Veteran Peggy Assinck growing women's Para hockey in Canada and abroad, one athlete at a time

By day, Peggy Assinck is a neuroscientist at one of the world's top universities, where she works to unlock the mysteries around stem cells and multiple sclerosis.

She spends hours peering into a microscope at tiny cells, trying to understand why some people's spinal cords heal better than others. Trying to understand if the most miniscule of alterations to those cells could lead to meaningful change in a person's everyday life.

Outside the lab, Assinck can often be found in the gym or driving around England for an ice time in the middle of the night, all for the chance to keep pulling on a Team Canada sweater.

In between, she finds time to introduce the sport of Para hockey to women who've never tried it. Whether it's helping a woman become more comfortable in a sled or starting the Great Britain women's Para hockey team from scratch, Assinck is growing the game one athlete at a time.

"I feel like I owe it just to be able to support others and help them to be more independent, to push outside their comfort zone, to continue to become incredible young women," Assinck said.

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Assinck has been a member of Canada's women's Para hockey team since it started in 2007, helping shape the program from a humble beginning to competing for gold in the Women's World Challenge, an annual international tournament of the world's best.

"She definitely is like a glue to our team and our program would be nothing without her, honestly," Canadian captain Alanna Mah said. "She's been there from the start and she's seen everything."

One thing Assinck hasn't seen yet is the inclusion of women's Para hockey on the biggest stage: the Paralympics. It's her ultimate goal for the sport, even if it doesn't happen until after her own playing career is done.

But first, the 40-year-old Assinck will be a key defender for the Canadian squad when they open this year's Women's World Challenge on Aug. 31 in Green Bay, Wis. The team plays its first game that day against the United States in a rematch of last year's gold medal game, which the Americans won 5-1.

Her team knows she's a communicator, someone who will help them see and understand things on the ice that other people might miss, skills she's picked up in three decades in the game.

"She is definitely someone that is intellectual in nature," Tara Chisholm, the team's head coach, said. "She thinks the game, which isn't hard to draw those conclusions when you think of her life outside of sport, of being a literal doctor in stem cell research. So her brain obviously works very well in the way of thinking logically, strategically."

Assinck spent most of her childhood playing able-bodied sports in her hometown of Apsley, Ont., a small township 200 km northeast of Toronto.

She was born with spina bifida, a condition that affects the spine and is usually discovered at birth. But Assinck's condition wasn't detected until she was 11 years old, when she was suddenly partially paralyzed from the waist down.