Brianne Jenner is putting down roots in Ottawa. The PWHL Ottawa captain loves her new city, is bringing her hockey school to town this summer, and is intent on bringing something else to Ottawa - a championship.
Brianne Jenner is putting down roots in Ottawa. The PWHL Ottawa captain loves her new city, is bringing her hockey school to town this summer, and is intent on bringing something else to Ottawa - a championship.
It’s a Tuesday morning in Boston and PWHL Ottawa forward and team captain Brianne Jenner is spending a rare down day with her three kids June, Lowell and Fritz, and wife Hayley. It’s the first time in this inaugural season of the women’s pro hockey league that Jenner has been able to bring her kids on the road. During a phone interview, you can hear daughter June in the background asking for her mom.
“It's the gift of being a mom,” Jenner says. “I have to really be in the present and focus on my kids and it takes my mind off hockey and that's a great balance.”
Jenner may have taken her family on a trip to Boston, and she may hale from Oakville, Ontario, but the birth of pro hockey in Ottawa this season has changed a lot of things. For family, for her pro hockey career, her role on her current team, and even for the hockey school she runs.
“My family definitely looks at Ottawa as home now,” said Jenner. “We're quite happy and I feel already at home.”
Jenner, who is 32, had been to Ottawa before throughout her years playing for Team Canada, so she had some idea what to expect.
“I knew it was a hockey crazy town,” says Jenner. “I honestly have just been shocked at the response, I couldn't imagine it being as welcoming and excited for our team. It has exceeded those expectations, so we feel pretty lucky to be in the nation’s capital with these amazing fans. It’s honestly been a dream come true…Our fans are unbelievable.”
Jenner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, plays with a fierce competitiveness, skill and poise as a veteran on the Ottawa team.
“Brianne is one of the best leaders I’ve had,” says defensive teammate Amanda Boulier. “She has a way of making every person in our dressing room feel valued, seen and heard.”
However, Jenner is more likely to deflect than boast when asked about how she leads as captain.
“We've got leaders from Hungary, Czechia, USA, and Germany,” says Jenner. “So it makes my job easy. I'm just one of many great, great leaders on this team.”
Virtually any PWHL player you ask these days will tell you how amazing it has been to find themselves not only being leaders on their teams, but also role models for so many young girls.
But being a role model herself isn’t entirely new territory for Jenner. In fact, when teammate Kristin Della Rovere was growing up in the Toronto area, her idol was--wait for it--Brianne Jenner. When Della Rovere was in elementary school and she made it to the best team in Ontario, it was named after her hero, "Team Jenner."
"Definitely incredible getting to play alongside your idol,” said Della Rovere.
Jenner hopes to inspire more little girls—and boys--in Ottawa this August when she brings her hockey school to the nation’s capital. Until now, it had been based solely in Oakville.
“There's so much to it that makes the week a blast,” says Jenner. “I think that's going to be a great way to engage with the young hockey players…To see the excitement and the smile and the joy on their faces.”
“We're here [in Ottawa] for a number of years and excited to build more roots in the community,” she says.
But after family, Jenner says her first priority is winning with PWHL Ottawa
“Ultimately what we all want to do here is bring a championship back to Ottawa.”
She remembers the feeling she and her teammates had when they got their first win in front of home fans. “I think it would be like that but on steroids.”