There’s no rest for the weary, and Amanda Makela certainly qualifies in that category.
The Thunder Bay Queen’s netminder, fresh off a silver-medal performance at the women’s world under-18 hockey championship in Stockholm, Sweden, spent three days in Thunder Bay this week before hitting the road to Toronto again for a series of Team Ontario practices in preparation for the upcoming Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
The 17-year-old called her Team Canada experience one of the best of her young hockey career.
"Our team was fantastic. All the girls were so great and it was just a wonderful opportunity for me to play with all the other countries," said Makela, who on Tuesday helped Mayor Keith Hobbs raise the Canada Winter Games flag in front of city hall, along with the rest of the city’s Winter Games athletes.
Jumping up onto the national stage was an eye-opener for Makela, who played two games at the tournament, a 9-1 win over Switzerland in the tournament opener and an 8-1 triumph over Germany in Canada’s third game.
She said she couldn’t imagine how much better the play would be at the elite level, but thinks she handled the adjustment pretty well.
"Everyone’s going full out all the time, at practices, driving the net hard all the time, shooting as hard as they can. It’s a big difference from in town here," said Makela, who backstopped the Queens to a national midget championship last spring.
Though still a teenager, Makela has been practicing her craft between the pipes for nearly a decade. In her third and final year with the Queens, her hockey resume rivals any female player to come out of Thunder Bay in recent memory, at least at this stage of her career.
Makela picked up a pair of MVP awards at last year’s Esso Cup, was named MVP of the Queens for 2010-11 and won a bronze medal MVP playing bantam AA boys hockey in 2008.
Her off-ice athletic achievements are equally impressive. She was a member of her high school soccer, cross country and badminton team, finished second in javelin and discus at the 2009 regional high school track and field championships and was athlete of the year in Grade 8.
But hockey has always been her true love, she said.
"I think I was about eight and I asked my parents for goalie pads for Christmas," she said, when asked what made her decide strap on the pads. "I guess it was just something inside of me that just wanted to be a goalie."
Hockey fever has her in its grips, and the youngster said she hopes to ride the wave as far as it will take her, hopefully following in the footsteps of fellow Queens alumni Katie Weatherston and Haley Irwin, both of who brought home Olympic gold.
"This was the best two weeks of my life, so I really want to pursue my dream and get to the U-22 team and the Olympic team," she said. "This kind of woke me up to the experience and it’s going to make me want to train harder and play harder to get there," she said.
All the evidence one needs to believe is her response to sitting on the bench during Canada’s 4-2 gold-medal loss to the United States.
"It was tough. Me and the other goalie were close. It was kind of like a last minute decision."
The loss just makes her that much more determined. "It was tough. Standing on the blue-line listening to that anthem (hurt). But we just held together. It was tough, but we got through it."
Makela, who will return to the Queens after the Winter Games, said she hopes to earn an invite to the national team’s under-22 tryouts. Once again, she’ll have to prove her worth.
"It’s going to be a huge step up. We played against the U22s in exhibition games, and they were really good. But it was great hockey and I think I just have to work a little bit harder, get on the ice more and do some more training."
Makela is scheduled to attend Mercyhurst College
