photo: U SPORTS
Norway is a smaller hockey nation that has struggled on the women’s side. Indeed, the women have been holding steady at 13 in the World Ranking and, as a result, haven’t played in the top level since 1997. But that doesn’t mean history can’t be made and records broken.
And that’s where Emma Bergesen steps in. The 23-year-old from Stavanger made history in Montreal the same afternoon that Team Harvey’s was winning the PWHPA’s Secret Cup in dramatic OT fashion a couple of weeks ago. She scored an equally magical golden goal at 11:10 of the 5-on-5 overtime to give the Mount Royal Cougars a 4-3 win over the Concordia Stingers in the USports finals.
“I re-watched the shift because I wasn’t sure how I ended up in front of their net,” the defender recounted from Calgary the other day. “Even though I was behind our net, I took off up ice. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. I came down the far side and one of my teammates—Aliya Jomha—shot the puck to the far side. For some reason it ended up on my backhand and I pushed it in. Just watching it cross the line was unreal, especially since the game was kind of crazy but went our way.”
It was crazy because the Cougars tied the game 3-3 with only two seconds left on the clock. The win put an exclamation mark on a miracle season for the eighth-ranked Cougars, who won their first ever USports title in women’s hockey.
“We made it to the nationals three years ago,” Bergesen said, trying to put the historic win in context, “and we were ranked number eight again. We played Toronto and won, which was kind of crazy, but then we got shut down after that because of COVID. So when we made nationals again this year, we wanted to make the most of it and prove to everyone what we’ve been working on the past couple of years. Going into the tournament, we were ready. We didn’t feel like we were 8th but used that to our advantage. And winning over Toronto again, 3-2, was such an amazing feeling. We knew we could make it happen. And then playing Montreal in the finals was unbelievable. They were the home team and had a big crowd, but it was an amazing experience. Then going into the last game, the girls were nervous but also calm at the same time. I didn’t think I’ve ever seen our group that calm before a big game. We trusted our game, and the privilege of being able to play all lines and believing in our coaches’ strategy was huge.”
Bergesen started playing hockey not because of her father or brother, but because of her mother. Indeed, her mother, Janne Bergesen, played at the 1997 Women’s Worlds, the last time Norway appeared at the top level.
“It all started with my mom,” Emma explained. “She played for Team Norway for a few years. She’d bring me and my siblings to the rink every single day and we’d just play around. Hockey’s not as big in Norway as it is in Canada, but we still managed to find a love for the game. That’s how it started. Me and my brother have been playing ever since, competing against each other. It has been so much fun.”
Emma developed into a fine player with her local club team, the Stavanger Oilers, which she had joined when she was 14. Along the way she also played for Norway at the Women’s U18, Division I-A for three years, as well as the senior Women’s Worlds and Olympic Qualifier. (In fact, she was named IIHF Directorate Best Defender at the 2022 Women’s Worlds I-A.) By this point, she felt she had advanced beyond what the league could provide as a challenge.
“I kind of felt that I grew out of the league a little bit,” she continued. “I wanted to try something new, experience something different, and I felt it was time for me to take the next step to a higher level. I had a couple of teammates from Team Norway who went to Canada, and that sounded appealing to me, so I decided to take that chance.”
That chance came in the form of the Ontario Hockey Academy in Cornwall, Ontario, near the U.S. border and close to Quebec as well. “After I played for Team Norway at the U18 in the Worlds and then the World Championship, the OHA contacted me. I wanted to join them for the following season (2017-18), and since I had friends there it seemed like the kind of choice I wanted to make.”
Bergesen thrived at that level of play for two years before pursuing another upgrade in competition while continuing her education. “I was looking to go to the States and play NCAA, but the more I got familiar with USport it sounded like a better fit for me,” she said. “And then when Mount Royal coach Scott Rivett contacted me, it felt right.”
Although she was the only non-Canadian on the team, it didn’t matter to her. “When I was at OHA, there were so many internationals at the school, so that made it easier to adjust to Canada in a lot of ways. And then after spending two years in the OHA, and coming to Calgary, I was pretty comfortable being in Canada and speaking English. And my teammates have been amazing, taking care of me and making sure that I felt like I had a family in Canada. So it didn’t feel like I was the only international.”
What did coach Rivett see in her? “I think my hockey IQ is good and how I see the game overall is good,” Bergesen explained. “My drive, the wanting to win. I get very involved in the game.”
The sociology major has one year left at Mount Royal, after which she wants to become a firefighter. “Yes, my main goal is to become a firefighter! But if that doesn’t work out, then I’d like to work at a school or in social work.”
Bergesen sees her hockey career continuing for several years yet. “I’d like to play a couple of seasons in Sweden and then go back to Norway to work,” she continued. “I want to keep playing for a while longer and see where it takes me. I’m pretty excited to try a different kind of hockey, more professional hockey. I think that would be pretty cool. And I will be going to the Worlds in the summer [Division I-A in Shenzhen, China]. I think getting back to the top level has been our goal for many years, but now I think it’s more realistic to achieve. And our bigger goal is to make the Olympics. That would be the highlight of my career.”
And that’s where Emma Bergesen steps in. The 23-year-old from Stavanger made history in Montreal the same afternoon that Team Harvey’s was winning the PWHPA’s Secret Cup in dramatic OT fashion a couple of weeks ago. She scored an equally magical golden goal at 11:10 of the 5-on-5 overtime to give the Mount Royal Cougars a 4-3 win over the Concordia Stingers in the USports finals.
“I re-watched the shift because I wasn’t sure how I ended up in front of their net,” the defender recounted from Calgary the other day. “Even though I was behind our net, I took off up ice. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. I came down the far side and one of my teammates—Aliya Jomha—shot the puck to the far side. For some reason it ended up on my backhand and I pushed it in. Just watching it cross the line was unreal, especially since the game was kind of crazy but went our way.”
It was crazy because the Cougars tied the game 3-3 with only two seconds left on the clock. The win put an exclamation mark on a miracle season for the eighth-ranked Cougars, who won their first ever USports title in women’s hockey.
“We made it to the nationals three years ago,” Bergesen said, trying to put the historic win in context, “and we were ranked number eight again. We played Toronto and won, which was kind of crazy, but then we got shut down after that because of COVID. So when we made nationals again this year, we wanted to make the most of it and prove to everyone what we’ve been working on the past couple of years. Going into the tournament, we were ready. We didn’t feel like we were 8th but used that to our advantage. And winning over Toronto again, 3-2, was such an amazing feeling. We knew we could make it happen. And then playing Montreal in the finals was unbelievable. They were the home team and had a big crowd, but it was an amazing experience. Then going into the last game, the girls were nervous but also calm at the same time. I didn’t think I’ve ever seen our group that calm before a big game. We trusted our game, and the privilege of being able to play all lines and believing in our coaches’ strategy was huge.”
Bergesen started playing hockey not because of her father or brother, but because of her mother. Indeed, her mother, Janne Bergesen, played at the 1997 Women’s Worlds, the last time Norway appeared at the top level.
“It all started with my mom,” Emma explained. “She played for Team Norway for a few years. She’d bring me and my siblings to the rink every single day and we’d just play around. Hockey’s not as big in Norway as it is in Canada, but we still managed to find a love for the game. That’s how it started. Me and my brother have been playing ever since, competing against each other. It has been so much fun.”
Emma developed into a fine player with her local club team, the Stavanger Oilers, which she had joined when she was 14. Along the way she also played for Norway at the Women’s U18, Division I-A for three years, as well as the senior Women’s Worlds and Olympic Qualifier. (In fact, she was named IIHF Directorate Best Defender at the 2022 Women’s Worlds I-A.) By this point, she felt she had advanced beyond what the league could provide as a challenge.
“I kind of felt that I grew out of the league a little bit,” she continued. “I wanted to try something new, experience something different, and I felt it was time for me to take the next step to a higher level. I had a couple of teammates from Team Norway who went to Canada, and that sounded appealing to me, so I decided to take that chance.”
That chance came in the form of the Ontario Hockey Academy in Cornwall, Ontario, near the U.S. border and close to Quebec as well. “After I played for Team Norway at the U18 in the Worlds and then the World Championship, the OHA contacted me. I wanted to join them for the following season (2017-18), and since I had friends there it seemed like the kind of choice I wanted to make.”
Bergesen thrived at that level of play for two years before pursuing another upgrade in competition while continuing her education. “I was looking to go to the States and play NCAA, but the more I got familiar with USport it sounded like a better fit for me,” she said. “And then when Mount Royal coach Scott Rivett contacted me, it felt right.”
Although she was the only non-Canadian on the team, it didn’t matter to her. “When I was at OHA, there were so many internationals at the school, so that made it easier to adjust to Canada in a lot of ways. And then after spending two years in the OHA, and coming to Calgary, I was pretty comfortable being in Canada and speaking English. And my teammates have been amazing, taking care of me and making sure that I felt like I had a family in Canada. So it didn’t feel like I was the only international.”
What did coach Rivett see in her? “I think my hockey IQ is good and how I see the game overall is good,” Bergesen explained. “My drive, the wanting to win. I get very involved in the game.”
The sociology major has one year left at Mount Royal, after which she wants to become a firefighter. “Yes, my main goal is to become a firefighter! But if that doesn’t work out, then I’d like to work at a school or in social work.”
Bergesen sees her hockey career continuing for several years yet. “I’d like to play a couple of seasons in Sweden and then go back to Norway to work,” she continued. “I want to keep playing for a while longer and see where it takes me. I’m pretty excited to try a different kind of hockey, more professional hockey. I think that would be pretty cool. And I will be going to the Worlds in the summer [Division I-A in Shenzhen, China]. I think getting back to the top level has been our goal for many years, but now I think it’s more realistic to achieve. And our bigger goal is to make the Olympics. That would be the highlight of my career.”