Jenn Hanna's teammates call her Mom.
She doesn't like that nickname much, but she knows there's not much to do about it, short of banning it with an authoritarian skip's decree.
In that case, her teammates would probably laugh and use the nickname twice as much.
It stuck because Hanna controls most aspects of her team's on and off-ice itinerary.
"Jenn's always the one who's looking after us," says second Dawn Askin. "She's always making sure that we have the things we need with us. She'll be the one reminding us of our schedules and what we have to do."
Hanna thinks it's part of being a good skip.
"I see myself in the leadership role, and I know that I tend to act as the go-between between the players and I'm the organizer on the team."
Hanna studies communications part-time at the University of Ottawa, and is leaning toward a career in journalism or as an information officer in government or the private sector.
She also works for the human resources branch of the House of Commons, responsible for the inventory of resumes from job applicants for positions such as restaurant workers, maintenance staff, pages, and special constables.
Hanna says people think it's a neat place to work, but she figures her future doesn't involve becoming a politician, despite her leadership abilities.
'TRUE CALLING'
"(Communications), I think is my true calling. Politics is blah to me. But what I like about my job is the (human resources) aspect. I'm dealing with people all the time and that's right up my alley."
Her ability to communicate with her teammates during last month's improbable eight-game winning streak to win the Ontario championship was a key factor in helping reverse an awful start to the event.
"If we can't sit down after a loss and talk about what the problem was, or sit down after a win and talk about what we did really well, then what do we have?
"We wouldn't learn from anything we did out on the ice."
