Brooke Hobson had her first chance to square off with members of Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Team over the weekend.
The 22-year-old Prince Albert product was one of 17 players selected to join the national team from Aug. 7-9 for a pair of intrasquad games. Those players were chosen from the 43-player National Development Team camp that began on July 29.
“It was a goal of mine to make the smaller roster there that plays the national team, and I did that,” Hobson said. “Other than that, I just wanted to get the experience, and learn and grow on and off the ice.”
Hobson joined Team White for two intrasquad games against Team Red. The first game saw Team Red dominate with a 7-3 victory, but Team White evened things up with a 2-1 win in game two.
“Just getting (to play) against those older, physical, fast girls who have all the skills that are needed to play at that top level, it’s a really good experience for everyone who was part of the development team,” Hobson said.
“Seeing how those national team girls live their everyday lives so professionally is definitely something I learned from.”
The 2021 development camp was Hobson’s third since joining Northeastern University in the NCAA, but only the second where players stepped on the ice. After a virtual camp in 2020, Hobson said it was great to almost get back to normal.
“I kind of knew the format these camps run in regarding the fitness testing, practices, and then obviously scrimmages we play,” she said. “This year was a little bit different, since we usually would make a team and go play the USA development team, but this year we got to play our national team, which was really cool.”
Hobson returns to Northeastern this fall for her fifth and final year of eligibility. The team finished the regular season with a 22-2-1 record, which was good enough for top spot in the NCAA rankings, but lost 2-1 in overtime to Wisconsin in the National Championship game.
“We’re knocking at the door here,” Hobson said. “We have a lot of returning seniors who are a big part of the team, and obviously a few incoming freshman that I think are pretty good, so the core of our team is coming back, and we have a couple of additions that are really going to help.”
Northeastern opens their season with a home-and-home series with Holy Cross on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2. Hobson said she’s confident this year’s team has the ability to go one step further and win a national title, provided they work hard and stay humble.
“It’s going to be (about) staying focused throughout the season,” she said. “If it’s a so-called weaker team we’re playing, or one of the stronger teams, I think we just have to approach every game the same. We can’t view ourselves as the number one team. We need to play as if we need to earn every single win.”
