2011–12 CWHL season

The 2011–12 CWHL season was the fifth in league history. Regular season play begun on October 22, 2011, as the defending champion Montreal Stars hosted the Brampton Thunder. The league expanded from five teams to six as Team Alberta (CWHL) joined the league for competitive play. The 2012 Clarkson Cup in Niagara Falls was also contested between the Stars and Thunder, with Montreal winning its second consecutive title.

Offseason

News and notes

  • April 19: The league announced on April 19, 2011, that it would merge with the Western Women's Hockey League for the 2011-12 season. The merger featured one team based in Edmonton and Calgary and was a combination of the former WWHL franchises the Edmonton Chimos and Strathmore Rockies. The team would play their games in various locations around Alberta.[1] Strathmore Rockies founder Samantha Holmes-Domagala, joined the sponsorship division of the CWHL to look after the requirements of the expansion team.[2]
  • July 21, 2011: Philanthropist Joan Snyder donated $2 million to Winsport Canada. The goal was to ensure priority rink access to female hockey players at all levels, and to help expand the Canadian Women's Hockey League with the creation of Team Alberta. Part of the donation would cover the new addition to the Athletic and Ice Complex at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. This would serve as the future home to Hockey Canada. In addition, there would be four hockey rinks, one of which would aptly be named the Joan Snyder Rink. Team Alberta would benefit with the allocation of free practice time, and a dressing room exclusive to the club.[3]

CWHL Draft

The following are the first ten overall picks in the CWHL Draft. For further detail, please see 2011 CWHL Draft

Pick Player Team
1 Meghan Agosta Montreal Stars
2 Molly Schaus Boston Blades
3 Meaghan Mikkelson Team Alberta (CWHL)
4 Vicki Bendus Brampton Thunder
5 Jesse Scanzano Toronto CWHL
6 Courtney Birchard Brampton Thunder
7 Catherine Ward Montreal Stars
8 Meghan Duggan Boston Blades
9 Bobbi-Jo Slusar Team Alberta
10 Sommer West Burlington Barracudas

[4]

NCAA exhibition

Date CWHL team NCAA school Score CWHL goal scorers
Oct. 25, 2011 Brampton Thunder Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey Cornell, 6-0[5] None
Nov. 2, 2011 Brampton Thunder Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey Brampton, 3-1 Jayna Hefford, Jesse Scanzano, Vicki Bendus[6]
  • On November 2, 2011, Scanzano was on loan from the Toronto Furies, as she appeared in one game for the Brampton Thunder. The game was an exhibition contest versus her alma mater, the Mercyhurst Lakers.[7] In the second period of said contest, Scanzano scored the game-winning goal as the Thunder defeated the Lakers by a 3-1 tally.[8]

Regular season

News and notes

  • October 13, 2011: The CWHL participated in two charity hockey games for cancer research at Windsor Arena. The event was called 'Stick It To Cancer' and the Montreal Stars competed versus the Toronto Furies in two games on Nov. 26 and 27. The campaign was organized in partnership by the CWHL, along with Breast Ride Ever, a not-for-profit organization. Proceeds from the games benefitted local cancer programs and the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County.[9]
  • On November 18, 2011, several Burlington Barracudas players (including Christina Kessler, Shannon Moulson, Ashley Stephenson, Jana Harrigan, Amanda Shaw, Annina Rajahuhta, Samantha Shirley, Amanda Parkins, and Lindsay Vine) competed in the first ever Hockey Helps the Homeless Women's Tournament, held at the Magna Centre in Newmarket, Ontario.[10]
  • On November 19, at Montreal, the second annual "Game on to beat breast cancer" benefit. The target to surpass the previous year's donation results was far exceeded. A new attendance record was also set at the game, with over 1,100 fans[11] in the stands.[12]
  • On December 8, Montréal Stars offered a cheque for close to $15,000 to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation[13]
  • Barracudas players Christina Kessler and Shannon Moulson were part of an event at Power Play Sports in Niagara Falls, Ontario on December 20, 2011 to promote the 2012 Clarkson Cup (to be held in Niagara Falls). After the event, they met players from the NFGHA (Niagara Falls Girls Hockey League) for photographs and autographs.[14]

Season standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.

Regular season
No. Team GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 Montreal Stars 27 22 4 1 160 66 51
2 Boston Blades 27 20 7 0 107 61 46
3 Brampton Thunder 27 18 7 2 102 80 40
4 Toronto Furies 27 9 13 5 75 105 26
5 Alberta CWHL 15 5 10 0 38 66 20
6 Burlington Barracudas 27 1 26 0 46 150 2

Team Alberta CWHL played only half of the number of regular matches. This was because of the geographical estrangement. Points were consequently adjusted with another teams.

Reference[15]

League leaders

Scoring leaders

Players TEAM GP G A PTS PIM
Meghan Agosta Montreal Stars 27 41 39 80 16
Caroline Ouellette Montreal Stars 27 30 36 66 12
Vanessa Davidson Montreal Stars 27 24 25 49 26
Kelli Stack Boston Blades 27 24 17 41 16
Gillian Apps Brampton Thunder 27 19 20 39 70
Noemie Marin Montreal Stars 24 12 22 34 16
Cherie Piper Brampton Thunder 25 12 21 33 10
Erika Lawler Boston Blades 26 11 22 33 10
Gigi Marvin Boston Blades 27 11 21 32 24
Catherine Ward Montreal Stars 27 2 29 31 28
Vicki Bendus Brampton Thunder 27 15 14 29 18
Sarah Vaillancourt Montreal Stars 14 10 18 28 30
Emmanuelle Blais Montreal Stars 21 10 17 27 24
Molly Engstrom Brampton Thunder 27 4 23 27 22
Sabrina Harbec Montreal Stars 17 8 16 24 2

Goaltending leaders

Player TEAM GP MIN W L OTL GA SO GAA
Molly Schaus Boston Blade 23 1386:05 16 7 0 0 0 2.38
Jenny Lavigne Montreal Stars 23 1358:13 19 4 0 0 2 2.39
Liz Knox Brampton Thunder 20 1206:06 13 6 1 0 1 2.94
Erika Vanderveer Toronto Furies 9 525:00 2 5 1 1 0 2.97
Lundy Day Team Alberta CWHL 10 603:33 4 6 0 0 0 3.98
Sami Jo Small Toronto Furies 16 933:13 5 7 2 2 1 4.11
Christina Kessler Burlington Barracudas 11 634:44 1 10 0 0 0 5.10
Mandy Cronin Burlington Barracudas 13 675:12 0 11 0 0 0 5.86

Reference[16]

Awards and honours

The 2012 CWHL Awards Banquet[17] was held on Mar. 21, 2012 in Niagara Falls, ON (during the Clarkson Cup weekend). That night, the league formally recognized the Angela James Bowl winner, the Most Valuable Player, the Goaltender of the Year, the Rookie of the Year, and the Coach of the Year.

CWHL Top Players

CWHL All-Stars

First Team All-Stars

Second Team All-Stars

CWHL All-Rookie Team

CWHL Monthly Top Scorer

Postseason

Main article: 2012 Clarkson Cup

The postseason was held at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario. All teams played in a round robin to determine the contestants in the Clarkson Cup finals.

Date Away Home Score
March 22 Toronto Montreal Montreal, 7-0
March 22 Brampton Boston Brampton, 3-2
March 23 Toronto Boston Boston, 5-2
March 23 Brampton Montreal Montreal, 2-0
March 24 Toronto Brampton Brampton, 4-2
March 24 Boston Montreal Montreal, 5-4 (OT)
Team W L OTL GF GA
Montreal 3 0 0 14 4
Brampton 2 1 0 7 6
Boston 1 1 1 11 10
Toronto 0 3 0 4 16

Clarkson Cup

Date Location Final score Attendance
25 March Gale Centre – Niagara Falls, ON Montreal Stars 4-2 Brampton Thunder 5,000

References

  1. ^ "Chimos Part of Merger With CWHL". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  2. ^ "News - CWHL - Canadian Women's Hockey League". Archived from the original on 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
  3. ^ "Snyder donates $2 million for development of women's hockey". www.tsn.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20.
  4. ^ "2011 Draft Pick Results". Archived from the original on 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
  5. ^ "Box Score" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Women's Hockey Falls Short as Bendus and Scanzano Return".
  7. ^ "Women's Hockey Falls Short as Bendus and Scanzano Return".
  8. ^ "Mercyhurst-Brampton box".
  9. ^ "Women hockey players to 'stick it to cancer' in Windsor charity games". windsorstar.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-14.
  10. ^ "hockeyhelpshomeless". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  11. ^ Les Stars de Montréal se font charitables
  12. ^ Les Stars de Montréal contre Boston! Un grand moment… et plus de $9,000 amassés pour la Fondation du Cancer du Sein!
  13. ^ "Around the Rink | Women's Hockey Life". Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  14. ^ SNAP Niagara Falls [dead link]
  15. ^ CWHL Standings
  16. ^ "Goalie Leaders". Archived from the original on 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  17. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 2013-11-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)