Early one morning in February 2022, Ashton Bell walked into the Doc Bonar Arena in Deloraine, Man., with an Olympic gold medal in her hand.
Kids meet at the rink in the tiny community, home to fewer than 1,000 people, one morning every week. They work on drills with local coaches and eat breakfast before heading to school.
It’s where Bell practised twice a week for nearly a decade, and on this day, she was back to share the medal she earned as a member of Canada’s women’s national hockey team. Her mom, Teresa, still sets up breakfast for the kids at