Clarkson’s Courtney Olson has heard all the one-liners, enough so that she could perform as a stand-up comic.<\/p>\n
She’s heard ones like “You better watch out because she wrestles calves,” or after she’s knocked an opponent on her wallet, “That comes from wrestling calves.”<\/p>\n
Olson, a freshman who’s a “defensive” defenseman for Clarkson, spent last spring living with a billet family near Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she was attending The Warner Hockey School. Among other things, she learned how to rope calves at the family’s ranch.<\/p>\n
“They would bring in the calves, we wrestled them down and then we got them branded,” said Olson. “I’ve been on horses before but I’m not a big fan of it. Still, it gets your adrenaline going. And if you let go, you’re going to get kicked.<\/p>\n
“Your heart is pumping. It seemed like so much fun, plus it was a good workout.”<\/p>\n
Indeed.<\/p>\n
While Olson doesn’t envision herself ever joining the National Professional Rodeo Association, she does envision herself working with animals. That’s why she’s enrolled in Clarkson’s pre-veterinary program with a major in biology.<\/p>\n
“I want to be a farm vet,” said Olson. “I’m not interested in cats and dogs. I’m trying to get more into cattle research because of mad cow disease. I want to find a cure for that and determine where mad cow comes from.”<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Olson, she knows from personal experience how devastating any disease to farm animals can be, and how it can have a negative effect on families whose livelihood depends on raising cattle, sheep, pigs, etc.<\/p>\n
“Earlier this season, the family I stayed with had several cows die from nitrogen poisoning,” related Olson. “I’d like to learn how to prevent something like that from happening.”<\/p>\n
What happened to Olson one and a half years ago wasn’t the most pleasant experience.<\/p>\n
While competing in a tournament at the University of North Dakota in October 2006, she tore her left ACL but continued playing in pain until December.<\/p>\n
“I really didn’t tell anybody how sore it was,” said Olson. “Initially, they just scraped out some cartilage. But I played a month and it got worse and worse every time I played. I didn’t know much about knee injuries until after I injured mine.<\/p>\n
“After a while, it became unbearable and I had arthroscopic surgery in February (of 2007).”<\/p>\n
Still, Olson posted 4-11-15 totals in 20 games for The Warner School. But the team’s loss may have been Clarkson’s gain.<\/p>\n
“We benefited from the fact Courtney missed most of last year (because of the knee injury),” said coach Rick Seeley. “I don’t think a lot of teams had the opportunity to see her play. We did and we liked what we saw.<\/p>\n
“I really think she will develop into an exceptional defender at this level. She has shown the type of poise and confidence that you don’t normally see in a freshman.”<\/p>\n
Olson’s “poise and confidence” are one reason why the Golden Knights finished the regular season with a 22-7-5 record, and a 13-6-3 slate in the ECAC — which earned them the No. 4 seed in the upcoming ECAC playoffs.<\/p>\n
Yet, ironically, there was a time when Olson didn’t care in the least about playing hockey.<\/p>\n
Her first exposure to the sport — really, where she first learned about it — wasn’t at a local rink or in her back yard after her father, Craig, flooded it until it froze.<\/p>\n
It was in the basement of her family’s home in Great Falls, Montana, where her first “coach” was her older brother, Chris.<\/p>\n
“I quit every sport my parents put me into,” said Olson quite matter-of-factly. “I had to be dragged to the rink every time my brother had games or practices. Then, something hit me and I wanted to play hockey.<\/p>\n
“Fortunately, my brother and I would go downstairs to the basement and strap on rollerblades and play. At least there I learned, to a certain extent, what to do. It was like ‘Hockey 101’ and here I am now.”<\/p>\n
While at one time Olson never expected to be playing hockey at any level, she without question never expected to be invited to — nor did she probably ever hear of — the U.S. National Development Camp.<\/p>\n
“I was 15 at the time and while I was playing against kids in Canada (when she was at The Warner School), their speed was pretty good,” said Olson. “But when I was going up against the best players in the United States, I really didn’t feel like I belonged for the longest time.<\/p>\n
“Really, it opened my eyes. I never had played against anybody with that kind of speed. It took a while before I felt comfortable and that I belonged with that caliber of player.”<\/p>\n
Just like it took her time before she felt comfortable riding a horse and roping and wrestling calves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Courtney Olson didn’t expect to end up playing college hockey. Then again, the Clarkson freshman probably didn’t anticipate roping cattle in Alberta, either. Mike Scandura reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n