When she was banned from the Russian weightlifting federation, Valieva wanted to find a sport that could benefit from her stature. She fell in love with hockey. The violence associated with it, and how she could stay in front of the net without being able to skate and be able to make a difference. It was not easy at first. Her main strategy was to injure the goalies so her teammates could score, but it become unsustainable in the long run. She was then politely asked to leave the Russian Woman Hockey team and she learned a lot in a semi-pro league in Siberia. She learned to skate. She learned to shoot. She learned to get the puck in the corners. She never dreamt of playing in the SHL, but she learned a lot from her teammates and coaches in Kelowna. Her first two years were uneventful (on the ice, at least). This year, she managed to score more goals and get more points than her two previous seasons combined.