Emmanuelle Blais

Emmanuelle Blais (born November 7, 1987 in LaSalle, Quebec), is a Canadian ice hockey player. She is a member of Montreal Stars in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL).

Member of the Canadian U22 team from 2006 to 2010 / Canadian Women's National Team / NCAA All-American (2010) / Clarkson Cup Champion (2010-11), nicknamed Manue or (Croquette in french) (because she's small), she started playing at the age of 5 and was on the first girl's team (Montreal Maroon Espoir) to play in the Espoir category. She completed a Bachelor's degree with a major in communications and a minor in psychology at University of Minnesota Duluth.

Playing career

Emmanuelle Blais made her amateur hockey in the region of Montreal in Quebec. She started playing hockey at the age of 5 year and was the first girl ever(Montreal Maroon Espoir) to play in the Espoir category. She was selected for the national camp Under-22 years and she play for Canadian National Team under-22 (2006 to 2010). Also since 2010, she is a member of Montreal Stars (CWHL). In his first season in CWHL, She finished 6th leading scorer in the top scoring leaders, ^[1]with 32 points, 11 goals and 21 assists in 29 games. During the Clarkson Cup Championship, she contributed 5 points in 4 games to the Stars' resounding victory.

NCAA

In 2009-10 season, Blais led the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs with 65 points, 32 goals and 33 assists in 39 games, helping the team win the NCAA Division I title championship title, a title she also earned in 2008. She left the program with 145 career points (73 goals and 72 assists). She ranks eighth place in all-time scoring. In its April 29, 2010, Sports Illustrated listed Emmanuelle Blais as one of its "Faces In The Crowd" Part of the recognition is attributed to Blais earning the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player award on March 21.^[2]

Blais was also a 2009-10 RBK First Team All-American. Her 1.59 points per game was the fifth highest total in the country. Her 32 goals led the NCAA, and she had a career high of 65 points. On April 12, Blais was a co-winner of the University of Minnesota Duluth's Outstanding Female Senior Athlete Award. The award was shared by four winners: the others being Jheri Booker (basketball), Clare Dahmen (soccer) and Kristin Danielson (softball).^[3]. In summer 2010, she was invited with the team to meet President Obama at the White House.

Hockey Canada

Blais competed for Team Quebec at the 2005 Under 18 National hockey challenge. Some of her teammates on Team Quebec included future Olympic gold medalist Catherine Ward, future Clarkson Cup champion Stephanie Denino, future Canadian National Team member Jesse Scanzano. Other teammates included future NCAA player Karell Emard.^[4]

She is a former member of the Canadian U22 hockey team. In March 2011, she was invited to the Canadian national women's ice hockey team selection camp to determine the final roster for the 2011 IIHF Women's World Championships,^[5] from April 2 to 5 2011 at the Toronto MasterCard Centre ^[6][7] In the second game of the 2011 IIHF Eight Nations Tournament, Blais scored her first ever goal for the senior Canadian National Women's team as Canada defeated Russia by a 14-1 score.^[8]

Career stats

NCAA

CWHL

^[9]

Hockey Canada

• January 4, 2010: In a pre-tournament game for the 2010 MLP Cup, Blais had two assists for Canada as Canada bested Germany by a 5-1 mark. Despite icing only eight forwards and moving one defender from the blue line, Canada outshot the Germans 57-10.^[10]

^[11]

Awards and honors

• 2010 Top-10 Patty Kazamier Award Finalist
• 2010 All-WCHA First Team
• 2010 Women's RBK Hockey Division I All-America First Team
• 2010 WCHA Final Face-off tournament MVP.
• 2010 WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Week of October 26)
• 2010 Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player
• 2010 Frozen Four Tournament Team

Personal life

• Blais has a nickname: Croquette (because she’s small). She completed a Bachelor’s degree with a major in communications and a minor in psychology at University of Minnesota Duluth.
• On September 13, 2010, Blais and her Bulldogs teammates were part of a group of NCAA sporting champions that visited the White House in Washington, D.C. and listened to United States president Barack Obama congratulate them on their victory.^[12]

References