Goal to Grow: U.S. hockey Olympic gold medalist Lisa Brown-Miller spoke in Traverse City about building up women's hockey

Jan. 22—jpuente@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Trailblazers set a path for others. Hockey Hall of Famer and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Lisa Brown-Miller is one for women's hockey. Not just in Michigan — but in the United States.

She spent Thursday night on the stage at the City Opera House in Traverse City, along with Keith Gave and Tim Rappleye — authors of A Miracle of Their Own: A Team, a Stunning Gold Medal and Newfound Dreams for American Girls. The event was part of the National Writers Series that takes place in Traverse City every year.

Hockey has been like a religion in Michigan. Girls on the Traverse City North Stars sat in the crowd enjoying the night as the three talked.

Brown-Miller, the West Bloomfield Hills native, fell in love with hockey at 6 years old. She would play with her childhood best friend — Chris Barber — who had all the cool goalie gear.

"He exposed (the game) to me," Brown-Miller said.

When she told her parents that she wanted to play hockey, rather than telling her it's a boy sport, they pushed her to get better. So Brown-Miller practiced her craft every day after school.

"When I started playing — I didn't realize because I just wanted to play — but there was some pushback from players or parents. But I was in my zone, and I loved it," she said. "Hockey was my bread and butter."

A girl playing a boys sport in the early 1970s was uncommon. As Title IX took effect in 1972, it paved the way for Brown-Miller and generations to come to play hockey and break through in other male-dominated sports.

Brown-Miller credited Title IX for what it has done but noted that there is still more to do. As she grew, so did her passion for hockey. But she had to go outside of Michigan for college to keep playing — because there wasn't a school in Michigan at the time that has a women's hockey team.

During her college tours, there were only 14 colleges that had a women's team. Now there are 41. An improvement, but still plenty of work to be done. The same goes for college scholarships for women's hockey as there remain very few.

"We are still way behind," Brown-Miller said on the number of collegiate women's hockey programs. "We can talk about the state of Michigan, specifically. There's not a single NCAA Division 1 program, and that's a shame."

"There are a lot of good hockey players in Michigan who might want to stay in the state," she added.

Michigan and Michigan State have a women's hockey program, but it's not an official NCAA sport. Female players at Michigan have to create a GoFund Me page to collect money for their gear, while the men's team is paid for by the school.

Longtime Michigan hockey coach, Red Berenson, had an encounter with legendary Canadian hockey player and coach Shannon Miller decades ago, according to Gave. Miller asked Berenson if there'll ever be a women's hockey program.

"Not while I am here," Berenson responded, according to Gave.

Berenson retired in 2017; but since his departure, there still isn't a women's team in Ann Arbor.

"Keith wants anybody with influence that knows the athletic directors at Michigan or Michigan State to get together a hotline," Rappleye said during the NWS event.

"To the new president — Santa Ono at Michigan, we need more opportunities for young women in this state," Gave added.

Girls in Michigan have to go to the surrounding states if they want to continue playing, and that's what Brown-Miller did. She went east looking at colleges until landing a scholarship to Providence College to make an impact.

Brown-Miller had a chance to go to Babson College in Massachusetts, but she wanted to go another direction.

"I didn't want to play for the best team," she said. "There's that drive and determination that you just want to prove you belong, and I have never seen college hockey before."

After college, she accepted a coaching job at Princeton; and at 30 years old, she joined the U.S. National Team as a leap of faith and made the squad.

For the first time in 1998, the U.S. formed a women's Olympic hockey team that dominated the rink. As the women were crushing it in Nagano, the media coverage exploded in the states.

For some viewers, it was the first time they saw a woman on the ice that wasn't figure skating. Instead, they were taking a beating or delivering blows. It was fun, new and exciting to watch. A majority of the players on the team were college players, but Brown-Miller was the oldest of the bunch.

Brown-Miller didn't know when she was playing that she was pregnant with her first child, Alex. But she continued to shine bright on the big stage and prove to everyone that she could still be the best.

She recalled people telling her at the games that she should stick to ice skating and asking her why she was playing a men's sport. Despite the comments, she knew she belonged.

Before the Olympics, the U.S. was 0-6 against Canada. But during those '98 games, the tides began to turn in favor of the red, white and blue.

After being tied 1-1 heading into the third period of the gold medal game, the United States scored two goals to win 3-1 and capture gold.

The popularity of women's hockey exploded in the U.S. after the team took home gold. Players were on talk shows every day, and they were the first female hockey team featured on a Wheaties cereal box.

"The weirdest thing was when I would go shopping at the local grocery store and you're walking down the cereal aisle and you see a box with you and your teammate on it," Brown-Miller said as she laughed. "It was surreal, and we didn't expect that after we had won."

At the time, 15-year-old figure skater Tara Lipinski was in conversations about being on the box after she defeated Michelle Kwan — which was a massive deal.

Twenty-five years have since passed since the 1998 Olympic team set a path for the United States to dominate women's hockey for decades. Brown-Miller retired from Olympic hockey after playing more than 30 games while scoring 13 goals with 25 assists. She was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

Since being away from the game, Brown-Miller spent time on television as a broadcaster. She is now back to coaching the 14U girls hockey team.

It is clear that her love and passion for hockey have never left her. She hasn't strapped up and played in a while, but she finds a way to make an impact on the game and in the game.

"For any of the other girls watching," she said on stage as the NWS event wrapped up, "I believe in growing girls hockey, and if I'm not going to do it at home, where am I going to do it?

"The organization has their hearts in the right place, and it brings a smile to my face when I step on out for those girls."