Liz Knox

Liz Knox
Born	(1988-06-09) June 9, 1988 Stouffville, ON, CAN
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Weight	135 lb (61 kg; 9 st 9 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
CIS team	Laurier Golden Hawks
National team	Canada
Playing career	2006–present

Medal record
Women's ice hockey
Representing  Canada
Winter Universiade
	2011 Turkey	Tournament

Liz Knox (born June 9, 1988 in Stouffville, Ontario) is a professional women's ice hockey goaltender. She was a member of the Canadian national women's ice hockey team that captured the gold medal at the 2011 Winter Universiade. Knox was selected 18th overall in the 2011 CWHL Draft.^[1]

Playing career

Ontario University athletics

On March 10, 2010, Knox became the first Golden Hawks player in the history of the women's program to win the CIS Player of the Year award (known as the Brodrick Trophy).^[2]

International

Winter Universiade

During her final season at Laurier, Knox was selected to compete for Team Canada at the 2011 Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey, along with three of her Golden Hawks teammates.^[3] The 2011 tournament was just the second time that the biennial Universiade included women's hockey, and Knox helped Canada successfully defend its gold medal from 2009.

She appeared in four of Canada's seven games, winning all four, and was among the tournament leaders in most statistical categories including goals against average (0.80, good for second among qualifying goaltenders) and save percentage (.921, also second). Two of Knox's four games were routs, as she saw just four shots in a 14–0 win against Great Britain^[4] and played the first two periods of an 8–1 victory over the United States in the semifinals.^[5] Her defining outings were her first and last of the tournament, both against a Finland squad packed with stars from the senior Finland women's national ice hockey team like Anne Helin, Saara Tuominen, Anniina Rajahuhta, Venla Hovi and Anna Vanhatalo, each of whom had been a part of the bronze medal team at the 2010 Winter Olympics prior to the 2011 Universiade.

During the round robin stage of the tournament, on January 27, 2011, Knox and Vanhatalo engaged in a classic goaltending duel. Hovi gave the Finns a 1–0 lead midway through the contest before Mariève Provost answered on the power play with 1:29 left in regulation to force overtime. After a scoreless five-minute extra period, things proceeded to a shootout. There, Knox denied all five shooters she faced, including Helin and Sari Kärnä twice each, and Tuominen once. Vanhatalo matched her save for save until Canada's fifth shooter, Ellie Seedhouse, gave her side the victory.^[6] The teams met once again in the gold medal match, although things were a bit less dramatic there, as Canada jumped out to a 3–0 lead early in the second period and cruised to a 4–1 win, helped in part by 20 Knox saves.^[7][8][9]

IIHF 12 Nations Tournament

Knox received a second call from Hockey Canada six months after the gold medal at the 2011 Winter Universiade and competed at the one-off 2011 IIHF 12 Nations Tournament, sharing the Canadian crease with fellow eventual CWHL netminders Geneviève Lacasse and Christina Kessler. The stated goal of the 12 Nations Tournament was to enhance the competitive level of developing women's hockey countries ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics and accordingly, no medals were awarded.^[10] Canada went 4–2–0 in the round-robin-style showcase, with Knox playing twice and winning both of her games. On August 25, 2011, she had an easy outing against Russia, making 15 saves in a 16–1 blowout.^[11] Five days later, Knox made 16 stops as Canada pulled off yet another dramatic win over Finland by a 3–2 score. In that contest, Finland carried a 2–1 lead past the halfway point of the third period before goals by Meghan Agosta and Jennifer Wakefield, the latter with 2:00 remaining, flipped the result.^[12]

Professional

CWHL

Following graduation, Knox was selected 18th overall in the 2011 CWHL Draft by the Brampton Thunder, part of a fruitful class for the team that also included Courtney Birchard, Tara Gray and Vicki Bendus.

Almost immediately, she became the workhorse goalie for the Thunder, playing in 20 of 27 regular season games and helping Brampton to an 18–7–2 and a robust third place finish in the standings. For Knox, notable milestones included her first professional win on October 29, 2011 against Team Alberta (now known as the Calgary Inferno)^[13] and her first shutout, on March 4, 2012 against a loaded Boston Blades team that included several United States national team regulars like Kelli Stack, Gigi Marvin and Kacey Bellamy.^[14]

AWIHL

For the 2013-14 season, Knox joined the Melbourne Ice women's hockey club of the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) and became half of a formidable tandem with Australian national team goaltender Jodie Walker.^[15][16] During the AWIHL's short regular season (the league only has four teams, with each playing four games per opponent), Knox played in eight of 12 games (winning all eight), and posted a dominant 1.00 goals against average with a 0.964 save percentage to help the Ice to a first-place finish in the standings, with 38 of a possible 42 points. She was even better in the league final against the Adelaide Adrenaline, posting consecutive 32-save shutouts in 2–0 victories to help the Ice to their third AWIHL title.^[17] Including the pair of contests in the final, Knox ended the year with a shutout streak of 207:17 – all against the Adrenaline, as her last three regular-season appearances were also against Melbourne's eventual championship opponent – and led the league in most major statistical categories including wins, goals against average and save percentage.^[18]

Career statistics

College and professional

International

Year	Team	Event	Result			GP	W	L	OT	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
2011	Canada	WU	01 !			4	4	0	0	225.00	3	1	0.80	.921
2011	Canada	12N	N/A			2	2	0	0	120.00	3	0	1.50	.912
Totals						6	6	0	0	345.00	6	1	1.04	.917

Awards and honors

CIS

^[19]

• 2006-07 Cindy Eadie Award (awarded to the Wilfrid Laurier Rookie of the Year in women's ice hockey)^[22]
• 2010 CIS player of the year (Brodrick Trophy)^[23]
• 2010 CIS First Team All-Canadian^[24]
• 2010 OUA Player of the Year
• 2010 OUA First Team All-Star^[25]

References