Player number: 66
Position: Left Defense
Shoot: Left
Height: 6’ 1”
Weight: 220 lbs.
Hometown: Ithaca, New York
Current career: Chef with Whole Foods Market
Background: I’m 29 years old and recently got married to the man of my dreams this past September 2010. I have a great job and loving family – including the in-laws. We have two wonderful dogs, Sasha and Koda. I started playing youth hockey at the age of four in Ithaca and played though my eighteenth birthday.
After graduating high school, I went to Paul Smiths College and played hockey for two and a half years before I was outed and forced to leave the team. I now play hockey with an adult league in Nashville, Tennessee, open to my teammates but not to other teams.
Best hockey experience: Heading to the Hockey Nationals in 1997 with The Ithaca Youth Hockey Association and putting on the pads after not playing for eight years.
Favorite NHL teams: New York Rangers and Nashville Predators
Favorite NHL players: Brian Leetch (past); Shea Webber (present)
Pets: Shasha, a German Shepard, and Koda, a Siberian Husky
Favorite place you’ve visited: Aspen, Colorado
Favorite beverages: Steeze energy drink; rum and Dr. Pepper
Favorite sports outside of hockey: football, baseball, winter Olympics
If I could eat anything it would be . . . Buffalo chicken wings with an ice-cold beer.
If I could be anywhere right now it would be . . . a tropical island paradise with my husband.
When I step on the ice, I feel . . . a surge of energy that can’t be explained; an intense overflow of excitement and anticipation waiting for the puck to be dropped, heart racing, going through three plays in my head before the puck even hits the ice; anticipating where its going to go and who to pass it to.
If a gay hockey player sat in front of me, I would . . . talk, get to know them, know their story. Share my experiences and struggles. Let him/her know they are not alone and that we share a common goal in making everything equal.
