Some around the Northeastern community may know of Brooke White for her role as a member of the school’s ice hockey team. After all, she is the team’s leading scorer (15 points), and is one of the few veterans on a very green 5-9-2 squad.
Still, those who know her personally are aware of her electric and vibrant character as well. But most are oblivious to her brief-yet brilliant-career on the silver screen. That’s right, she’s a movie star.
When White was young, her parents were uneasy about her desire to follow in her brothers’ footsteps by playing hockey. “They [my parents] wouldn’t let me start until I was completely sure it was what I wanted. So they put me in acting classes,” said White.
“After I finished my classes, they asked me, ‘Now what do you want to do?’ and I was just like ‘I want to play hockey.’ ”
Later, while her father served as the technical advisor to the Mighty Ducks trilogy of “classics,” White made her first – and only -appearance on the big screen. “I was a skating double,” White said. “A bunch of the guys that were on our hockey team were in the movie as well. Hardly an actress, but it was a cool experience.”
It is important to note that when White makes reference to the “guys” on her team, she isn’t speaking in figurative terms.
While attending prep school in Lake Placid, New York, White was a member of both the boys’ and girls’ ice hockey teams. “I loved it, I had ice all the time,” White said. “We’d skate during the day with the guys, and then at night we had the girls’ practice.”
Hockey is more than just a sport to White; it’s a way of life. White becomes filled with emotion when discussing the role of hockey in her life. “Basically, hockey has shaped me as the person I am today. My discipline off the ice, whether it be not to do something or not to put myself in a certain situation, it’s all geared toward my aspirations and goals and my future,” White said. “If I didn’t have hockey, I wouldn’t have those goals. Hockey is life for me.”
The White family is quite familiar with the game. Her father played semi-professional hockey in Dallas, and has coached the sport for 22 years. “Having my dad as my coach really drove me,” White said. “He was always pushing me to be as good as I could be, to be better than my brothers.”
Her brothers, J.P. and Brad, played hockey competitively as well. Brad had a stint with the Toledo Storm, while J.P. finished his career by playing at Niagara University.
“Looking up to my brothers and seeing them play made me want to do it even more. They were there for me when I was younger, pushing me to be better, and I would push them. I was like a little gnat constantly bugging them,” she said.
From the very beginning, White’s number one goal was evident: to represent her country in the Olympic games. “I remember when I was real little reading an article on Cammi Granato and how women’s hockey might become an Olympic sport in 1998. From that point on, it was my dream.”
Although she hasn’t achieved the vision yet, White is no stranger to the U.S. national team. In August of both 1999 and 2000, White spent time on the U.S. Under-22 team, competing against the Canadian national team. In November, White will join the U.S. national team for the Four Nations Cup in Kitchner, Ontario.
“I was at the ’97 tryout for the ’98 Olympics. That was the first step, and I didn’t make it,” she said. “I didn’t let that stop me though; I’ve kept working because I love the game.”
For the Huskies, White hopes to bring home a conference championship, as well as the team’s 15th Beanpot Tournament triumph.
Northeastern joins Boston College, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Providence for the women’s inaugural Hockey East season.
The team was formerly a member of the ECAC conference. “Last year was really disappointing. We did well, but to make it to the final game and lose by a goal to Providence in the ECAC championships was disappointing,” White said. “We had to sit around and wait to see if we were in the Final Four, and we didn’t get picked, that was obviously devastating. We worked hard and knew we could play with anyone in the nation.
Despite a difficult start to the season, White has great aspirations for this season’s squad.
“Going out my senior year with a Hockey East championship, during the inaugural year, that would be something that no one else can ever claim. That and bringing a Beanpot title back before I leave are my two biggest team goals.”
Notes: The Northeastern penalty killing unit has thwarted 54 of 62 attempts (.871), which is tops in Hockey East and 12th in the country… Junior Chanda Gunn is second in the country in save percentage (.934) and eighth in goals against average (1.98).
