| Sport | Ice Hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Official website | www.cwhl.ca |
The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) is one of two major women's ice hockey leagues in Canada. The league was founded in 2007. The league currently has six ice hockey teams: three in Ontario, one in Quebec, one in Alberta and one in Boston, Massachusetts.
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The CWHL was an initiative spearheaded by players such as Lisa-Marie Breton, Allyson Fox, Kathleen Kauth, Kim McCullough, along with national team members Sami Jo Small and Jennifer Botterill. 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]
The Brampton Canadettes Thunder won the first CWHL championship on 22 March 2008, winning 4-3 over the Mississauga Chiefs in the final[2]. 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[3].
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[4]. Since 2009, teams from the two leagues instead compete for the Clarkson Cup at the end of the 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.
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.
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.[5] 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.
| Current Teams | City | Primary Arena | ESSO National Championships/Clarkson Cups | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Alberta CWHL | Calgary, AB/Edmonton, AB | Various homes throughout Alberta | 0 | |
| Boston Blades | Boston, MA | Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington | ||
| Brampton Canadettes-Thunder | Brampton, ON | Powerade Centre | 1 | |
| Burlington Barracudas | Burlington, ON | Wave Twin Rinks | 0 | |
| Montreal Stars | Montreal, Quebec | Centre Etienne Desmarteau | 1 | |
| Toronto Furies | Toronto, ON | Iceland Mississauga and MasterCard Centre | 0 |
| Former Team | City | Primary Arena | ESSO National Championships/Clarkson Cups | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississauga Chiefs | Mississauga, Ontario | Hershey Centre | 0 | |
| Ottawa Senators | Ottawa, ON | Bell Sensplex | 0 | Previously CWHL Capital Canucks |
| Quebec Phenix | Quebec City, QC | 0 | ||
| Toronto Aeros | Toronto, ON | Iceland Mississauga and MasterCard Centre | 0 | |
| Vaughan Flames | Vaughan, ON | Vaughan Sports Village | 0 |
| No. | Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brampton Thunder | 30 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 111 | 59 | 45 |
| 2 | Mississauga Chiefs | 30 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 115 | 61 | 43 |
| 3 | Vaughan Flames | 30 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 69 | 101 | 26 |
| 4 | Burlington Barracudas | 30 | 11 | 18 | 1 | 76 | 98 | 23 |
| No. | Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal Stars | 30 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 112 | 55 | 47 |
| 2 | Ottawa Capital Canucks | 30 | 8 | 19 | 3 | 58 | 99 | 19 |
| 3 | Quebec Phenix | 30 | 8 | 21 | 1 | 54 | 120 | 17 |
Brampton Thunder won the first Championship of the CWHL.
| No. | Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal Stars | 28 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 49 |
| 2 | Brampton Thunder | 26 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 39 |
| 3 | Mississauga Chiefs | 26 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 34 |
| 4 | Burlington Barracudas | 25 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 22 |
| 5 | Vaughan Flames | 25 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 10 |
| 6 | Ottawa Senators | 24 | 4 | 20 | 0 | 8 |
Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL
| No. | Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal Stars | 30 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 48 |
| 2 | Mississauga Chiefs | 30 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 43 |
| 3 | Burlington Barracudas | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 41 |
| 4 | Brampton Thunder | 29 | 12 | 14 | 3 | 27 |
| 5 | Vaughan Flames | 29 | 9 | 19 | 1 | 19 |
| 6 | Ottawa Senators | 30 | 5 | 23 | 2 | 12 |
Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL.
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[6] [7]. However, the CWHL has yet to receive a decision from the NHL.[8].
| No. | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal | 26 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 125 | 70 | 46 |
| 2 | Brampton | 26 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 111 | 69 | 39 |
| 3 | Boston | 26 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 73 | 101 | 21 |
| 4 | Toronto | 26 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 83 | 98 | 21 |
| 5 | Burlington | 26 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 54 | 108 | 14 |
Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL [10]. 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.
Most points, regular season (2007-08 through 2009-10)
| Ranking | Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PtPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jayna Hefford | Brampton Canadettes-Thunder | 56 | 70 | 57 | 127 | 2.27 |
| 2 | Sommer West | Mississauga Chiefs | 86 | 50 | 71 | 121 | 1.41 |
| 3 | Jennifer Botterill | Mississauga Chiefs Toronto Aeros Toronto Furies |
54 | 49 | 67 | 116 | 2.15 |
| 4 | Jana Harrigan | Burlington Barracudas | 77 | 52 | 57 | 109 | 1.42 |
| 5 | Lori Dupuis | Brampton Canadettes-Thunder | 80 | 44 | 60 | 104 | 1.30 |
| 6 | Sabrina Harbec | Montreal Stars | 56 | 35 | 66 | 101 | 1.80 |
| 7 | Noémie Marin | Montreal Stars | 54 | 48 | 44 | 92 | 1.70 |
| 8 | Lindsay Vine | Burlington Barracudas | 88 | 39 | 53 | 92 | 1.05 |
| 9 | Lisa-Marie Breton | Montreal Stars | 81 | 33 | 45 | 78 | 0.96 |
| 10 | Kelly Hart | Burlington Barracudas | 90 | 29 | 48 | 77 | 0.86 |
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.[11]
| Draft year | Player | Team | College |
| 2010 | Tessa Bonhomme | Toronto Aeros | Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey |
| 2011 | Meghan Agosta | Montreal Stars | Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey |
| Date | CWHL team | NCAA school | Score | CWHL goal scorers |
| Oct. 25, 2011 | Brampton Thunder | Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey | Cornell, 6-0[12] | None |
| Nov. 2, 2011 | Brampton Thunder | Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey | Brampton, 3-1 | Jayna Hefford, Jesse Scanzano, Vicki Bendus[13] |
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