” I have no idea ! laughs Jade Downie-Landry when asked what explains her success with the Montreal Force.
This answer, like several others during our interview of about thirty minutes between the walls of the Center 21.02, is enough to detect this refreshing humility which characterizes the 27-year-old attacker. It doesn’t seem intentional or calculated.
However, there is a fine line between humility and lack of confidence. And Downie-Landry admits it herself: she hasn’t always believed in herself. The 2022 U Sports Female Player of the Year, currently the Premier Hockey Federation’s (PHF) third-scorer, has come a long way.
As a teenager, the Brossard native was not part of the Team Quebec or Team Canada programs. For her, hockey was just a – very pleasant – hobby.
“I told myself that I was not good enough to make the Olympics, for example. I was just playing for fun. I saw my friends who were training and were extremely [intenses]. Me, I missed that. Until I got to college. »
When she made the decision to join the Dawson College Blues in 2013, Downie-Landry told her family that she “surely wouldn’t play.”
I lacked confidence. But I started practicing and I was like, OK, I think I’m going to be okay.
Jade Downie Landry
His trainer, Scott Lambton, had a big role to play in his journey. It was he who helped her, she says, to build the foundations of the player she is today.
“It was a confidence as a person, not on the ice [même si] It translated well on the ice. But Scott saw something in me that I didn’t see when I was younger. »
At Dawson, she quickly established herself with 18 points in 20 games in her first season. His statistics during the following two campaigns are almost indecent: 62 points in 31 games in 2014-2015, then 63 points in 24 games in 2015-2016. She was also named athlete par excellence at the end of her last season.
Six years of success
Then, Downie-Landry saw the doors of academia open to her. After hesitating about going to the United States, she finally settled on McGill University in Montreal. His father was then stricken with leukemia.
“I’ve always been really close to my parents,” she says. […] I knew life was really fragile, so I wanted to stay close to my family. »
In her first season with the Martlets, Downie-Landry found herself on a team with excellent players, including Mélodie Daoust. The latter was also named McGill Female Athlete of the Year and U Sports Most Outstanding Player at the end of that year.
PHOTO FROM JADE DOWNIE-LANDRY’S INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
Jade Downie Landry
“I was like, wow, that’s sick, I want it to be me one day! remembers Downie-Landry.
This is exactly what happened five years later. In his final season with the Martlets last year, Downie-Landry earned the same two honors. In 84 games at McGill, she had 99 points. Over the years, she was part of the Canadian Under-22 team and took part in camps with the senior team, without however breaking through the roster.
Instant impact
At the end of the 2021-22 season, Downie-Landry thought she would have to hang up her skates, waiting for the PWHPA to create a league. Then the Force was born, within the PHF. “I couldn’t believe it! “Launches the athlete, who was one of the first players on the team to sign a contract, her first as a professional.
The one who wears number 27 had an instant impact in her new formation. She was also “really, really stressed” to find herself in the same trio as Ann-Sophie Bettez. “When I saw that I was playing with her, I said to myself: it will surely not stay like that! Finally, we did well in our first game and we continue to develop our chemistry. »
With 5 goals and 7 assists in 8 games, Downie-Landry ranks third in league scoring.
“Did you expect it to go so well?” we ask him.
– No no no ! “, she replies, still displaying the biggest of smiles.
Force head coach Peter Smith, who was also the coach of Downie-Landry for four years at McGill, doesn’t seem the least bit surprised. He lists the qualities of his attacker: his vision of the game, his physical strength, his work ethic.
“If we look at her physical abilities now, compared to when she came to McGill, there is a big difference. The fact that she’s big and strong makes a big difference. »
She always had the skills. And that gives him a lot of confidence.
Montreal Force Head Coach Peter Smith
When we ask the main concerned if she realizes how far she has come over the past 10 years, she hesitates. “Not really,” she replies. I am often told that I am a little too humble in life. I do not know. When it’s going well, I just say it’s going well. I don’t look at myself and tell myself that I’m good. »
In this case, let’s leave the final word to his trainer.
“Jade has the perfect mix of confidence and humility. […] Back then, when she had a bad shift, she felt bad. Now… She doesn’t have a lot of bad shifts, but she knows she’s a good player. She believes in herself and she knows that we believe in her. »