Meaghan Mikkelson (born January 4, 1985) is a Canadian ice hockey player, broadcaster, and former member of the Canadian national ice hockey team. She is currently affiliated with the Calgary chapter of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA).

Meaghan Mikkelson
Born (1985-01-04) January 4, 1985 (age 39)
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 139 lb (63 kg; 9 st 13 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
PWHPA team
Former teams
Calgary
National team  Canada
Playing career 2003–present
Website meaghanmikkelson.com
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Vancouver Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Team
Silver medal – second place 2018 Pyeongchang Team
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 United States
Gold medal – first place 2022 Denmark
Silver medal – second place 2008 China
Silver medal – second place 2009 Finland
Silver medal – second place 2011 Switzerland
Silver medal – second place 2013 Canada
Silver medal – second place 2016 Canada
Silver medal – second place 2017 United States

Playing career edit

Mikkelson grew up in St. Albert, Alberta,[1] and represented Team Alberta at the 2003 Canada Winter Games[2] in Bathurst and Campbellton, New Brunswick, as the Alberta team finished in seventh position.[3]

Wisconsin Badgers edit

In 2007, Mikkelson tied for 11th in the NCAA with 42 points in 34 games and tied for sixth with 32 assists. Among defencemen, she was second in the country during the regular season with 1.24 points per game and ninth overall with .94 assists per game. During the 2006–07 NCAA season, she was part of the Wisconsin defence that allowed a nation's best 0.94 goals per game and 15 shutouts, a school record. In the WCHA, she led all defencemen with 33 points in 28 league games and was fifth overall. She tied for second in the league with 24 assists.

Hockey Canada edit

Mikkelson made her Team Canada debut with the National Women's Team at the 2007 Fall Festival. She appeared in her first IIHF World Women's Championship in 2008.[4] In the gold medal game of the 2010 Four Nations Cup, she had a goal and an assist for Canada. With 1:49 left in the third period, she scored to tie the game and force overtime. [5] In a game versus Russia at the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship, she registered three assists in a 14–1 victory.[6] She won a gold medal during the 2010 Winter Olympics and was named to the 2014 Winter Olympics roster for Canada,[7] when she again won a gold medal. She won a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[8]

CWHL edit

Prior to being selected third overall in the 2011 Draft of the Canadian Women's Hockey League, Mikkelson played with the Edmonton Chimos of the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL). She was selected by the Alberta Honeybadgers, a team later renamed as Team Alberta CWHL but eventually called the Calgary Inferno.[9] Appearing in the 2016 Clarkson Cup, she registered one assist as the Inferno emerged victorious in the 8-3 final game win.[10] She was one of two captains for Team Blue in the 3rd CWHL All-Star Game, the first time that one team in the CWHL All-Star Game had two captains.[11]

Awards and honours edit

Broadcasting career edit

Mikkelson is currently a commentator on Calgary Flames radio game broadcasts [15] after occasionally appearing on televised NHL games on Sportsnet since 2020 as an analyst on intermission panel discussion segments.

Personal life edit

In June 2011, Mikkelson married minor league goaltender Scott Reid. The couple met in 2007 when they worked together at a hockey school in Edmonton.[16] Their son was born in September 2015 in Calgary, and their daughter was born four years later.[17][18][19]

She participated in various festivities commemorating the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa, Ontario. Said festivities included attendance at Rideau Hall for the NHL Hockey is for Everyone event,[20] interviews at the Sirius XM Stage (along with a fan question and answer period) at the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fair.[21] In addition, she participated in the Energizer Night Skate at the Ottawa Rink of Dreams (relocated from the Rideau Canal),[22] and attended the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday, January 28.

In June 2014, Mikkelson and her teammate Natalie Spooner appeared as contestants in the second season of The Amazing Race Canada. They finished the race in 2nd place.[23] In the ice hockey skills challenge Detour "Puck It" combined with partner Spooner to shoot 4 from 4 on the 1 through 4 "hole" targets, then 1 from 53 attempting to hit the final five-hole target. At the end of the show, after arriving in first place for seven times in a total of eleven legs, the golden girls got the official second place of the competition, losing to the best buddies, Mickey and Pete. She and Spooner were voted the fan favourite team of the season.[24]

Her father, Bill Mikkelson, played four seasons in the NHL in the early 1970s with the Los Angeles Kings, the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals.[1] Her brother, Brendan, was a Memorial Cup champion with the WHL's Vancouver Giants, a second round pick, 31st overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, played five seasons in the NHL and now plays for the Cardiff Devils in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Her great uncle, Jimmy McFadden, won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1948, and the Stanley Cup in 1950.[25]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Farber, Michael (July 9, 2012). "Hockey's Minus Man: Bill Mikkelson's brief NHL career left him with one of the sport's worst stat lines—but the numbers don't begin to take the full measure of the man". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  2. ^ "The Official Website of Hockey Canada". Hockeycanada.ca. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  3. ^ "Team photography". Goodasgoldopen.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  4. ^ "The Official Website of Hockey Canada". Hockeycanada.ca. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  5. ^ [1][dead link]
  6. ^ "Ice Hockey Women's World Championship : Preliminary Round – Group A – Game 10" (PDF). IIHF. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  7. ^ "Canada names women's Olympic hockey team | OlympicTalk". Olympictalk.nbcsports.com. December 23, 2013. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  8. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Meaghan Mikkelson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016.
  9. ^ "News - CWHL - Canadian Women's Hockey League". Archived from the original on August 26, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  10. ^ "2016 Clarkson Cup". cwhl. March 13, 2016. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  11. ^ "Campbell, Mikkelson and Spooner to lead 2017 All Star Teams". CWHL. February 3, 2017. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  12. ^ [2][dead link]
  13. ^ [3][dead link]
  14. ^ a b "Tomcikova named MVP". IIHF. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  15. ^ Gupta, Boshika (October 11, 2023). "Meaghan Mikkelson embraces new role as the Flames' first female radio colour commentator". CBC News. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  16. ^ "Alaska Olympians – dispatches and schedule | Sports". ADN.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  17. ^ Hall, Vicki (September 29, 2015). "'The baby that Canada named': Olympic hockey player Meaghan Mikkelson names son with help of Twitter". National Post. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  18. ^ Salvian, Hailey. "'I'm not done': Meaghan Mikkelson's unrelenting push to make Team Canada's roster". The Athletic. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  19. ^ Spencer, Donna (December 13, 2019). "Meghan Agosta, Meaghan Mikkelson combine motherhood, hockey with return to Canadian team". CBC Sports. Canadian Press. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  20. ^ [4][dead link]
  21. ^ "Women's hockey greats to promote sport in Ottawa – NHL.com – News". NHL.com. January 26, 2012. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  22. ^ "Energizer® Night Skate™ at NHL® All-Star moved to Rink of Dreams at Marion Dewer Plaza – Ottawa Senators – News". Senators.nhl.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  23. ^ "Olympic champions, lovebirds and best friends: first three 'Amazing Race Canada' teams announced". CTV. June 17, 2014. Archived from the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  24. ^ "Olympians miss the mark in hockey challenge on The Amazing Race Canada". Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  25. ^ Sports Illustrated, Cover Date: July 9–16, 2012, "Hockey’s Minus Man", by Michael Farber, p. 112, Editor in Chief: John Huey, Published by: Time Inc.

External links edit