Hockey Puts Smile on Cameranesi's Face

When the process began, there were more than 300 hopefuls trying to land a spot on the USA Hockey Women's National U18 team. Now that number has been whittled to 28 and Plymouth's Dani Cameranesi is still in the running.

“I'm very happy to be here,” Cameranesi said. “This is what I've been working for since I was little.”

Cameranesi is still no giant, standing just 5-foot-5.

“Dani might be low to the ground, but she's got great quickness and she's a great skater. She does a lot of things well in the defensive zone,” said Heather Linstad, head coach of the U.S. U18 team. “She's got a lot of offensive gifts to bring to the line.”

Cameranesi started skating when she was 2 and was playing hockey by the time she was 5.

“Most of my cousins and my older brothers played,” she said.

She played boys hockey in Wayzata through bantams, then made the high school team at Blake, where she'll be a junior this season, as an eighth grader.

“Hockey, I just love it,” said Cameranesi, who also tried other sports and activities when she was younger. “I used to play soccer and I played lacross for one year, and I used to be in dance when I was younger.

But her mom said she was always crabby when she danced, but smiling when she played hockey.

"She thought it would have been the opposite,” Cameranesi said.

The national festival has been a learning experience.

“I didn't know what to expect, but it's been great so far,” she said. “I'm having a lot of fun with the girls up here, and they're all pushing me to do my best.”

The festival started last week and continues through Saturday at the National Sports Center.