There's no doubt that hockey is a sport that people are passionate about in Michigan. So, seeing someone from Michigan make history by joining the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team is incredibly exciting.

A recent post from the Facebook page, Village of Laurium, shared this exciting news:

Abby Roque is the very first indigenous woman to play for a U.S. Olympic Hockey Team.

Currently competing in the Bejing Olympics, Roque grew up just outside of the Canadian border in the town of Sault St. Marie, MI. Her father, who is now a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs, put her on skates on the rink he had built in their backyard when she was just a girl, according to ESPN.

In an interview with ESPN, she went on to say that she noticed how few people looked like her or had her background. See, Roque is a member of the Ontario-based Wahnapitae First Nation. Her uncle is the chief of their tribe. She continued with,

We are a community that is very heavily Indigenous. It was something that was just normal to me. There wasn't that big of a divide between Indigenous players on the team and those who were not.

However, nationally, Indigenous players make up a very small percentage of hockey players. According to hockeywriters.com, there are currently 6 active members of the NHL that are Indigenous. Compare that to the 903 active NHL hockey players, and you can understand why Abby Roque's story is so important.

Even if you know nothing about hockey, you can probably understand that there is a huge rivalry between Canada and the U.S. teams. How does Abby Roque, who grew up so close to Canada, feel about this? She talks about it briefly below:

Joining the U.S. Olympic women's hockey team at just 24 years old, let's wish this history-making Michigander good luck in all her future games!

Read more about Abby Roque's involvement with the U.S. hockey team, her stats, and more here. And, stay up to date on the U.S. Hockey Team's Olympic performance here.


 

Abby isn't the only Michigander competing in the Olympics. Check out all of the medal counts for Michiganders so far:

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