'They are real hockey players now': Italy's performance in women's hockey could be transformative

Chris Jones reports from Milan.

One dream is over. A different dreaming has just begun.

The Italian women’s hockey team — with a Canadian general manager, a Canadian head coach, and a former member of Canada’s team — lost its quarterfinal to the fearsome Americans, 6-0.

But even as this unlikely team disassembles and leaves Milan, its aftereffects will linger. Now hockey exists for women in Italy. Hockey exists for girls.

Daniele Sauvageau, the Hall of Fame coach and builder, will go back to her day job as the general manager of the PWHL’s Montreal Victoire, but she will remain invested in her other grand project.

“It will be fun to see,” she said. “Every Olympics, there’s some magic happening. This is it. This experience will be part of my heart forever. It’s as simple as that.”

Eric Bouchard will return to Shawinigan, where he’s an assistant for the QMJHL’s Cataractes. He, too, will carry this team’s achievements with him.

“I’m so thankful for this group,” he said. “This group has been my family. We were all in this together.”

Americans advance to semifinals with shutout win over host nation Italy

And Laura Fortino, a two-time Canadian Olympian and gold medal winner in 2014, will stay in Italy, playing hockey where her grandparents once lived.

“I’m pretty sad that it’s over,” she said. “Any time an Olympics comes to an end, it’s a lot of emotion. But I stand here, with this jersey on, with so much pride.”

To qualify to play for Italy, the 35-year-old had to spend two seasons in the country’s nascent women’s league. (There are fewer than 500 women registered to play hockey in Italy.) She grew up in Hamilton, hearing her family’s stories of home. Now whenever she goes back to Canada, she tells them hers.

“It’s been