Good Beginnings And Great Expectations Follow Tremblay And Kraemer As Their Dreams Come True

For Rosalie Tremblay and Caitlin Kraemer, they've both had good beginnings to their international hockey careers, but with those beginnings, come great expectations for what is next.

Canada's women's national team is entering a period of renewal, with veterans like Brianne Jenner, Natalie Spooner, and Sarah Nurse being replaced at this tournament by players in their teens and early 20s. Among those young players, are Rosalie Tremblay and Caitlin Kraemer, who have been tasked with centering Canada's top two forward lines.

The 18-year-old Tremblay, and 20-year-old Kraemer each responded by scoring in Canada's 5-3 pre-World Championship win over USA.

"It felt good to get that kind of monkey off my back," said Kraemer of scoring her first goal.

"It felt like a dream come true to be honest, it still hasn't soaked in," said Tremblay of her second period marker. "Just to do it around so many veterans, so many people with a lot of experience just made the transition much easier, and to get a goal and a win against the US for sure feels special."

Kraemer had played three games for Canada last year at the Rivalry Series, primarily in a depth role, and did not register a point. Ultimately she was left off Canada's Olympic roster. This time around however, she entered camp with more confidence in herself and from her coaches, and the opportunity to play a role she was more familiar with stepping into a top six scoring line position.

"I feel like I've kind of been in the process of having confidence in myself and feeling what the coaches believe in me and seeing that in myself," she said. "Because it is a big job and not a role I really expected to be playing this year, but obviously I'm really grateful for the opportunity and I'm going to take full advantage of it."

Tremblay is a rookie this season in the NCAA playing for the University of Wisconsin where she has scored nine points in her first six games, including scoring six goals. Kraemer, a junior with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, also has nine points in six games, scoring seven times. 

Tremblay echoed Kraemer in her sentiment about ceasing the opportunity she's been given with Canada to secure her place on the roster now and into the future. She's thankful Canada's new coaching staff and management put her not only into the lineup, but into a top six role where she can thrive. Now it's up to the Sherbrooke, Quebec product to deliver.

"I'm getting great opportunities so I'm just going to make the most out of it," said Tremblay.

"They're giving me opportunities and they're trusting me in these situations so I feel that it's to me to just to as best as I can and to kind of deliver and use my skill to produce."

Prior to their collegiate careers, both won U-18 World Championship gold medals with Canada, and both helped their provincial teams, Tremblay with Quebec and Kraemer with Ontario Red, win U-18 national championships. They also played together this summer as members of Canada's national development team, a roster that surprised many by winning their summer series against USA's Collegiate Select roster.

If Tremblay and Kraemer can bring the same level of success to Canada's senior national program as both had with Canada's U-18 and national development teams, they'll fulfill the great expectations that have been placed upon them with Team Canada.