Cassie Campbell-Pascall owns many milestones in Canadian sport.
As captain of Team Canada, she helped deliver some of the sweetest wins in national hockey history. She extended her fame and leadership when she became the first woman to do colour commentary for Hockey Night in Canada.
Her career in the broadcast booth, like her time on the ice, is a story of big wins earned through hard work and the occasional flash of lumber in the corners as required.
Campbell-Pascall sits down with Anastasia Bucsis on the Player’s Own Voice podcast for a sweeping talk about the good ol’ hockey game, of course, but also about the challenges all women’s team sports face today.
In hockey, as in soccer and rugby, Canadian women are competing at the highest levels in the world — so what are the steps that need to be taken to get their fanbase, their money, their infrastructure and their leagues fully on par with men’s leagues?
The conversation also goes deep into the one topic that is seemingly unavoidable in women’s hockey — the ornery, take-no-prisoners rivalry that fuels Canadian-American tilts. Campbell has a deeply funny, but nuanced take on the grudge. It defined her time in the sport, and she admits it still bugs her badly when Americans win. But 13 years out of the game, she can socialize with her former foes now, but just barely.
In a conversation that all athletes can relate to, Campbell-Pascall shares insights about the delicate business of retiring from sport and finding your way in the long and difficult second act of an athlete’s working life.
Like the CBC Sports’ Player’s Own Voice essay series, POV podcast lets athletes speak to Canadians about issues from a personal perspective. To listen to Cassie Campbell-Pascall, and the earlier guests this season, or to listen to all the athletes from Player’s Own Voice season one, subscribe for free on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Tune In or wherever you get your other podcasts.