Hayley Scamurra is the lone American Olympic gold medalist on the Montreal Victoire, a team filled with Canadian silver medalists. It's a move from foe to friend as she returns to the PWHL.
For the first time, women's hockey players are not taking a vacation after coming back from the Olympics. They have to step right back in to PWHL play, a major difference from before.
In that sense, being in the same locker room as a gold medallist – in this case for the Montreal Victoire, Hayley Scamurra – so soon after, is not something that Laura Stacey and her Canadian teammates are used to. But as the leader she is, Stacey will adapt.
“You wish her congratulations. It's amazing to bring home gold. It's amazing to be a medallist. It's amazing to go to the Olympics. So, I gave her a big hug and I congratulated her. She deserves to be congratulated 100%. And we're teammates now. I think, obviously, you got to put that in the past. You got to move forward. We're teammates. I respect her a ton, and I think that says it all.”
Those words were echoed by Scamurra.
“We gave each other hugs, congratulating each other. You know, we all had a great tournament and it's a dream to just play in the Olympics, honestly. And I think that has to be celebrated more. And having any medal. A lot of people go to the Olympics and don't even get a medal. So, I think, you know, we're all grateful for what we've achieved and supportive of each other.”
Scamurra: Celebrating With Her Dad
Of course, Scamurra’s vibe was completely different.
She’s coming back with a gold medal, her first Olympics gold after winning silver in 2022, a trophy well hidden at her place. She might even sleep with it tonight!
“It's indescribable. Indescribable,” Scamurra said after practice. “To be honest, I think just years of hard work and a dream finally coming true. And realizing it with your teammates on the ice, there's nothing better. And then seeing the family in the stands and being able to celebrate with them like the people who helped you get to that point, and it was so emotional. It was just so incredible.”
Interestingly enough, her father Peter, although being an American, won a bronze medal with Team Canada in the inaugural World Junior Hockey Championships in 1974. At the time, only one club was representing the country and Scamurra was playing with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes, the chosen team for that tournament.
Over 50 years later, Peter was in Milan to support Hayley.
“As soon as I saw my mom and my dad, like, I just started crying on the ice. It was just so emotional. You know, my dad almost didn't come. He wasn't sure. And then we made it work. He's been my coach all my life, and hockey is our shared passion together. So, it's super important to us that we got to celebrate that together. And I've never seen him smile bigger, so it was really cool.”