Issue date: 2/15/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: RMU Athletics

It is, without question, the ultimate paradox. A Canadian, bred from the frozen rinks where hockey was born, donning the red, white, and blue, and cheering, passionately, in favor of the country's natural rival, the USA.

Blasphemy, some would say. Sacrilege. Treason, even.

But for the girls of the Robert Morris women's hockey team, they call it something else; Friendship.

With the games of the XXI Winter Olympics just days away, some members of the Lady Colonials hockey team, 13 of them in fact, are faced with an interesting dilemma. Should they root for their home country of Canada, or for one of their best friends, Brianne McLaughlin, who is playing for the United States? It's a weird and admittedly awkward predicament that has many of the girls torn between their citizenship and their friendship.

McLaughlin, a four-year starter for the Colonials who will cement her legacy by becoming the first Robert Morris University athlete to compete in the Olympic games, had quite the presence during her time as a Colonial, none of which is lost on her friends and former teammates, a lot of whom hail from the great white north, including Ontario, Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Jackie Gibson, a senior and Ontario native, was a good friend of McLaughlin's and held no prejudice against the petite blond from Sheffield Village, Ohio. She was the first to admit that there is something askew in the locker room this season, mainly because of the absence of the greatest player in the short history of the program.

"Even after she graduated, I knew her hockey career wouldn't be over because she was so talented," Gibson proclaimed. "She always put the team ahead of herself. She would make a ton of saves during a game, but in the end, to her, it was the team that won. Bri was a great teammate and the locker room is not the same without her."

Whitney Pappas, a Colorado native who inherited the captaincy after McLaughlin's departure, was well aware of the special talent that inhabited the crease behind her during her first three years. "I am so proud, along with my entire team, that I had the opportunity to play with her and all she has accomplished," she said.

Added Senior Mallory Giamba, "Brianne really deserves it (playing for Team USA). She is such a hard worker and a great person."

But the fondness isn't one-sided, as evident by McLaughlin's recent visit with the Colonials in which she attended one of the girl's games and even dropped a ceremonious puck prior to faceoff, despite her demanding schedule.

Continued...

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