Hockey A Family Affair For Canada’s Mikkelson
05/04/2009 19:56
St. Albert product's brother played for WHL's Giants
Phone calls home for Meaghan Mikkelson from the IIHF women's world hockey championship can sound like a barter session.
She gives some game details, and gets a few in return.
Mikkelson, 24, is one of the relative newcomers with Canada at this event. Saturday's 13-1 win over China in the team's tournament opener marked just the 13th career contest with the national side for the winger. Her younger brother Brendan, 21, is a rookie defenceman with the Anaheim Ducks, with 32 NHL games on his resume so far.
Mikkelson gets updated on her brother, who played for the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants, when she telephones the family home in St. Albert and talks to her parents, Bill and Betsy.
"They get me the updates on their games and their progress moving toward the playoffs," said Mikkelson, whose brother has spent a chunk of the campaign with the AHL's Iowa Chops. "I'm happy to see that he's still up in Anaheim and the team is doing well.
"We're very close. We have a lot in common. We just get along really well. We're lucky to have each other." They are in similar career spots right now. Meaghan was a star at the University of Wisconsin. In her senior season in 2006-07, she helped the team to a second straight NCAA championship and was named a first team all-American and to the Frozen Four all-tournament team.
That same season, Brendan was named to the Memorial Cup all-star squad after helping Vancouver win the prize.
Meaghan is now trying to cement her spot in the Canadian lineup, while Brendan, the Ducks' second-round pick in 2005, is attempting to do the same in Anaheim.
"Obviously when you get up to that next level there are new things that come at you and things you need to learn," said Meaghan.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Good luck to Meaghan in solidifying a spot on Canada’s national women’s hockey team and brother, Brendan, on nailing down a spot with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.