1. When Shannon Szabados — at only 16 years old — became the first woman to play in the Western Hockey League.
2. And continues to fight, and shut down, all the sexism strewn her way.
3. O, and you might have heard of a little-known player named Hayley Wickenheiser.
4. When Hayley gave this mic-dropping quote after they beat the U.S. in the 2002 Olympics.
The Canadian flag rumour later turned out to be untrue, but it at least got the entire Canadian team fired up.
5. And when in 2013, instead of rigourous Olympic training, she used her superpowers to help strip down and rebuild flooded homes in Calgary.
6. When this incredible Ann-Renée Desbiens moment/maneuver happened this year during a game against the Russian team.
7. And when Geraldine Heaney scored this effortless goal for gold against the US in 1990.
8. Then there's Angela James. She was dubbed the "first superstar of women's hockey," the first female player ever to be inducted into the HHOF, and the first and only African-Canadian to captain a national team.
9. When Tara Watchorn punk'd the men's league players and pretended she was a rookie and didn't know how to play...
View this video on YouTube
"What's offsides?"
10. ...Only to lap and score on them.
11. When the International Ice Hockey Federation refused to recognize the Women's World Championship in 1987, so Canada went and hosted it anyway.
It was the first (yet unofficial) major world tournament, before the IIHF decided to launch their official world championship in 1990. O yeah, and Team Canada won the tournament!
12. When Kim St. Pierre became the first woman to win a men's regular season game in Canadian university hockey in 2003.
13. When Marie Philip Poulin scored the game-winning goal in last year's Sochi finals and did this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ like it was nothing.
14. (And let's not don't forget when she also scored the game-winning goal at the Vancouver games four years prior.)
15. Which was celebrated, appropriately, like this:
16. And this:
17. When their celebration caused a "stir," Canadians quickly leapt to their defense.
The IOC can suck it. Damn right I would've done the same thing. "Beer-guzzling, champagne swigging, cigar-smoking Cdn women's hockey team."
18. When, after their massive win in Sochi, the ladies thoughtfully sent the following letter to the men's team.
19. And they both took home gold — a moment of history that probably deserves its own Heritage Minute.
20. The girls' efforts inspired people to rethink and reclaim the fundamentally offensive "play like a girl" phrase.
21. So, on behalf of women's hockey, sorry for playing like a girl. Sorry for kicking a lot of butt. Sorry for winning a lot.
A special thanks and dap to the Canadian Women's Hockey League for their help on this!