Ted Barris

On Aug. 31, I joined my daughter for an event to remember. Canada’s women’s hockey team faced its arch rival – the Americans – in a three-on-three overtime period in Calgary for the International Ice Hockey Federation world championship. Just over seven minutes into sudden death, team captain Marie-Philip Poulin broke in on the U.S. goal and put a wrist shot off the crossbar down into the net for the victory. The Toronto Star interviewed former Leafs goalie coach Steve McKichan after the game.

“That’s the Hall of Fame bardown shot in women’s hockey,” and he went on to say in the history of greatest Canadian hockey goals, “it was top-five.”

I’m old enough to remember seeing the Toronto Star’s photo of Bill Barilko’s Stanley Cup winning goal in April 1951 … watched from the basement of a University of Saskatchewan AV building as Paul Henderson scored the game winner in Moscow to win the 1972 Canada-Soviet Summit Hockey Series … and actually covered (for CBC Radio) Wayne Gretzky’s 50th goal in 39 games at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton in 1981. All great goals. But McKickan’s right – Poulin’s goal is up there.

Her stellar play in that series – through injury and criticism – to then come back in sudden death overtime to score the winner, has put an exclamation point on a summer like no other. Because they have excelled, stood out and stood up, over the past few months, women have led the way in just about every endeavour, in sport and otherwise. It’s been the summer for women.

It began with the incredible performances by Canadian women at the Tokyo Olympics. Of course, swimmers Penny Oleksiak and Maggie MacNeil led the way at the pool, while Maude Charron’s weightlifting gold brought perhaps the most genuine tears of joy.

I’ll personally remember for a long time the women’s eight rowing crew winning Olympic gold (the first time in 29 years) and coxswain Kristen Kit climbing all over her teammates to hug them in victory.

As important, among Canada’s Tokyo Olympic wins, I think, were the victories registered by Canadian Olympians Kim Gaucher and Mandy Bujold.

Gaucher, on the national basketball team, was originally told safety protocols meant she couldn’t bring her infant daughter with her to Tokyo. She claimed the International Olympic Committee was forcing her to choose between “being a breastfeeding mom and an Olympic athlete.” The IOC reversed its decision.

And Bujold won her appeal to the court of arbitration for sport to box for Canada. The court ruled that the IOC had to accommodate women, such as flyweight boxer Bujold, who were pregnant or postpartum during the qualifying period.

“What a rightful decision,” said Roy Halpin with Boxing Canada, “for all … female athletes.”

Away from athletics, American women have suddenly faced challenges to what some feel are their rights to abortions in Texas; they’ve demonstrated daily – in the face of violent taunts and threats – against new anti-abortion laws overturning the 1973 ruling legalizing abortion (Roe v Wade), calling them “sex discrimination at its worst.”

And in the wake of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, women in Kabul bravely took to the streets to demand the new hardline regime maintain the gains women have made in education, governance and expression in their country over the past 20 years.

I notice too that Amanda Gorman, the young poet who recited her iconic piece The Hill We Climb at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, has also stepped up. After turning down a reported $17 million in promotional opportunities, she has become the face for Estée Lauder to promote literacy among girls and women, and to campaign for equity and social change for oppressed women. Next week, she co-hosts the gala fundraiser at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. “I realize this is my moment to tell the world what it needs to get done,” she told the New York Times.

I believe Canada’s world hockey championship victory last Tuesday, is among those “Where were you when…?” moments. When Marie-Philip Poulin took that pass from Brianne Jenner at centre ice in Calgary, and rifled the puck into the pigeon-hole-sized top right-hand corner for the victory, I was seated next to my adult daughter, watching the game on TV. We both love hockey – watching and playing it. We both were elated by the win.

My daughter told me afterward she’s going to start calling the NHL, “the Men’s National Hockey League,” because the world insists on calling the game Poulin and her teammates play, “Women’s World Hockey.”

Someday in the future as a journalist I hope I won’t have to write a column celebrating women’s achievements. I hope, on that day, I can just acknowledge their achievements for what they are (without a gender qualifier) as greatness!