Vibert Finishes As Defensive Leader

By: Brittany Perotti

Posted: 5/6/07

A series of fortunate events and living in a small town led hockey player Natalie Vibert to UConn four years ago.

"I signed late," Vibert said of her decision to come to Storrs. "It was down to the wire and I based it on coach [Heather Linstad]. She had a better reputation than anyone else."

And the Huskies couldn't have been happier that she joined the program.

On the ice, Vibert is one of the most aggressive and hardworking players on the team. Off the ice, Vibert's demeanor is laid back. The captain takes things "one day at a time," she said, sitting relaxed in a chair at the Student Union with her iPod close by. When teammates Cristin Allen, Dominique Thibault and Brittany Wilson come up to say hello, she greets them with a smile and a hug.

It is a combination of drive and an appreciation of the routine elements of life that has defined the success of this senior. She holds the school record for goals scored by a defender and is considered a major contributor to the team's success by her coach.

"She's one of the best skaters I've ever seen in women's ice hockey," Linstad said.

When the coach first met Vibert, her initial impression was "'Wow.' And she certainly hasn't done anything to change that."

"She has a great sense of humor," said Linstad, who calls Vibert a "tree hugger." "She's a solid, good kid. She's somebody you like to be around. She's engaging and interesting to talk to. I have no doubt that she will do great things."

As her teammates leave, Vibert offers Thibault advice, telling her to make sure that she studies for her finals. A player of few words, her support has touched not only her peers but also her coach.

"In her sophomore year, I didn't win Coach of the Year that year," Linstad said. "I can remember her saying to me, 'You know coach, that should've been you.' I've always known she appreciates everything she's gotten here. The way she approaches school and deals with the coaching staff, you know she really, truly appreciated being a scholarship player."

"When Nat speaks, people pay attention," Linstad said.

Her teammates had some stories about Vibert, including one about her punching a teammate.

Allen said the funniest thing that happened was a 5'4" girl punching Thibault, who stands 6'3".

A statement Thibault replied to by saying, "I'm not 6'3"."

"I told Thibault that I would punch her in the head if she screwed up again," Vibert elaborated. "I kept my word and I punched her."

"Did she screw up again?" Allen asked, jokingly. "Yes, but not often."

"She took out a few other people, too," Wilson added. "I was glad I was in the net."

"I was glad I was on her team," Allen said.

Thibault didn't seem to hold a grudge.

"I love the offense," Thibault said. "She's fast and good … she has a great sense of heart. It was nice to have a defender who could bring up the puck."

The captain also represented UConn and Canada at a national level, playing in the All-Star game last year.

"In my junior year, me, Jaclyn Hawkins, Jen Houlden and Kaitlyn Shain played against the U.S. women's ice hockey team to get them ready for the Olympics," she said. "[Linstad] coached the team and it was a fanfare up there in New Hampshire."

What she has accomplished off the ice has also impressed people. The Ontario native completed her undergraduate degree in three years and is completing her master's degree in geography.

"Coach told me I could do as much school as I wanted to as long as I played all four years," Vibert said. "I'm doing my thesis on flood plain forest. This fall, I did most of my research and I had to measure the trees, which had poison ivy on them. I'm really allergic to poison ivy. Coach would always ask me if I was hugging trees, which I was. I have a picture of me hugging one and she thought that was funny."

Playing hockey wasn't always a goal, Vibert said. Originally, she said, hockey started out as something fun to do in the winter and it wasn't until later on that she became serious about the sport.

"Across the street from my house there was an outdoor rink," Vibert said, describing her hometown, just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario. "My older sister, who is 18 months older than me and I started playing on it. She was eight and I was seven. I played all the way through. My brother flooded the ice and took care of the neighborhood kids. It was a pretty isolated town. We hung out at the rink."

But there was a limit.

"We had to come home when the Christmas lights came on," she said. "Our friends would tell us that the lights were on, but we tried not to recognize that the Christmas lights were on."

"They [our parents] wanted us to come home and go to bed, but they knew where we were," Vibert said, adding that it was hard to get into trouble even if you tried.

In her junior year of high school, she decided to pack her bags and move to Toronto, where she could play on a high school team before joining the Huskies.

"The first year, it was exciting to be away from home," Vibert said of the experience. "Now that I look back on it, I kind of wish I had stuck around for one more year."

Aside from those nights on the ice and winter leagues, Vibert did not have much experience, having never played on a recreational team. But after seeing Vibert on the ice, one may find it difficult to believe that she hadn't seriously considered hockey until her teenage years.

"Someone told me I might be good enough to play on a provincial team, but in order to play I had to play on a girl's team," Vibert said. "I played against both boys and girls. I played against boys all the way up … it was great for developing hockey skills. It was a fun sport for me, but not my social life."

Growing up, she said she admired Doug Gilmour of the Maple Leafs.

"We only got a couple of channels, so it was basically what you watched."

The down-to-earth Vibert never owned a cell phone during her collegiate career. Her favorite movie is the "first 20 minutes of Super Troopers. We have it in our apartment and we'll pop it in. The rest of the movie is pretty stupid. But yeah, that's my favorite movie."

"I'm pretty buddy-buddy," she said. "I'm not the social butterfly I was as a freshman and sophomore, but that doesn't really bother me."

Now, she's ready to go back to where it all started.

"I'm excited to go back," she said. "I don't think I'll have a job until Christmas, so I'll have six to eight months off. I have a nephew up there and two more on the way so it'll be fun to hang out with them and see them grow up. It's easy to go back."

"She's a great leader," Wilson said. "She led by example. She would always be the first to let you know when you screwed up."

"She'd be the first to admit when she made a mistake," Allen added. "She's tough. She's a legend."