How a switch to the blue-line became a game changer for PWHL Ottawa's Ashton Bell

Early one morning in February 2022, Ashton Bell walked into the Doc Bonar Arena in Deloraine, Man., with an Olympic gold medal in her hand.

Kids meet at the rink in the tiny community, home to fewer than 1,000 people, one morning every week. They work on drills with local coaches and eat breakfast before heading to school.

It's where Bell practised twice a week for nearly a decade, and on this day, she was back to share the medal she earned as a member of Canada's women's national hockey team. Her mom, Teresa, still sets up breakfast for the kids at the club, even though her daughter's not one of the kids on the ice anymore.

"The kids were just super, super excited to see her medal," said Bob Caldwell, Bell's longtime skills coach and founder of the breakfast club. "She comes on the ice and she's really good with [them]."

Seventeen years after Bell's skating caught Caldwell's eye inside that rink, the now 24-year-old Bell has made a home in Ottawa, where she's poised to be one of the leaders on the PWHL team's blue line for years to come. 

It's a position she adopted only four seasons ago, after coaches with Hockey Canada and the University of Minnesota Duluth had a hunch that her smooth skating and good vision would make her a good fit as a defender.

They were right. Bell had a breakout season at Minnesota Duluth and two years later, won a world championship on Canada's blue line. A few months after that, she won Olympic gold.

Next up is professional hockey in a league created just in time for her to thrive. After seven games, the eighth-overall draft pick has four points, leading all rookie defenders.

"We think by the end of the year, she's going to be one of the top defenders in this league," Ottawa GM Mike Hirshfeld said during training camp.

Growing up on a grain farm in rural Manitoba, hockey wasn't Bell's only sport. Her family had horses and she spent several years competing in rodeo.

Her favourite event? Roping, where competitors need solid hand-eye coordination to throw a rope and catch cattle.

She stopped competing in high school, but still rides horses when she can find the time.

"It's just fun, just something different to get away from hockey and just enjoy being outside and in the fresh air," she said during training camp.

Hockey has always been Bell's number one sport and from the beginning, her skating stood out.