John Curran
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 7, 2008

TUKTOYAKTUK - She may not have skates, but that hasn't stopped Bella Gruben from dreaming about a career as an NHL goalie.

"I want to be a hockey player when I grow up," said the Grade 4 student at Mangilaluk school in Tuktoyaktuk. "I'd like to be a goalie."

A huge Canucks fan, her favourite players are Henrik Sedin and, of course, the team's star netminder Roberto Luongo.

Taking in one of the many ball hockey games that happen around Tuk, it's easy to see she's watched a lot of games and studied the Vancouver goalie's style closely. Her butterfly-approach to the position looks very familiar to anyone who has seen Luongo in action.

Gruben gets her fair share of practice at the position, too.

"We play street hockey almost every night - usually for two or three hours," she said. "I also play most school days at lunch in the gym."

The boys she generally plays with certainly don't hold anything back when Gruben settles into her crease.

"I play a lot with her," said Jessie Elias before unleashing a huge slapshot, which Gruben snared easily in her trapper. "She's OK I guess."

For Gruben, playing against the boys in her community is a huge motivator.

"I really like stopping the boys when they shoot," she said with a devilish grin.

In case she doesn't end up being the first Inuvialuit woman to play professional hockey, Gruben said she is sure to learn all she can in class.

"I like being in school," she said. "My favourite subject is math because I like working with numbers."