2021 | Massachusetts | GIRLS

Cohasset-Hanover Girls Varsity Ice Hockey | CH | GIRLS

Anna Cain is a 4-year member of the Cohasset/Hanover Girls Varsity Ice Hockey team. A captain, Anna is someone who leads on and off the ice.

On the ice, Anna is a starting defenseman. She works hard in her position to prevent goals and help start the offense. Anna can also take the puck end to end and never takes a shift off. Her sportsmanship is unparalleled. She is a role model to her teammates and I’ve often seen her picking up the spirits of a player who has had a tough shift or help a younger teammate with proper positioning on the ice.

Anna is the voice on the bench that brings unity to the team. Anna’s confidence has grown through the years and she has a great rapport with her coaches. She is always willing to contribute ideas and to ask the hard questions.

Last night Anna’s actions solidified in my mind her nomination for the Hobey Baker award.
We had an away game so we took a team bus. Anna, being the only player on our team from Cohasset, could have driven herself to the game to save a little time on her commute home and to have stayed in a nice warm car instead of a cold bus but instead, she drove to Hanover High School to travel with her team.

Anna played a terrific game. She was called upon to not only play with her normal defensive partner but to also be paired with a freshman to help support her and give her encouragement.
Anna plays on the specialty penalty kill and power play lines and is willing to help her team in any way possible.

After the team returned to Hanover High School, almost all of her teammates had rides waiting for them. All except for one player was heading home within minutes of exiting the bus. As the coach, I wait for all players to leave and called to this player to invite her to sit in my car and stay warm while she waited for her ride. She said she was fine (and who wouldn’t – it’s just weird to sit in your coach’s car) and continued to sit out in the freezing cold.

As I finished loading my car, I looked over and noticed that Anna had pulled her car over to her chilly teammate and started talking to her through the passenger door window. I was far enough away to not hear the conversation but I could tell by the expression on Anna’s face that she was keeping the conversation alive and encouraging her teammate to get into her car to stay warm. It took a few minutes but finally, her teammate accepted her offer and got in the car. Immediately Anna put on her face mask to keep them both safe and their conversation continued. After a couple of minutes, her teammate’s ride arrived and the two teammates parted. Anna waited to make sure her teammate was safely on her way and then headed home.

Witnessing a player’s genuine kindness and thoughtfulness is such an honor as a coach. Anna is a senior from Cohasset and her teammate is a sophomore from Hanover. So they don’t go to the same school. They are not in the same grade and don’t even play the same position and have only been teammates for a little over a season. Anna had the longest ride home of all the players and could have easily left but she didn’t. She looked out for her teammate and exemplified the leadership and strength of character that makes her this year’s Cohasset-Hanover Hobey Baker Award recipient.