2010 Winter Olympics Player Profile: Jenny Potter, Hockey Mom Hero

Jenny Potter, known outside of U.S.A. hockey circles as Jenny Schmidgall-Potter, has played in every Olympic hockey tournament since the IOC introduced the event in 1998, at the Nagano games.

She has only taken a break from hockey for the births of her two children, Madison and Cullen.

When she was the youngest player on the 1998 team, which was led by U.S. women's hockey legend Cammi Granato, she never imagined that her hockey journey would take her all over the world.

Of course, now she has a gold, silver, and a bronze medal for her efforts and the juggling act that comes with playing hockey and raising two children.  

And of course, there are these Vancouver games to worry about.

Being the only mother on the team, she never ceases to amaze her teammates.

U.S. forward Julie Chu said once, "At the end of the day, we lift, we practice, we're exhausted, and we take a two hour nap.  She goes home, takes care of her family, and then goes to work.  She's really an incredible person."

The sports greatest player, Canadian forward Hayley Wickenheiser was asked at the 2007 World Championships who, besides herself, could be considered the best player in the world.  

Without hesitation, she named Potter.

This remark even holds more true now, as she has become the lifetime leading scorer in U.S. Women's Hockey history, surpassing the mark set by Granato, with two hat tricks in as many games to open this Olympic tournament.

This says everything about her caliber, but nothing about her life.

While traveling the world with the powerhouse that is U.S. Women's Hockey, she is forced to saddle her husband Rob with the duties of parenthood.  

Rob is a high school hockey coach and together they run a hockey camp in Edina, Minn.

She sometimes regrets leaving her partner in life with both kids while she is traveling or training, but she is content in the fact that her kids are well taken care of.

And in this digital age, Skype has become her best friend in keeping her connected with her family back home.

Her daughter Madison seems to be taking to the other competitive sport Potter participated in, swimming.  

With the future of this Olympic tournament in question, the possibility of Potter pursuing a fifth Olympic games in Sochi 2014 is unclear.  Potter always has a family-first mentality and they will make that decision as a group when the time comes.

For now, there are these games, and the gold medal match with Canada.