CALGARY – The way head coach Ryan Walter sees it, Canada’s national women’s team is a mixture of three distinct groups.

First, you have the veterans, led by Hayley Wickenheiser, Caroline Ouellette and Jayna Hefford, three players who have helped the team to three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Winter Games.

Secondly, there are the youngsters – superstars-in-the-making like Marie-Philip Poulin and Brianne Jenner.

And sandwiched in the middle is Walter’s third group, made up of some players in their early to mid-20s.

Team Canada lost a number of players to retirement in the months following its win at the Vancouver Olympics. Becky Kellar, Colleen Sostorics, Carla MacLeod, Gina Kingsbury and Jennifer Botterill have all left, leaving a leadership void that needs to be filled.

“We have the veterans that have been amazing and have been highly successful,” says Walter, who is in his first season as head coach of Canada’s national women’s team. “We have that middle group, players who are in their 20s. And then we have the young kids. We’re really looking for the Meghan Agostas and the Rebecca Johnstons and others to really step up. They don’t need to take over at all. Our veterans are still spectacular leaders but (players in that middle group) do need to bare a little more weight in their opportunity with the team.”

And you can be sure that these players are excited to meet the challenge offered them by Walter. You need only to spend some time talking to Johnston.

The 5’7” (170 cm) forward has turned heads over the past few seasons with her blazing speed. Johnston’s first camp with Canada’s senior team was in 2007 in Prince George, British Columbia. Her speed was noticeable then.

Johnston, just 21 years of age, has a background in track and field running. Many times, even in her early days with the team, she would clearly beat opposing forwards and defencemen to loose pucks with those long, powerful legs.

But, last season, in which Johnston was centralized with Team Canada in Calgary from August 2009 through the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, she took her game to a new level.

Johnston started to use her speed to drive to the net – and did so with almost reckless abandon, à la Glenn Anderson back in the Edmonton Oiler heydays. That resulted in a much more dangerous offensive player for the opposition to contain.

Today, Johnston looks back at the Olympic season as one in which she gained more confidence, on the ice, and off it.

“I don’t know if my role has changed,” Johnston says when asked if she feels she will be relied on more this year. “I’m still going to be the same type of player they’re looking for on the ice. But I have a little more confidence in myself because I know I can do it and play at this level. Before, I might have been a little more nervous... as it was my first time being with the national program.”

Johnston recently completed her third season at Cornell University, where she posted an impressive 49 points in 32 games. That was second only to Jenner, who hit 50 points in the same number of games.

Jenner and Johnston – Double J – led the Cornell Big Red to the NCAA national semi-final. Considering both are eligible to return next season, Cornell will be considered a favourite at the Frozen Four.

But the focus right now is on the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship.

Johnston will be counted on to provide some of Canada’s offensive punch. And, while she has taken great strides in improving her game on the ice, let’s not forget about the off-ice component that is so important in team sports.

Johnston may not be one of the team leaders now. But that could change in the near future, as more and more vets retire.

“I have learned a lot in the past year, especially having gone to the Olympics and being centralized. I learned a lot from the older veteran players like Ouellette and Wickenheiser,” Johnston says. “Throughout last year, we also did a lot of media interviews and appearances. I find that I’m more comfortable with it than I have been in the past.”

Walter says Canada’s middle group can be a difference maker at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship that starts Saturday. And he has high praise for Johnston.

“I met her for the first time at camp in September. Rebecca Johnston is a great example of someone who is just at the edge of knowing how good she can be,” Walter says. “She had a great finish to the (2010) 4 Nations Cup and was a real steady player for us, someone who we could rely on and someone who went to the net really well.”

Walter mentions another player in that middle group who will be a leader in the future. Haley Irwin, a linemate of Johnston’s throughout the 2009-10 season, has progressively improved her game. While Johnston’s game relies on speed, Irwin can be described as an all-around player who isn’t afraid to score tough goals.

“You’ve got players like Haley Irwin and Rebecca Johnston that are really on that edge,” he says. “Most of the time, good players trying to become great players comes down to consistency.”

Johnston and Irwin aren’t the future. They’re the present. Hockey fans in Switzerland should be excited to see these two fine young players as Team Canada looks to add another gold medal to its already-impressive history.

CHRIS JUREWICZ