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Fort McMurray's Lindsey Janes on gold medal victory with MRU Cougars

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Fort McMurray’s Lindsey Janes is still beaming after the Mount Royal Cougars were crowned U Sports National Champions in Montreal.

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The Calgary university’s team, of which Janes is a forward for, defeated the Concordia Stingers in a 4-3 overtime game on Sunday. As the 8-seed, the Mount Royal Cougars ended their run to claim the schools first women’s hockey national championship.

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“I haven’t stopped thinking about it and I think I speak for the rest of my teammates when I say they probably haven’t stopped thinking about it,” said Janes in an interview.

“We went into it this year wanting to take it step by step and being in the moment. Last year we were expected to be the favourite to win and we lost in our conference semi-final. We went into it with a different mindset this year.”

Janes played in Fort McMurray until Grade 10. With few local hockey opportunities for girls beyond that age group, Janes moved to Saskatchewan to play for the Notre Dame Hounds. After high school she moved to Calgary to attend MRU, where she is majoring in marketing in the business administration program.

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“This is definitely the biggest highlight for me for sure. One that definitely comes close is when I won gold at the Canada Winter Games in 2019 with Team Alberta. That was a super big moment for me,” she said.

“What separates this win is just the fact that I’ve been with these girls for an entire season. We’ve worked day in and day out to get to where we are. It just means so much more that all the blood, sweat and tears ended up paying off in the end.”

Janes felt her toughest opponent was the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbirds. MRU played them in the conference final and the Thunderbirds would go on to win bronze nationally.

The Concordia Stingers were a phenomenal team, said Janes. When the game went into overtime, Janes said there were a few people who believed MRU would lose.

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But Janes feels the team’s strengths were found in the team’s collegial spirit. Everyone on the team works well together and are friends. There were also eight athletes who are graduating who brought plenty of experience to the team.

“We were a very connected group. We were very, very close. Not only are we teammates, we’re also great friends,” said Janes. “It’s really easy to work your butt off when you’re doing it for the people you love. We just had a great group for sure.”

Janes has two more years she can play with MRU and plans to keep playing as long as she can. She is not sure what will come after she graduates, but is open to other opportunities in hockey. She has an opportunity to be an apprentice coach at the Alberta Challenge, a Hockey Alberta event she played in as a teenager. It will be her first time in a coaching role.

“I love this game and I have been playing it for a very long time. Even when I’m done as a player, I definitely want to stay involved in any way I can,” she said.

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vmcdermott@postmedia.com

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