'An amazing journey' for N.S. Olympic hockey players taking home silver
CBC News | Posted: February 23, 2018 2:26 PM | Last Updated: February 23, 2018
'We never looked back and there's not one thing I would change about this experience,' says Jillian Saulnier
Despite Team Canada's heartbreaking shootout loss in the women's hockey gold medal game, Jillian Saulnier says she wouldn't change a thing about her Olympic run.
The 25-year-old forward from Halifax will return home with a silver medal after Sunday's closing ceremonies of the Olympic games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Saulnier and teammate Blayre Turnbull from Stellarton are the first two women's hockey players from Nova Scotia to make the Olympic team.
"It's been an amazing journey and the support that I've had from back home in Nova Scotia has been incredibly overwhelming in the best way possible," Saulnier told CBC's Information Morning on Friday.
She credits her success at the games to her family and friends, many of whom travelled to Pyeongchang to cheer Team Canada on.
"I am really excited to get back there and share the rest of these moments with them," she said.
Going into the final game against their rivals the U.S. on Thursday, Saulnier said the Canadians knew it wasn't going to be easy.
"They're very deep and they're very skilled, so we knew going in that it was going to be a tough battle," Saulnier said. "And you know, you're going for the most wanted prize in the world."
The U.S. tied the game in the third period, and after a scoreless overtime, won in a shootout.
"It comes down to small inches and small moments like that, so anytime you do have a shootout in a game it's an unfortunate way to end a game with such high pressure of course because we love the game of hockey and that's just a part of it."
Saulnier's hockey career started on a backyard rink in Nova Scotia. When she was a teen, she went to a school in Sheffield, Mass., where she could play hockey at an elite level.
"It's been my dream my whole life, but it's also been my family's and the team kind of behind me, supporting me and pushing me toward this as well," she said.
Saulnier was the first Nova Scotian to score a goal in an Olympic women's hockey game when she did so against Finland in the second game of the tournament.
Turnbull, meanwhile, earned two assists in the semifinal game against the Olympic Athletes from Russia.
Saulnier said wearing the Maple Leaf on her jersey was a dream come true, and not just for her, but for every Canadian player on the ice.
"You know, the girls they're just so close and I love all of them with all of my heart and we played our hearts out for each other and we never looked back and there's not one thing I would change about this experience," she said.