National women's hockey team members Becky Kellar and Cheryl Pounder never get tired of telling their gold-medal Olympic story and it seems Canadians never get tired of hearing it.

Kellar and Pounder visited Whitehorse this past weekend as guests of the Yukon Special Olympics Sports Celebrities dinner and auction. Both women, who were also part of the recent 2004 World championship gold-medal winning team, reside in Toronto and play for the Aeros of the National Women's Hockey Association.

'We were asked by a friend to do this,' said Kellar in an interview Friday. 'It's a great cause and it's perfect timing since we're done for the season.'

Since the Olympics, both Kellar and Pounder have spend a lot of time helping out with various charities, including the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Kellar talked about the importance of supporting events such as the Special Olympics fundraiser.

'Key dollars can go a long way to making dreams come true,' she said.

'With the athletes, it's believe in yourself, make your dream come true,' said Pounder of her message this weekend. 'Having support is very important. We were always very lucky. We're fortunate to have key sponsors for the national hockey team.'

Pounder and Kellar have played defence on the national team together since the 1999 World championship. They run hockey schools together for four weeks in the summers. Kellar is also working toward her master's degree in business. Even though the 2002 Olympics has come and gone, and both women have since won World championships and national titles with the Aeros, nothing comes close to Salt Lake City.

'The Olympic final game bar none,' said Kellar, when asked about her greatest moment in sport. 'Just that moment when the buzzer went and we realized we won. We overcame a lot that year. That half hour after the buzzer had gone was something I'll never forget. It's like a picture.

'Every time I look at the gold medal, it still just doesn't seem like it really happened.'

Pounder spoke about the importance of having their families there, in particular her older brother. During her speech at Saturday's dinner, she remembered being forced to play goal as a young girl while her brother and their friends peppered her with shots.

She knew she had really made it when her brother, who painted his face and stomach to match his Team Canada cape in Salt Lake, ran down to the ice after the buzzer went yelling 'that's my sister' to the crowd.

'What's really neat I find is how many people watched the final game at the Olympics,' she said. 'We had been roasted all year. Eight straight games we lost to the Americans. Right after Salt Lake, we came off the plane last.

'We got off the plane in Calgary and it was like pandemonium. Then we realized how many people watched it. That was just great for women's hockey. We honestly thought no one watched that game.'

Neither Pounder nor Kellar ever really thought they'd be playing on the Canadian women's hockey team at the Olympics when they were growing up, though Pounder said she told her grandmother years ago she wanted to be.

'When I was five, I never had the dream of playing in the Olympics because I wasn't a boy,' said Kellar. 'It wasn't until 94 that it (women's hockey) was in the Olympics.'

Kellar recalled with a smile the pink jerseys Canadian women had to wear that year.

'They were awful and I put it on,' she said. 'I would still put it on. I'm glad we don't have to anymore though.'

It's that passion both women spoke of during their speeches at the Special Olympics dinner, and also during the interview.

'It's got to be fun and it's got to be a passion,' said Kellar. 'When you step on the ice and put on that jersey, you've got to be passionate.

'When you step on the ice, you think I am going to be the best.''

'Whenever you're out there, make sure you give it your all,' added Pounder, who stressed hard work and the support of her family as key factors in her success.

The Canadian team was based out of Calgary during their training for the Olympics, but was flown to Val Cartier, Que., for a camp at one point, a place the team dubbed 'Valcatraz'. While Pounder spoke of the grueling fitness tests everyone was put through, and the buckets placed beside the bikes 'just in case we couldn't make it,' she has no doubt every last step was worth it.

'If we could have stopped time, that would be the moment (after the gold medal victory),' she said.

Local hockey player Emma Ulyett, who played on the women's Arctic Winter Games hockey team, got the chance to meet both Pounder and Kellar over the weekend. First, the hockey stars stopped by the Whitehorse girls' practice Saturday afternoon. And at the dinner and auction, Dave Pearson, a friend of Ulyett's father Tom, purchased the jersey on Kellar's back for the young hockey player.

'She was very inspiring,' said a beaming Ulyett, who chatted with Kellar while the Canadian star autographed the gift. 'I've never really met an Olympian before. She told me to follow your dreams and I think I'm going to.

'She told me when she was little, she always wanted to go to the Olympics. My goal is to do that too, just like her. I want to be just like her. I want to go to the Olympics.'

As for the jersey, the aspiring forward is excited to show it off to her friends.

'I'm definitely going to wear it to school on Monday.'

Both Kellar and Pounder left the Yukon on Sunday.