NBC10 caught up with Olympic Gold Medalist and National Champion Kali Flanagan about her historic career and what’s next on her horizon.
From a young age, it was clear Kali Flanagan was born to play hockey.
The Massachusetts native traded her figure skates in for hockey skates as a child. She played alongside the boys in her father Bill's organization, the Northern Cyclones, until she was 14.
From there, her hockey career took off. Flanagan served as captain for the girls hockey team at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, New York. She went on to play at Boston College, where she made the senior national team camp and received an opportunity to compete at the 2017 World Championships.
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"That was just the coolest phone call of my life, honestly," Flanagan told NBC10's Hannah Donnelly.
The next day, Flanagan received another phone call, this time from Team USA captain Meghan Duggan.
"She basically was like, 'Look, this is what we're doing. We're gonna boycott the 2017 World Championship if we don't come to a fair conclusion with USA Hockey on our contract negotiations," Flanagan said.
The two sides did reach a fair conclusion on compensation and Team USA won the world championship title. The following year, Flanagan was named to 2018 Olympic team and helped Team USA win their first gold medal since 1998.
The success didn't stop there. Flanagan became an Isobel Cup Champion in 2022 with the Boston Pride to complete the hockey trifecta. And when she isn't competing, she is serving as an assistant coach for the Northern Cyclones alongside her dad in Hudson, New Hampshire.
"I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but I feel as though the sky is the limit and let's just keep going," she said.
Despite all of her accolades, Flanagan takes the most pride in being a role model for the young girls who have the same passion for hockey she did as a child.
"I think it's awesome that we have these little girls that come to our games and they're watching the Pride, and they're watching players, and they get to see us play," she said. "I think it's really important for them."
For the full exclusive 1-on-1 with Flanagan, watch the video below.
