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Olympian Megan Bozek Teams Up with VGK for High Performance Academy

The Youth Hockey division of the Vegas Golden Knights organization does not observe the same offseason as the NHL players do. As the summer has gone along, on-ice programming has continued around Las Vegas under guidance from the Golden Knights to help prepare local hockey players for their next season of competition.

From July 28-30 at Lifeguard Arena, members of the girls Vegas Junior Golden Knights program skated in the Toyota High Performance Academy with a special guest coach whose presence made for an unforgettable experience.

Two-time Olympian and professional hockey player Megan Bozek joined Sheri Hudspeth, Director of Girls & Women Youth Hockey Programming and other members of the Vegas Junior Golden Knights coaching staff to share tips with the girls on the ice as they continue on the path toward higher. levels of hockey. Bozek worked with the group for three days and became a role model to young hockey players in a part of the country she wouldn’t have thought possible just five years ago.

“As hockey grows, there’s going to be more opportunities and you need those to grow,” Bozek said. “Having grown up in Chicago, I can see that that is growing out here with more rinks and more teams. At a level like this, there’s something very special happening here in Vegas.”

The camp kicked off with a Q-and-A session where players asked Bozek about her experience growing up playing hockey and how it led her to reach the heights of the game. Bozek shared stories of her journey through boy’s hockey programs before switching to girl’s hockey in eighth grade. Her success in high school earned her a spot at the University of Minnesota where Bozek was part of two national championships and was a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award given annually to the top player in women’s college hockey.

Bozek has won a slew of medals in international competition for the United States and showed her two Olympic silver medals to the group. Sharing her memories and achievements made Bozek realize how special of an experience the weekend was for the girls who participated because having a professional and Olympic women’s hockey player attend a summer camp was something she never got to experience as a young player.

Cami Granato was Bozek’s favorite player growing up. If you asked any of the girls who skated in the Toyota High Performance Academy, there’s a good chance they’d point to Bozek.

“If I can be a role model to someone like [Granato] was to me, then my job is complete,” Bozek said. “But I’m not satisfied with just that. We want to grow girl’s hockey and women’s hockey so they have chances to play in college and after college. If it’s their dream to do that, we want to give them a chance to do that. This is just a stepping stone. If I can help or inspire one girl, that’s why I do it.”

Bozek added that it’s likely the number of girls from Nevada playing college and professional hockey will skyrocket as the years go on and as events like the Toyota High Performance Academy continue to take place. Under the guidance of Hudspeth and Salcido, Bozek expects girls in Las Vegas to pursue hockey as more than just a hobby.

“At a level like this, there’s something very special happening here in Vegas,” Bozek said. “It’s going in the right direction. I’m excited to see what it’s going to be like in five years and beyond.”