“My dad was actually born in [Guangzhou], China. At two years old, because of the Cultural Revolution that was going on there, [the family] went to Hong Kong. From there they came over to the US when he was 16 years old. Definitely a true immigrant with the experience of not having a lot of money, sharing a one-bedroom apartment with three other families ... that was their reality. So I’m very grateful for everything they’ve given me along the way,” Chu said on the NHL’s Soul on Ice podcast.

Despite ice hockey’s reputation as being a male-dominated, brawl-heavy sport, Chu’s parents had no issues with their daughter following in their son’s footsteps and playing in a boys team. Freedom to decide was most important, she explained.

“My parents weren’t about closing doors. They went to the local rink in Bridgeport, Connecticut, suited my brother up in hockey gear and he learned to play. My sister and I went into the stereotypical figure skating role, but I was not a stereotypical kid – kind of like a wrecking ball – so two months later I wanted to play hockey. My parent said yes just because I wanted to, not because of the Olympics or scholarships or anything like that.”

Chu, who would go on to be the NCAA’s all-time assists leader and points scorer (until 2011), also noted that it was actually the generation above her that caused the most difficulties in integration, recalling a time when a high school opposition team coach walked in and said “good luck with that” after noticing there was a woman in the midst.

“What I learned later on was more comments from parents. If anything, it’s the adults that get in the way ... and spread the negativity. Yes, we [kids] are still going to pick on each other or someone’s going to have a joke about my last name or that I’m a girl, but it was pretty minimal compared to some of the comments,” she said, before recalling the turning point at which she started to embrace her culture-bridging role in sport.

“When I first joined the national team, I didn’t realise how important that was. I was working in a camp with [former US women’s team captain and Olympic gold medallist] Cammi Granato when I was 18 years old. This naive happy-go-lucky kid that was excited to be around my role model and get a chance to coach.

“I remember the second day there was [an Asian] mum that came up to me and said, ‘I just want to let you know that my daughter came home last night and said there’s someone else at camp that looks like me’.” And it just blew me back because it was the first time I realised how important it is for young girls and Asian and Pacific Islander girls to have great role models to aspire to.

“To see how we can connect with different organisations to get young girls or people in the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community out and trying hockey for the first time, which isn’t always easy. We’ve been trying to break down those barriers and continue to do so.”

Chu is now a coach (highlights include helping the University of Minnesota to an NCAA Division One championship) and married to Canadian women’s ice hockey legend Caroline Ouellette. Most remarkable is that the pair managed to find love despite being long-time rivals, having faced off in multiple Olympic Games and world championships. Now with two children, Chu hopes to continue to break barriers in a sport still rife with them.

“It’s incredible. You look at the comments and the naysayers – they’ve never even seen the game of women’s ice hockey before. We’ve been fighting that battle for a long time and it’s something that we don’t really have a choice in.

“Now that extra layer is important for me because I’ve got nieces and nephews, my own children, and I want them to know that they don’t have to be limited or wonder if they should be involved in something because they haven’t seen someone similar involved in it before.

“Part of that in hockey, which has been so special to me, is finding a way to make it more visible for minorities so it’s a wider pool for young girls to look up and think ‘maybe I can try that’.”