Canadian Women's Hockey League

Canadian Women's Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 2007
Commissioner Brenda Andress
No. of teams 5
Countries Canada, United States
Headquarters Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Most recent
champion(s)		 Calgary Inferno
TV partner(s) Rogers Sportsnet
Official website CWHL.ca

The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) is the highest women's ice hockey league in Canada. The CWHL was founded in 2007. The league currently has five teams: two in Ontario, one in Quebec, one in Alberta and one in Boston, Massachusetts.

History

The CWHL was an initiative spearheaded by players such as Lisa-Marie Breton, Allyson Fox, Kathleen Kauth, Kim McCullough, Sami Jo Small and Jennifer Botterill, all of whom played in the recently disbanded (in 2007) National Women's Hockey League. The players worked with a group of volunteer business people to form the CWHL by following the example of the National Lacrosse League. The league would be responsible for all travel, ice rental and uniform costs, plus some equipment,[1] but does not pay players.[2]

Seasons

2007–2008 season

Main article: 2007–08 CWHL season

The Brampton Canadettes Thunder won the first CWHL championship on 22 March 2008, winning 4–3 over the Mississauga Chiefs in the final.[3] Molly Engstrom scored the overtime-winning goal while Lori Dupuis won the Championship Game MVP honours. At end of the 2007–08 season, Jayna Hefford was voted the league's regular-season Most Valuable Player. Jennifer Botterill won the Angela James Bowl as the league's top scorer and was voted the CWHL Top Forward. Becky Kellar was voted the CWHL Top Defender, Kim St-Pierre was voted the CWHL Top Goaltender, and Marie-Philip Poulin was voted the CWHL Outstanding Rookie.[4]

Also in 2007, Hockey Canada announced it would revamp the Esso Women's Nationals, with the Western Women's Hockey League champion and finalist meeting the Canadian Women's Hockey League champion and finalist.[5] Since 2009, teams from the two leagues instead compete for the Clarkson Cup at the end of the season.

2008–2009 season

Main article: 2008-09 CWHL season

In 2008–09, the Montreal Stars repeated as regular season champions, winning a league record 25 games. At the season's end, Caroline Ouellette was voted the league's regular-season Most Valuable Player. Jayna Hefford won the Angela James Bowl with a new record of 69 points and was also voted the CWHL Top Forward. Becky Kellar was voted the CWHL Top Defender, Kim St-Pierre was voted the CWHL Top Goaltender, and Laura Hosier was voted the CWHL Outstanding Rookie.

2009–2010 season

Main article: 2009-10 CWHL season

In 2009–10, Sabrina Harbec won the Angela James Bowl as the top scorer as the Stars repeated as regular-season champions. She was also voted the league's most valuable player, the CWHL Top Forward and a CWHL First Team All-Star. Teammate Annie Guay was voted CWHL Top Defender while Laura Hosier was voted CWHL Top Goaltender. Danielle Blanchard was voted CWHL Outstanding Rookie.

2010–2011 season

Main article: 2010-11 CWHL season

2011–2012 season

Main article: 2011-12 CWHL season

The league announced on April 19, 2011, that it would merge with the Western Women's Hockey League for the 2011-12 CWHL season. The merger will feature one team based in Edmonton and Calgary and is a combination of the former WWHL franchises the Edmonton Chimos and Strathmore Rockies. The team will play their games in various locations around Alberta.[6] The WWHL announced that there was in fact no merger and that the WWHL would continue for the 2011–12 season with two new teams joining the league. Strathmore and Edmonton were welcome to depart the WWHL but the league would not disband as initially reported by the CWHL through various media outlets.

2012–2013 season

Main article: 2012-13 CWHL season

In the summer of 2012, the league announced that it would fold its Burlington club in order to strengthen the league. The league also created a draft system whereby players in Boston, Alberta and Montreal could choose which team they would play on, but players in the Toronto area could be forced to play for one of the two remaining GTA teams, Brampton or Toronto. Further, a player's pre-draft declaration of the regional area in which they wished to play could be altered after the draft. As a result of these rules, players wishing to leave GTA-area teams to play in Boston, Alberta or Montreal could do so as desired, without compensation to the GTA-area team that they left. Players who wished to leave one GTA-area team to go to the other GTA-area team could only be moved upon a trade between the teams.

On November 13, 2012, in a reversal from its previous position that sponsorships could not be directed to a particular team, the CWHL announced that the Toronto Furies would be partnering with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL in a multi-year deal by which the Maple Leafs would provide funding for coaches, equipment and travel expenses. The CWHL announced a similar partnership between the Alberta CWHL entry and the Calgary Flames.

2013–2014 season

Main article: 2013-14 CWHL season

2014–2015 season

The league held its 1st Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game on December 13, 2014 at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.

Teams

Current teams

Team City Primary Arena Championships Clarkson Cups Notes
Boston Blades Boston New England Sports Center 2 2
Brampton Thunder Brampton Memorial Arena 1 0
Calgary Inferno Calgary WinSport Canada 0 1 Formerly Team Alberta Honeybadgers (2011–12)
Les Canadiennes Montreal Centre Étienne Desmarteau 2 3 Formerly Montreal Stars (2007–15)
Toronto Furies Toronto MasterCard Centre 1 1

Former teams

Team City Primary Arena Championships Clarkson Cups Notes
Burlington Barracudas Burlington, Ontario Appleby Ice Center 0 0
Mississauga Chiefs Mississauga, Ontario Hershey Centre 0 0
Ottawa Senators Ottawa, Ontario Bell Sensplex 0 0 Previously CWHL Capital Canucks
Phénix du Québec Quebec City, Quebec 0 0
Toronto Aeros Toronto, Ontario Iceland Mississauga and MasterCard Centre 0 0
Vaughan Flames Vaughan, Ontario Vaughan Sports Village 0 0

Championships

Season Champion Points leader (team) Points leader (player)
2007–2008 Brampton Thunder Montreal Stars (47) Jennifer Botterill (61)
2008–2009 Montreal Stars Montreal Stars (49)
2009–2010 N/A[NB 1] Montreal Stars (48) Sabrina Harbec (55)
2010–2011 Montreal Stars Montreal Stars (46) Caroline Ouellette (69)
2011–2012 Montreal Stars Montreal Stars (51) Meghan Agosta (80)
2012–2013 Boston Blades Boston Blades (39) Meghan Agosta-Marciano (46)
2013–2014 Toronto Furies Montreal Stars (42) Ann-Sophie Bettez (40)
2014–2015 Boston Blades Boston Blades (35) Rebecca Johnston (37)
2015–2016 Calgary Inferno Les Canadiennes (42) Marie-Philip Poulin (46)

2007–2008 Championship

CWHL Division
No. Team GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
1 Brampton Thunder 30 22 7 0 1 45 111 59
2 Mississauga Chiefs 30 21 8 0 1 43 115 61
3 Vaughan Flames 30 12 16 2 0 26 69 101
4 Burlington Barracudas 30 11 18 0 1 23 76 98
Eastern Division
No. Team GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
1 Montreal Stars 30 23 6 1 0 47 115 55
2 Ottawa Capital Canucks 30 8 19 0 3 19 58 104
3 Quebec Phenix 30 8 21 0 1 17 56 122

[7]

Playoffs

Brampton Thunder won the first Championship of the CWHL.

2008–2009 Championship

CWHL Division
No. Team GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
1 Montreal Stars 30 25 4 0 1 51 135 66
2 Brampton Thunder 30 22 7 0 1 45 136 65
3 Mississauga Chiefs 30 19 9 1 1 40 101 69
4 Burlington Barracudas 30 11 16 1 2 25 82 99
5 Vaughan Flames 30 9 19 0 2 20 82 127
6 Ottawa Senators 30 4 26 0 0 8 57 167

[8]

Playoffs

Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL

2009–2010 Championship

CWHL Division
No. Team GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
1 Montreal Stars 30 23 5 0 2 48 122 70
2 Mississauga Chiefs 30 22 7 0 1 45 94 57
3 Burlington Barracudas 30 19 8 0 3 41 94 80
4 Brampton Thunder 30 12 15 2 1 27 80 82
5 Vaughan Flames 30 9 20 0 1 19 78 115
6 Ottawa Senators 30 5 23 1 1 12 61 125

[9]

Playoffs

Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL.

2010–2011 Championship

The 2010–11 CWHL season is the fourth in the history of the League. There is an addition of one expansion's team: Boston Blades. A request was made for an endorsement of the National Hockey League as an official NHL women's league.[10][11] However, the CWHL has yet to receive a decision from the NHL.[12]

CWHL Division
No. Team GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
1 Montreal 26 22 2 0 2 46 125 70
2 Brampton 26 19 5 1 1 40 111 69
3 Boston 26 10 15 1 0 21 73 101
4 Toronto 26 8 13 0 5 21 83 98
5 Burlington 26 6 18 1 1 14 54 108

[13]

Playoffs

Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL.[14] Montreal, Brampton and Toronto will compete for the 2011 Clarkson Cup. The Montreal Stars also won the 2011 Clarkson Cup champions after defeating Toronto 5–0 in the tournament's final game.

2011–2012 Championship

Season standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.

Regular season
No. Team GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 Montreal Stars 27 22 4 1 160 66 51
2 Boston Blades 27 20 7 0 107 61 46
3 Brampton Thunder 27 18 7 2 102 80 40
4 Toronto Furies 27 9 13 5 75 105 26
5 Alberta CWHL 15 5 10 0 38 66 20
6 Burlington Barracudas 27 1 26 0 46 150 2

Team Alberta CWHL plays fewer regular-season games than the other CWHL teams because of travel expenses. Points are consequently adjusted with another teams.

[15]

2012–2013 Championship

2013–2014 Championship

Drafts

The first ever league draft was held on August 12, 2010 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. In the 2010 CWHL Draft, Olympic gold medallist Tessa Bonhomme was the first overall selection.[16]

First overall picks

Draft year PlayerTeamCollege
2010 Tessa Bonhomme Toronto Aeros Ohio State Buckeyes
2011 Meghan Agosta Montreal Stars Mercyhurst Lakers
2012 Hillary Pattenden Alberta Honeybadgers Mercyhurst Lakers
2013 Jessica Wong Alberta Honeybadgers Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs
2014 Laura Fortino Brampton Thunder Cornell Big Red
2015 Sarah Edney Brampton Thunder Harvard Crimson

All-time leaderboard

All-time leading scorers (2007–08 to 2014–15)

The annual CWHL scoring champion wins the Angela James Bowl. In 2011–12, rookie Meghan Agosta set a CWHL single-season record with 80 points.

Player Team Games Goals Assists Points
Caroline Ouellette Montréal 124 100 146 246
Jayna Hefford Brampton 128 130 104 234
Noémie Marin Montréal 134 101 96 197
Jennifer Botterill Mississauga, Toronto 76 62 92 154
Lori Dupuis Brampton 153 63 86 149
Sommer West Mississauga, Burlington, Toronto 126 60 89 149
Sabrina Harbec Montréal 85 49 90 139
Gillian Apps Brampton 126 68 66 134
Jana (Harrigan) Head Burlington, Brampton 140 64 70 134
Meghan Agosta Montréal 50 57 69 126

[17]

All-time leaders in shutouts (2007–08 to 2014–15)

Most shutouts during the CWHL regular season. Kim St-Pierre (2008–09) and Sami Jo Small (2009–10) hold the single-season record with five shutouts.

Player Team Shutouts
Sami Jo Small Mississauga, Toronto 15
Jenny Lavigne Montréal 8
Kim St-Pierre Montréal 8
Mandy Cronin Brampton, Burlington, Boston 6

NCAA exhibition

Date CWHL team NCAA school Score CWHL goal scorers
Oct. 25, 2011Brampton ThunderCornell Big Red women's ice hockey Cornell, 6–0[18]None
Nov. 2, 2011Brampton ThunderMercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey Brampton, 3–1Jayna Hefford, Jesse Scanzano, Vicki Bendus[19]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Champion not determined, played for Clarkson Cup without determining one first

References

  1. ↑ Martin Cleary (2007-09-30). "Dreaming of a league of her own". Canada.com. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  2. ↑ Longman, Jeré (2013-11-18). "Crashing the Boards and Cracking the Books". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Brampton Claims Inaugural CWHL Title". The Brampton News. March 25, 2008.
  4. ↑ Year-end statistics can be reviewed in the 2007–08 CWHL Year in Review document at http://www.hockeymedia.ca/Womens_2009_pdf.pdf.
  5. ↑ "Players form new Canadian Women's Hockey League". The Star. Toronto. September 27, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Chimos Part of Merger With CWHL". EdmontonChimos.com. April 25, 2011. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ Angela James Bowl Scoring Champions, p. 6, hockeyMedia Richard Scott, Up North Productions, 2013, ISBN 978-0-9918671-0-3
  8. ↑ Angela James Bowl Scoring Champions, p. 12, hockeyMedia Richard Scott, Up North Productions, 2013, ISBN 978-0-9918671-0-3
  9. ↑ Angela James Bowl Scoring Champions, p. 18, hockeyMedia, Richard Scott, Up North Productions, 2013, ISBN 978-0-9918671-0-3
  10. ↑ Mike Burse (2010-07-17). "Possible NHL and CWHL Partnership in the Works". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  11. ↑ "NHL talks raise hopes of pro women's league". TheStar.com. October 13, 2010.
  12. ↑ (French) report of Radio-Canada Anonymat quasi complet
  13. ↑ Angela James Bowl Scoring Champions, p. 24, hockeyMedia Richard Scott, Up North Productions, 2013, ISBN 978-0-9918671-0-3
  14. ↑ Montreal reigns supreme in women’s hockey, http://cwhl.ca/news.asp?id=72
  15. ↑ CWHL Standings
  16. ↑ "Inside the CWHL: Inaugural draft makes women's hockey history". TMLfans.ca. August 14, 2010. Archived from the original on August 14, 2010.
  17. ↑ Richard Scott. "Women's Hockey Review" (PDF). Up North Productions. ISBN 9780991867158.
  18. ↑ "Hockey Game Box Score, Brampton vs. Cornell University" (PDF). CornellBigRed.com. 14 October 2011.
  19. ↑ "Mercyhurst Athletics – Women's Hockey Falls Short As Bendus And Scanzano Return". Hurstathletics.com. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  20. ↑ "Mercyhurst Athletics – Women's Hockey Falls Short As Bendus And Scanzano Return". Hurstathletics.com. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  21. ↑ "Brampton Thunder vs Mercyhurst College (Nov 02, 2011)". Hurstathletics.com. 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2014-07-18.

League Website

External news story

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