Usual suspects vying for title
March 5, 2008
CIS championship PREVIEW: Usual suspects to compete for national title
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Championship web site:
www.cisport.ca/e/championships/w_hockey/2008
The six-team tournament gets under way Friday with a pair of round-robin match-ups and will conclude Monday at 7 p.m. with the gold-medal final, live on The Score Television Network.
Quebec conference champion McGill will be joined in the nation's capital by the defending champion and No.2-ranked Alberta Pandas (Canada West champions), No.3-Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (OUA champions), No.4-St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS champions), No.5-Manitoba Bisons (Canada West finalists), and No.6 and tournament host Gee-Gees.
McGill is grouped with StFX and Manitoba in Pool A for the round-robin portion of the tourney, while Alberta, Laurier and Ottawa will battle in Pool B for a berth in Monday night's final.
Opening day match-ups will see the Martlets face the Bisons at 4 p.m., and the Pandas square off against the Gee-Gees at 7:30 p.m.
While Alberta has been the cream of women's hockey since the sport was added to the CIS program in 1997-98, capturing six of 10 national banners including the past two and five of the last six, McGill, Laurier and StFX have also dominated in their respective conferences in recent seasons.
The Pandas are making their record 10th appearance in 11 years at the tournament after capturing a seventh consecutive Canada West title with a two-game sweep of Manitoba in the conference final.
The Martlets were crowned QSSF champions for the third straight season and advance to the Nationals for the ninth time.
The Golden Hawks, who claimed their lone CIS banner in 2004-05, are OUA gold medallists five years running and will battle for CIS supremacy for the sixth time in seven seasons.
The X-Women, returning after a one-year absence, are making their seventh trip to the competition in 10 campaigns.
The Bisons are no slouch either, having just completed their most successful Canada West schedule to date. Manitoba, CIS bronze medallist a year ago, went 18-4-0-2 in conference play, including a win over Alberta, and gave the Pandas all they could handle in the Canada West final, falling 4-3 in triple-overtime in the second game of the best-of-three series.
The Gee-Gees host the championship for the second straight season, four years removed from an appearance in the national final.
None of these contenders, however, are more desperate for a CIS title than the No.1-Martlets.
Despite fielding great teams year in and year out, including six championship appearances with an Olympic gold medallist between the pipes, the Martlets have had to settle for a pair of runner-up and four third-place finishes at the event. The latest disappointment came a year ago in the form of a 4-0 loss to Alberta in the title match.
The McGill roster is as packed with talent as ever this season, led by 2006 Olympic champion and national team goaltender Charline Labonté, national team member Cathy Chartrand and Canadian under-22 team member Catherine Ward on defence, and QSSF MVP Vanessa Davidson (18 GP, 14-15-29), QSSF rookie of the year Ann-Sophie Bettez (18 GP, 15-14-29) and team captain Shauna Denis (18 GP, 9-12-21) pacing the offence.
"I like our balance and depth," said McGill pilot Smith, who was appointed head coach of the Canadian national team last June. "It's what I talk about more than anything and that's what makes our team real solid. We've got players who can score, keep the puck out of our own end and out of our net, and we've got great leadership. You're going to have success with that formula."
"We're a talented team, but our players know they have to work hard and I think they've done a pretty good job of that so far this year," Smith added.
The Martlets, who kept an unblemished 18-0 mark in conference play this season, are a stellar 33-1 versus CIS opponents going into the CIS tournament. Their lone loss came against Alberta in the preliminary round of the Gryphon Invitational tournament on December 30, a 2-1 shootout defeat during which McGill had a 29-13 advantage in shots on goal.
McGill, which ended up wining the Gryphon tourney, had blanked No.3-Laurier 2-0 the previous day, and also boasts a 4-0 shutout of No.4-StFX during a tour of the Maritimes in November.
Of course, chances are the road to CIS gold will once again go through the mighty Pandas.
Despite losing some key members from last year's championship team, including 2006-07 CIS player of the year Lindsay McAlpine, Alberta once again took first place in the very competitive Canada West conference with a 21-2-0-1 record before going a perfect 4-0 in the playoffs.
"As has been the case in the last few years, all of the teams attending are going to present a tremendous challenge and are all legitimate contenders to win," said 11-year head coach Howie Draper, at the helm of the Panda women's hockey program since day one. "Our expectation, however, is that we achieve our ultimate goal of winning the national championship."
"This is almost a completely new team. If we had everyone back from last season, I think the pressure would be significant. Right now, we've got a lot of young players that are hungry to leave their mark? they aren't worried about what all the other teams are thinking," he added about the pressure of going in as defending champion.
No one knows how tough it will be to dethrone the Pandas better than Manitoba head coach Jon Rempel.
"We have now been competitive in Canada West over the four years and have had good games with Alberta in the past," said Rempel, whose Bisons have made the most of their only two previous CIS championship appearances claiming bronze in 2007 and 2005.
"In a championship that is based on a sudden death format, we'll have to compete at our best every game as each team represented has a chance to win. Based on what I have seen, it will be one of the most competitive CIS championship in history and we have to be ready to play."
TEAM PROFILES
No. 1 McGill Martlets
Head Coach: Peter Smith (9th season)
Regular season record: 18-0
Regular season standing: 1st QSSF
Playoff record: 4-0
Playoff finish: QSSF champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 19): No. 1
Best Top 10 ranking (16 weeks): No. 1 (12 weeks - last 12)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (16 weeks): 16
Conference award winners: Vanessa Davidson (MVP), Ann-Sophie Bettez (rookie), Shauna Denis (outstanding student athlete), Peter Smith (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Charline Labonté (G), Catherine Ward (D), Vanessa Davidson (F), Ann-Sophie Bettez (F), Shauna Denis (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Cathy Chartrand (D)
CIS championship appearances (11th CIS championship): 9th
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (silver)
CIS championship sequence: 6th straight appearance, 9th in 10 years
CIS championship best result: silver (2007, 2000)
No. 2 Alberta Pandas
Head Coach: Howie Draper (11th season)
Regular season record: 21-2-0-1
Regular season standing: 1st Canada West
Playoff record: 4-0
Playoff finish: Canada West champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 19): No. 2
Best Top 10 ranking (16 weeks): No. 1 (4 weeks - first 4)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (16 weeks): 16
Conference award winners: Jennifer Newton (MVP)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Jennifer Newton (F), Alana Cabana (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Rayanne Reeve (D), Leah Copeland (F)
CIS championship appearances (11th CIS championship): 10th
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (champions)
CIS championship sequence: 7th straight appearance, 10th in 11 years
CIS championship best result: 6-time CIS champions (2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2000)
No. 3 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Head Coach: Rick Osborne (5th season)
Regular season record: 23-2-2-0
Regular season standing: 1st OUA
Playoff record: 4-0
Playoff finish: OUA champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 19): No. 3
Best Top 10 ranking (16 weeks): No. 3 (9 weeks - including last 8)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (16 weeks): 16
Conference award winners: Lauren Barch (MVP), Lauren Meschino (outstanding student athlete), Rick Osborne (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Andrea Bevan (D), Lauren Barch (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Liz Knox (G), Lauren Meschino (D), Andrea Ironside (F)
CIS championship appearances (11th CIS championship): 7th
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (4th)
CIS championship sequence: 5th straight appearance, 6th in 7 years
CIS championship best result: 1-time CIS champions (2005)
No. 4 St. Francis Xavier X-Women
Head Coach: David Synishin (6th season)
Regular season record: 21-0
Regular season standing: 1st AUS
Playoff record: 2-0
Playoff finish: AUS champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 19): No. 4
Best Top 10 ranking (16 weeks): No. 4 (10 weeks - including last 5)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (16 weeks): 16
Conference award winners: Brayden Ferguson (MVP), David Synishin (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Marilynn Hay (D), Brayden Ferguson (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Suzanne Fenerty (D), Jessica Shanahan (F)
CIS championship appearances (11th CIS championship): 7th
CIS championship last appearance: 2006 (4th)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd appearance in 4 years
CIS championship best result: 4th (2006)
No. 5 Manitoba Bisons
Head Coach: Jon Rempel (4th season)
Regular season record: 18-4-0-2
Regular season standing: 2nd Canada West
Playoff record: 2-2
Playoff finish: Canada West finalists
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 19): No. 5
Best Top 10 ranking (16 weeks): Tied No. 2 (1 week - 7th week)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (16 weeks): 16
Conference award winners: Addie Miles (rookie)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Stacey Corfield (G), Brenna Leary (D)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Leanne Kisil (F), Chantal Larocque (F)
CIS championship appearances (11th CIS championship): 3rd
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (bronze)
CIS championship sequence: 2nd straight appearance, 3rd in 4 years
CIS championship best result: bronze (2007, 2005)
No. 6 Ottawa Gee-Gees
Head Coach: Shelley Coolidge (5th season)
Regular season record: 7-8-0-3
Regular season standing: 2nd QSSF
Playoff record: 0-2
Playoff finish: lost in QSSF semifinals (tied for 3rd)
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 19): No. 10
Best Top 10 ranking (16 weeks): No. 10 (4 weeks - including last 2)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (16 weeks): 4
Conference award winners: none
Conference 1st team all-stars: none
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Jessika Audet (G), Christine Allen (D), Kim Kerr (F), Kayla Hottot (F)
CIS championship appearances (11th CIS championship): 3rd
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (6th)
CIS championship sequence: 2nd straight appearance, 3rd in 5 years
CIS championship best result: silver (2004)
CHAMPIONSHIP POOLS & SCHEDULE
All games available through video webcast at:
www.cisport.ca/e/championships/w_hockey/2008
Pool A
No. 1 McGill
No. 4 StFX
No. 5 Manitoba
Pool B
No. 2 Alberta
No. 3 Laurier
No. 6 Ottawa
Thursday, March 6
12:30 Media Conference
18:00 All-Canadian Award Banquet
Friday, March 7
4:00 pm Pool A #1: No. 1 McGill vs. No. 5 Manitoba
7:30 pm Pool B #1: No. 2 Alberta vs. No. 6 Ottawa
Saturday, March 8
4:00 pm Pool A #2: No. 4 StFX vs. Loser Pool A #1
7:30 pm Pool B #2: No. 3 Laurier vs. Loser Pool B #1
Sunday, March 9
4:00 pm Pool A #3: No. 4 StFX vs. Winner Pool A #1
7:30 pm Pool B #3: No. 3 Laurier vs. Winner Pool B #1
Monday, March 10
10:00 am 5th Place
2:00 pm Bronze
7:00 pm Final (The Score)
- CIS -