Meet 3 women playing key roles with the Calgary Flames, Wranglers | CBC News

Sandra Prusina, a born and raised Calgarian, grew up watching the Calgary Flames and listening to Peter Maher — the former voice of the team — dreaming of the day she might take on that same role.

But as she pursued a career in sports broadcasting, she says she never saw any women in the roles she aspired to attain.

But slowly, that started to change. She says she watched as women like Leah Hextall, a play-by-play commentator with the NHL, and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, a sports broadcaster, rose through the ranks, and she realized her dream might be possible.

“You realize that there is a path, there is an avenue. It takes a while to get there, and your path is probably a little bit harder than perhaps a man’s, but the path is there,” she said.

In October, Prusina was unveiled as the new play-by-play voice of the Calgary Wranglers, the Calgary Flames’ affiliate team in the American Hockey League. She’s the first female play-by-play announcer in the league’s history.

Prusina is one of several women making their names known in the NHL and other men’s professional leagues, as new hires of women continue.

Since January 2022, the NHL has hired at least six women as assistant general managers, with women making up about 37 per cent of all employees, according to the NHL’s inaugural diversity, equity and inclusion report released in October.

Last season, 10 women worked as on-ice officials for the AHL.

“We find ourselves at an unprecedented inflection point as a society,” said Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner, in a video as part of the report’s release.

“During the past few years, the NHL has accelerated its efforts to ensure that we continue to grow our sport with a lens on the future, specifically, underrepresented groups across gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability.”

That doesn’t mean change is easy, according to Prusina.

She’s seen pushback on her social media channels, she says, with some people unhappy to hear her voice calling the Wrangler games.

“That’s one of those mental hurdles that I need to get over and realize that not everybody’s going to like you,” she said.

“Sports are sports. It doesn’t matter who’s on the ice or on the pitch or on the hard court. Sports are sports at the end of the day, and these are all athletes, and I’m just excited to be the one voicing their stories.”

We spoke to Prusina and two other women working with the Calgary Flames about their journey to join the team and their advice to other women hoping to break into the industry.

Sandra Prusina — play-by-play voice, Calgary Wranglers

Prusina has worked in broadcasting for more than a decade, covering the Olympics, the Calgary Inferno — a women’s team formerly with the Canadian Women’s Hockey League — and working on local Calgary radio.

She also did some colour commentating and play-by-play for the Stockton Heat before they moved to Calgary and became the Wranglers.

She says the Calgary Flames reached out to her to see if she would be interested in applying for the play-by-play job with the Wranglers, and she jumped at the opportunity.

“It’s not like they handed me the job. They wanted to see my work. They wanted to see my credentials, speak to people who had worked with me,” she said.

“I’m honoured. I’m flattered that they chose me.”

For any women looking to follow in her footsteps, she says she hopes she can act as an example of someone who made it.

“One of the best pieces of advice that I got as a broadcaster is, if not you, then who?” she said.

“I just want there to be a point where it’s not seen as groundbreaking or ceiling barriers or all these. I just want it to be normal.”

Danielle Fujita — skating coach, Calgary Flames 

Danielle Fujita is from Taber, Alta. — about 50 kilometres northeast of Lethbridge — where she says you really had only two choices growing up: hockey or figure skating.

She went the figure skating route, competing until her early teens, and her brother played hockey.

But after attending some of his games, she realized she wanted to be a part of the hockey community.

“The sport itself was intriguing and the team aspect of it was very interesting to me,” she said. “There was a demand in the sport for better skating technique.”

WATCH | Danielle Fujita and Rebecca Johnston describe their roles with the Calgary Flames:

The NHL isn’t just a boy’s club anymore. More women coaches are being drafted to share their experiences

Decorated hockey forward Rebecca Johnston is two months into her job as a player development coach with the Calgary Flames. She’s the first woman to work in player development with the organization. Danielle Fujita is the Flames’ first full-time female skating coach.

She spent time building up her name, working with players on their movements and teaching them how to get more power through their strides.

Eventually, she started working with Calgary Flames veterans in the off-season, she says. Fujita signed a full-time contract about five years ago — the first women to do so in that position, according to Peter Hanlon, vice-president of communications with the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation.

At that time, she was one of the only females on the team, she said. But slowly, she’s seeing that change.

“I think women are proving themselves,” she said. 

“I think that’s why people are starting to take notice of it, and why you’re going to start to see more and more females active in the sport.”

Fujita says she now plays a unique role on the team. She’s been more than accepted by the players; in fact, she says they lean on her and confide in her.

Her biggest advice to women hoping to break into the industry is to be resilient.

“Everything’s hard until it gets easy.… Allow yourself to make mistakes. Allow yourself to learn and grow.”

Rebecca Johnston — player development, Calgary Flames

Rebecca Johnston helped lead the Canadian women’s hockey team to three golds and one silver at the four most recent Winter Olympics. 

The Sudbury, Ont., native knew from a young age hockey was a passion. She remembers skating around outdoor rinks at just four years old and feels fortunate to have made a career out of a sport she loves.

But recently, she started looking beyond her playing career to what comes next.

Having lived in Calgary for the last eight years, she says she’s become a huge Flames fan. So when a coaching opportunity with the team came up, she jumped on it.

“I’ve been through it all, really, with my career, and I feel like I can give that guidance and reassurance,” she said.

She started the role in September and is the first woman to work in player development with the Flames organization.

She’s helping to support players hoping to go professional, drawing on her own experiences with injuries, stress and adversity.

Her advice to other women? Dream big, and don’t let anyone tell you your dream is impossible.

“I never thought I would have went to the Olympics and won a gold medal for my country,” she said. “Just have that passion for whatever you’re doing and just love what you’re doing.”