The Swedish pro team was gracious enough to allow me to continue to play in tournaments with the Canadian women’s national team. In November of that year, during the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., I collided with an American player and suffered a third-degree tear of the medial collateral ligament in my knee. It was the worst situation I could imagine: I was being paid to play pro hockey in Europe - a woman in a men’s league, no less - and now I was going back to the team injured.

I spent two weeks in Toronto doing everything I could to heal quickly, and returned to Sweden for another 10 days of rehab. Normally, a bad MCL tear means six weeks, minimum, before you can return to full-contact hockey. I got myself ready in four. My coach at the time, Matthias Karlin, pleaded with me to take more time. In any other case, I likely would have, but these were unique circumstances. I was the sole breadwinner in my family, my son loved his Swedish school and didn’t want to go back to Canada, I was the only woman playing at this level, and many people wanted me to fail. The pressure was enormous.