Toronto Sceptres not-so-secret secret is out: They've got a PWHL gem in Carly Jackson
No. 3 goalie came up huge in rare opportunity to show their stuff in PWHL debut two years in the making.
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You would have had to be in the room, on the bus or at the very least in the gym with the Toronto Sceptres on a daily basis to realize just how much Carly (CJ) Jackson has meant to this team.
At least you would have, until Tuesday night played out.
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Toronto Sceptres not-so-secret secret is out: They've got a PWHL gem in Carly Jackson Back to video
Tuesday night was Jackson’s first game action of any kind. In their unlikely PWHL debut after almost two full seasons had played out, all of us on the outside got to see just how impactful and key Jackson is and has been to everything this team has accomplished.
Social media gave us a peek into the love and support Jackson has earned from their teammates, but it was only after Tuesday’s game that it became plain just how much Jackson means to this team.
It was fitting that the first game for Jackson played out in fairy-tale fashion. A 23-save performance through regulation on 24 shots got the Sceptres into overtime against a New York Sirens team that is hell bent on finishing off this season on a high note even if they will miss the playoffs for a second straight year.
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Two more saves in OT by Jackson got the game to a shootout and, if there is the one area of their play that their lack of game experience has actually heightened, another is the one-on-one play a shootout encapsulates.
Until Tuesday, Jackson’s main on-ice function was to keep themselves ready for the call in practice and do whatever they could to help their teammates prepare for the next game.
Helping others is just in Jackson’s nature. It’s who they are, first and foremost, and anyone who has spent any time at all with Jackson will attest to that.
So even after a half hour of goalie drills with Toronto’s two other goalies and then at least a full hour of practice with the team, it has been Jackson’s choice to stay out on the ice and allow their teammates to practice and refine their shootout strategies.
As Jackson said after Tuesday’s win, the shootout is an element of the game that “feels like home” given just how many times they’ve been in that position post-practice for the past two seasons.
So there were no nerves as the Sirens lined up – first Jessie Eldridge, then Alex Carpenter, followed by Sarah Fillier and then Carpenter again – as New York sent out three of their most elite scorers. Between them and counting Carpenter’s totals twice, that’s 41 regular-season goals that Jackson was facing.
But Jackson denied all four attempts, allowing Natalie Spooner’s two shootout goals to stand out and for Toronto to earn a key two points as they push for home ice in the playoffs.
The celebration of CJ began the moment they were announced as the starting goaltender for Tuesday’s game, but just try and name another professional player who has been in a 100% support role for almost two full seasons and then finally given their chance leave the ice to the sound of their own name being chanted by a sellout crowd.
It’s unique treatment for a one-of-a-kind person and player like Jackson and it was fully deserved.
Of course, none of this is news or a surprise to the women who have shared a locker room with Jackson for the better part of two seasons.
Any joy or pride that Jackson felt after this game was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the feelings Jackson’s teammates have always had about their No. 3 goalie.
“Someone like CJ deserves more than anything a chance in the net and for us to be able to see every day how much work (they) put in and how good of a teammate (they are),” Turnbull said. “That’s the No. 1 thing with our team. We want people who are good teammates and (they) show up every day. (They’re) the best teammate we have.”
Jackson clearly was moved by the sentiment from the crowd and then from her teammates as they tried, but failed miserably, to give her the silent treatment as she finally entered the locker room caught by the team’s social media feed and shared with the public.
The team remained seated and stone-faced as Jackson entered the locker room for all of about two seconds before launching from their seats to shower their teammate with water and affection in appreciation of Jackson’s performance and all that they have meant to the team.
Head coach Troy Ryan said it was more like a championship celebration than just the normal post-game cheering of a regular-season win, but that speaks to how genuinely happy the Sceptres were for a teammate who has, at least publicly, toiled in the shadows until now.
Being the No. 3 goalie on a team may be one of the toughest roles to fill on any team. You are there with the team every practice, every game, every bus ride, every meeting and the chance to actually contribute in a game is almost non-existent. Injuries occur and chances to play improve, but for the most part you are the ‘break glass in case of emergency’ player.
It takes a special human being to fill that role and not get frustrated at the lack of opportunity and Jackson has mastered it.
“I love what I do,” Jackson said explaining their approach. “I am full of gratitude and lucky to be here. I am kind of the person who is right place, right time. I work very hard and I know that I have earned this and that’s a place of gratitude.
“Whether I am a third, a backup or a starter, it is something that I love to do,” Jackson said. “I love being a hockey player and I love the people I get to do it with so I think of that every morning and every day and I think that puts me in a really good space to enjoy everything that comes my way.”
For Ryan, this one has been a long time coming. He has wanted to get Jackson in the net going back to last season, but with the team’s poor starts both years and the result being the team has been chasing for much of the two years, there just never was a good time for it.
That said, Ryan said Tuesday was the perfect time and it wasn’t just about giving Jackson something they had earned. It was something at this point in the year this team needed.
“I know how much CJ means to our group,” Ryan said. “You knew we would at least try to rally or it would change a bit of the energy right now that is in our room.
“It can be a grind late in the season and then you clinch playoffs and you are trying to say you are fighting for first and all those things, but sometimes that little extra motivation that a personality like CJ brings out in your group is really important.”
Ryan is convinced most of his players will look at Tuesday’s win as one of the most important of the year “simply because it was CJ.”
And that says everything anyone needs to know about Carly (CJ) Jackson.
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