitude and play more than makes up for her knee issues. And reviving her career in Denmark makes every game all the more special, whether she’s a Mikkelsen or Mikkelson.