Top-ranked Martlets looking for record-tying 3-peat at CIS hockey championship
OTTAWA (CIS) - The defending national champion McGill Martlets will be looking to become the second team in history to capture three straight CIS women's hockey titles later this week when they take the ice at St. Francis Xavier University's Keating Centre in Antigonish, N.S.
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wice
The six-team CIS tournament, hosted by StFX for the second straight year, gets under way Thursday and concludes Sunday with the gold-medal final set for 6 p.m. Atlantic. All nine games in the tourney will be webcast live on SSN Canada.
Joining Quebec conference champion and top-seeded McGill will be the No. 2-ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (OUA champions), No. 3 Alberta Pandas (Canada West champions), No. 4 Saint Mary's Huskies (AUS champions), No. 5 StFX X-Women (hosts and AUS finalists), as well as the No. 6 Montreal Carabins (QSSF finalists), who reach the event in their first-year of existence. The Quebec conference earned a wild-card berth as a result of McGill winning the CIS banner last year.
McGill has defeated Laurier in the last two national finals, prevailing 3-1 a year ago in Antigonish and 2-0 in 2008, when the competition was held in Ottawa.
StFX finished fifth at last year's tournament, while Alberta returns after a one-year absence and Saint Mary's will skate at the Nationals for the first time since 2004.
McGill will compete in Pool A with Saint Mary's and Montreal in the round-robin portion of the championship, with the top team advancing to Sunday's gold-medal contest. Pool B is comprised of Laurier, Alberta and StFX.
The competition opens Thursday at 4 p.m. Atlantic with McGill beginning its quest for a three-peat against conference rival Montreal. The Pool B opener follows at 7:30 p.m. with Laurier facing Alberta.
Saint Mary's and StFX take the ice Friday against the losers of the opening-day duels.
McGill, Laurier and Alberta have dominated CIS women's hockey over the past decade.
The Martlets enter the 2010 championship riding a CIS record 84-game overall winning streak against Canadian university opponents. They have not lost to a CIS rival since Dec. 30, 2007, when they dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to Alberta at a tournament in Edmonton.
This season, McGill has dominated all 17 national coaches' polls and has posted an unblemished 30-0 overall mark against CIS teams, including an 11-0 win over Pool A foe Saint Mary's in a non-conference affair at Halifax on Nov. 21.
In Quebec, the Martlets went 20-0 in the regular season and 4-0 in the playoffs, including a sweep of their other Pool A rival, Montreal, in the best-of-three QSSF final. McGill was 7-0 this season against the first-year Carabins.
The Martlets' achievements in 2009-10 are even more impressive considering the fact they lost many key elements from last year's championship team including goaltender Charline Labonté and defenceman Catherine Ward, both all-Canadians the past three seasons, forward Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger, who transferred to Montreal after being named CIS rookie of the year in 2008-09, as well as head coach Peter Smith, who took a sabbatical to spend the year as a full-time assistant with the Canadian Olympic women's team.
Ward, Labonté and Smith were all part of Canada's gold-medal winning entry at the Winter Games in Vancouver.
The Martlets still have plenty of firepower however starting with Quebec conference MVP Cathy Chartrand, who led all CIS rearguards with 10 goals and 28 points in only 20 league games. Forwards Vanessa Davidson and Ann-Sophie Bettez, both first-team all-stars, finished 1-2 in league scoring with 33 and 30 points, respectively, including a conference-leading 22 goals in 18 contests for Bettez.
Chartrand was the MVP of the 2008 CIS championship, Davidson has been an all-Canadian three years running, while Bettez was named a CIS all-star each of her first two campaigns.
"Obviously we've lost a few key components from our championship teams of the last two years," said McGill interim head coach Amey Doyle, who was named the Quebec conference coach of the year. "We've had big shoes to fill with the losses of Catherine and Charline but we worked hard over the last few years to create good work habits and a winning environment. It has clearly rubbed off and everyone has stepped up to meet the challenge."
"The gap in our margin of victory was definitely a lot closer this season. We have been challenged in many of our games and that has been good for us," added Doyle. "We've tried hard not to focus on the (winning) streak, which has not been a topic of conversation in the locker room. The media has made a big thing about it but not the girls. It wasn't even one of our objectives this year. Our focus has been to go out, work hard, play our game and hopefully at the end of 60 minutes, we'll be successful."
McGill will skate at the CIS tournament for the 11th time in the championship's 13-year existence. Alberta will also make its 11th appearance, while Laurier will participate for the ninth time.
The No. 2 Golden Hawks and No. 3 Pandas have been equally has dominant over the years in the OUA and Canada West, respectively.
Laurier went 26-0-1 in conference play this season before adding four straight wins in the playoffs to claim its seventh OUA banner in a row. While the Hawks have only one CIS title to show for - in 2005 when they put an end to Alberta's three-year domination - they have reached the national final on five occasions, including four of the past five years.
Leading the Hawks is OUA MVP netminder Liz Knox, who tied Labonté's single-season CIS record of 11 shutouts during conference play and added two whitewashes in four playoff outings. Knox was named the top goalie at the CIS championship in 2008.
Alberta holds the all-time record of six CIS titles including three in a row from 2002 to 2004, and five in six years from 2002 to 2007. The Pandas posted a stellar 23-1-0 conference mark this season and were 4-0 in the playoffs as they reclaimed the Canada West banner from Manitoba.
Forward Tarin Podloski, last year's CIS MVP who is skating in her fifth and final season, finished third in the country with 43 points to bring her career total to 213, a CIS all-time record.
The No. 4 Saint Mary's Huskies and No. 5 StFX X-Women are still looking for breakthrough performances at the CIS tournament.
The Huskies, who upset AUS first-place finisher Moncton and second-place StFX in the post-season to claim the conference title, have posted an 0-9 record over their three previous national championship appearances.
The X-Women are 3-21 in eight previous appearances. They have played for a medal only once, in 2006, when they lost a 3-2 shootout decision to McGill in the third-place game.
Montreal was impressive in its inaugural CIS season. The No. 6 Carabins were ranked nationally in 15 of 17 coaches' polls and posted a 13-6-1 record in QSSF play, with five of their seven losses coming against top-ranked McGill. They even took the Martlets to overtime back on Nov. 7, before dropping a 3-2 decision.
NOTES: McGill blanked Pool A rival Saint Mary's 6-0 in round-robin action in 2006 in the only previous meeting between the two teams at the CIS championship... Alberta is 4-2 at the CIS tournament against Pool B opponent Laurier including three gold-medal match-ups, a 5-2 win in 2002, a 4-1 loss in 2005 and a 2-1 victory in 2006... The Hawks won their most recent head-to-head duel with the Pandas at the Nationals, 4-2 in pool play in 2008... Laurier is 1-0 lifetime against Pool B foe StFX at the CIS tourney, while Alberta is 2-0 against the X-Women...
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
No. 1 McGill Martlets
Head Coach: Amey Doyle (1st season - interim)
Regular season record: 20-0-0
Regular season standing: 1st QSSF
Playoff record: 4-0
Playoff finish: QSSF champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 23): No. 1
Best Top 10 ranking (17 weeks): No. 1 (all 17 polls)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (17 weeks): 17
Conference award winners: Cathy Chartrand (MVP), Amey Doyle (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Cathy Chartrand (D), Ann-Sophie Bettez (F), Vanessa Davidson (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Taylor Salisbury (G), Caroline Hill (D)
CIS championship appearances (inaugural championship 1998): 11th
CIS championship all-time record: 20-10 (.666)
CIS championship all-time medals: 8 (2 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze)
CIS championship best result: 2-time champions (2009, 2008)
CIS championship last appearance: 2009 (champions)
CIS championship sequence: 8th straight appearance
No. 2 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Head Coach: Rick Osborne (7th season)
Regular season record: 26-0-1
Regular season standing: 1st OUA
Playoff record: 4-0
Playoff finish: OUA champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 23): No. 2
Best Top 10 ranking (17 weeks): No. 2 (all 17 polls)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (17 weeks): 17
Conference award winners: Liz Knox (MVP), Candice Styles (rookie)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Liz Knox (G), Andrea Ironside (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: None
CIS championship appearances (inaugural championship 1998): 9th
CIS championship all-time record: 15-9 (.625)
CIS championship all-time medals: 5 (1 gold, 4 silver)
CIS championship best result: 1-time champions (2005)
CIS championship last appearance: 2009 (finalists)
CIS championship sequence: 7th straight appearance
No. 3 Alberta Pandas
Head Coach: Howie Draper (13th season)
Regular season record: 23-1-0
Regular season standing: 1st Canada West
Playoff record: 4-0
Playoff finish: Canada West champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 23): No. 3
Best Top 10 ranking (17 weeks): No. 3 (last 15 polls)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (17 weeks): 17
Conference award winners: None
Conference 1st team all-stars: Nicole Pratt (D), Tarin Podloski (F), Leah Copeland (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Dana Vinge (G), Andrea Boras (D)
CIS championship appearances (inaugural championship 1998): 11th
CIS championship all-time record: 24-6 (.800)
CIS championship all-time medals: 8 (6 gold, 2 silver)
CIS championship best result: 6-time champions (2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2000)
CIS championship last appearance: 2008 (4th)
CIS championship sequence: Return after 1-year absence (8th appearance in 9 years)
No. 4 Saint Mary's Huskies
Head Coach: Lisa Jordan (13th season)
Regular season record: 13-10-1
Regular season standing: 3rd AUS
Playoff record: 3-0
Playoff finish: AUS champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 23): Unranked
Best Top 10 ranking (17 weeks): No. 10 (1 week: 3rd poll)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (17 weeks): 1
Conference award winners: None
Conference 1st team all-stars: Kori Cheverie (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: None
CIS championship appearances (inaugural championship 1998): 4th
CIS championship all-time record: 0-9 (.000)
CIS championship all-time medals: 0
CIS championship best result: 6th (2004, 2003, 1998)
CIS championship last appearance: 2004 (6th)
CIS championship sequence: 1st appearance in 6 years
No. 5 St. Francis Xavier X-Women
Head Coach: David Synishin (8th season)
Regular season record: 18-2-4
Regular season standing: 2nd AUS
Playoff record: 1-1
Playoff finish: AUS finalists
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 23): No. 5
Best Top 10 ranking (17 weeks): No. 4 (1 week: 3rd poll)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (17 weeks): 17
Conference award winners: Abygail Laking (rookie), Suzanne Fenerty (most sportsmanlike)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Marilynn Hay (D), Suzanne Fenerty (D)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Jessica Shanahan (F), Carolyn Campbell (F)
CIS championship appearances (inaugural championship 1998): 9th
CIS championship all-time record: 3-21 (.125)
CIS championship all-time medals: 0
CIS championship best result: 4th (2006)
CIS championship last appearance: 2009 (5th)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd straight appearance (5th in 6 years)
No. 6 Montreal Carabins
Head Coach: Isabelle Leclaire (1st season)
Regular season record: 13-6-1
Regular season standing: 2nd QSSF
Playoff record: 2-3
Playoff finish: QSSF finalists
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 23): No. 9
Best Top 10 ranking (17 weeks): No. 8 (5 weeks: polls 7-11)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (17 weeks): 15 (last 15 polls)
Conference award winners: Kim Deschênes (rookie)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Marie-Hélène Suc (D), Kim Deschênes (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger (F)
CIS championship appearances (inaugural championship 1998): 1st
CIS championship all-time record: 0-0
CIS championship all-time medals: 0
CIS championship best result: -
CIS championship last appearance: -
CIS championship sequence: 1st appearance (1st year of existence)
SEEDINGS, POOLS & SCHEDULE (All times LOCAL: Atlantic Time)
Pool A
1. McGill
4. Saint Mary's
6. Montreal
Pool B
2. Wilfrid Laurier
3. Alberta
5. StFX
Wednesday, March 10
18:30 All-Canadian Banquet (Keating Centre)
Thursday, March 11
16:00 Pool A #1: No. 1 McGill vs. No. 6 Montreal (SSN Canada)
19:30 Pool B #1: No. 2 Laurier vs. No. 3 Alberta (SSN Canada)
Friday, March 12
16:00 Pool A #2: No. 4 Saint Mary's vs. Loser Pool A #1 (SSN Canada)
19:30 Pool B #2: No. 5 StFX vs. Loser Pool B #1 (SSN Canada)
Saturday, March 13
16:00 Pool A #3: No. 4 Saint Mary's vs. Winner Pool A #1 (SSN Canada)
19:30 Pool B #3: No. 5 StFX vs. Winner Pool B #1 (SSN Canada)
Sunday, March 14
11:00 5th Place (SSN Canada)
14:00 Bronze (SSN Canada)
18:00 Final (SSN Canada)
For more information please contact:
Earl Zukerman, McGill University, (514) 398-7012
Michel Bélanger, CIS, (613) 447-6334
Krista McKenna, St. Francis Xavier University, (902) 870-4207