The 2010–11 CWHL season is the fourth in the history of the Canadian Women's Hockey League but was considered a reboot for the league after a major restructuring as an organization. For the season, the league was to run on a budget of $500,000 and players will pay for their own equipment.
As part of the restructuring, officially, all five CWHL teams in the 2010–11 season were referred to by the league as their locations without any monikers and were considered "new" teams. However, since most of the locations had teams in the previous seasons, they were still commonly referenced as their monikers. The league returned to the team name usage for the following season.
Offseason Prior to the season, the league underwent a structural reorganization. The CWHL considered the restructure a relaunch of the league. Among the changes included the Mississauga Chiefs, Ottawa Senators and Vaughan Flames teams ceasing operations, adding a new team in Toronto, and expanding into the United States with a team in Boston. The relaunch also branded the five teams after their respective locations, simply calling them Boston CWHL, Brampton CWHL, Burlington CWHL, Montreal CWHL, and Toronto CWHL. However, the CWHL teams that were playing in previous markets were commonly referred to as their former names, the Boston team called itself the Boston Blades, and the new Toronto team was sometimes called Toronto HC.
The league held its first player draft on August 12, 2010, although it was only for the three Greater Toronto Area teams as the league decided that since they do not pay a salary, it would be unfair to force players to be based outside their hometown. The event was held at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
On September 11, the Centre Etienne Desmarteau in Montreal, Quebec, named one of the rinks in the arena in Caroline Ouellette's honour.
On September 17, former New Hampshire goaltender Erin Whitten was named head coach of the Boston expansion franchise.
News and notes November 20–21: Montreal swept Brampton in a two-game series. The battle between the top two teams in the Canadian Women's Hockey League resulted in Montreal remaining undefeated. The November 20 game involved a pre-game salute. Montreal recognized Angela James, the head coach of Brampton for her historic induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and held a minute of silence for the passing of Pat Burns at the Étienne Desmarteau Arena. December 19: Boston came from behind to defeat Montreal. In doing so, they broke up Montreal's bid for an undefeated season. Boston goalie Mandy Cronin stopped 74 shots to lead Boston to victory. Montreal had an early 2–0 lead. In the second period, Blades' player Sam Faber scored on an assist by Jess Koizumi. In the third period, Koizumi would tie the game. With 3:24 to play in the game, Angela Ruggiero scored the game-winning goal. She was assisted by Sam Faber and Haley Moore. January 16: Gillian Apps scored her seventh goal of the season 2:42 into overtime as Brampton defeated Boston by a 4–3 tally. The win was the fifth in a row for Brampton and 11–6 on the season. The five game win streak was the best in the league. Brampton had yet to lose a game in 2011. In addition, they outscored their opponents 23–9 during the streak. January 18, 2011: Brampton competed against Montreal at the Invista Centre in Kingston, Ontario. This was team captain Jayna Hefford's hometown and her number 15 was raised to the rafters of the Invista Centre on behalf of the Kingston Area Minor Hockey Association. As of 2012, no sweaters bearing Hefford's number will be used in Kingston Minor Hockey.
January 21: Georgetown, Ontario, hosted a game between Brampton and Toronto. The game featured eight former Olympians (from Brampton, Gillian Apps, Jayna Hefford, Lori Depuis, Delaney Collins and Molly Engstrom, and from Toronto, Sami Jo Small, Tessa Bonhomme and Jennifer Botterill). Brampton prevailed by a 5–2 tally. January 29: Montreal raised awareness and funds for the Fondation du cancer du sein du Québec (FCSQ). The game featured the Montreal club in pink at Centre Etienne Desmarteau versus Boston. Montreal prevailed by a 3–0 score (goals scored by: Stephanie Denino, Sarah Vaillancourt and Tawnya Davis). 800 persons came to support the cause. February 12: Brampton topped Boston for tenth straight victory, Montreal and Toronto win one game each. February 19: at the Mastercard Centre, Toronto faced off against Montreal for a special event for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. There were over 500 people in attendance and many fun events for all those involved. February 27: For their last match of the regular season, Montreal ended up on the winning side, defeating Boston 4–1 solidifying their hold on first place in the league.
Team captains Team Captain Alternates Boston None None Brampton Jayna Hefford Gillian Apps, Delaney Collins, Cherie Piper Burlington None None Montreal Lisa-Marie Breton Nathalie Dery, Caroline Ouellette Toronto Jennifer Botterill Tessa Bonhomme
Board of directors January 25, 2011: The CWHL announced its board of directors for the upcoming season. Member Title Nancy Drolet Past Chairperson Chris Emanuel Chairperson, Community Director Sami Jo Small Vice Chairperson, Player Representative Cassie Campbell Treasurer, Community DirectorLori Digulla Secretary, Community Director Colleen Coyne Community DirectorShannon Shakespeare Community Director Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux Player RepresentativeTed Dean Community Director Fran Rider OWHA DelegatePat Nicholls OWHA DelegateBrenda Andress Executive Director
Final standings Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.
+ CWHL Division No. Team GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA1 Montreal 26 22 2 0 2 46 125 702 Brampton 26 19 5 1 1 40 111 693 Boston 26 10 15 1 0 21 73 1014 Toronto 26 8 13 0 5 21 83 985 Burlington 26 6 18 1 1 14 54 108Angela James Bowl Scoring Champions, p. 24, hockeyMedia Richard Scott, Up North Productions, 2013,
Statistics Scoring leaders Rank Player, team GP Goals Assists Points PIM 1Caroline Ouellette, Montreal 26 22 46 68 14 2Jayna Hefford, Brampton 24 24 22 46 26 3Jennifer Botterill, Toronto 22 13 25 38 12 4Noemie Marin, Montreal 17 21 14 35 10 5Emmanuelle Blais, Montreal 26 11 21 32 30 5Julie Chu, Montreal 16 5 27 32 0 7Annie Guay, Montreal 26 13 18 31 16 8Sam Faber, Boston 21 15 14 29 28 9Cherie Piper, Brampton 13 13 12 25 6 9Angela Ruggiero, Boston 20 10 15 25 36 9Sarah Vaillancourt, Montreal 12 10 15 25 8 9Britni Smith, Toronto 26 7 18 25 18 13Gillian Apps, Brampton 23 10 13 23 82 13Brooke Beazer, Brampton 23 10 13 23 16
Goaltending leaders Rank Player, team GP W L SO GAA 1Kim St-Pierre, Montreal 11 10 0 3 2.08 2Laura Hosier, Brampton 19 12 5 3 2.98 3Sami Jo Small, Toronto 16 5 7 2 3.13 4Kendra Fisher, Toronto 11 3 6 0 3.63 5Christina Kessler, Burlington 19 13 1 0 3.69 6Mandy Cronin, Boston 18 8 9 1 3.84
Attendance
As of February 28, 2011 Team Home games Total Average Brampton 13 3424 263 Toronto 10 2197 219 Boston 16 3471 216 Montreal 14 2500 178 Burlington 10 1141 114
Awards and honors Source: Most Valuable Player: Caroline Ouellette, Montreal Angela James Bowl: Top Scorer Caroline Ouellette, Montreal Outstanding Rookie: Sarah Vaillancourt, Montreal Coach of the Year: Patrick Rankine, Montreal
CWHL Top Players Top Forward: Caroline Ouellette, Montreal Top Defender: Angela Ruggiero, Boston Top Goaltender: Kim St-Pierre, Montreal
CWHL All-Stars First Team All-Stars Goaltender: Kim St-Pierre, Montreal Defender: Angela Ruggiero, Boston Defender: Annie Guay, Montreal Forward: Caroline Ouellette, Montreal Forward: Jayna Hefford, Brampton Forward: Sarah Vaillancourt, Montreal Second Team All-Stars Goaltender: Laura Hosier, Brampton Defender: Britni Smith, Toronto Defender: Molly Engstrom, Brampton Forward: Jennifer Botterill, Toronto Forward: Sam Faber, Boston Forward: Noemie Marin, Montreal
CWHL All-Rookie Team Goaltender: Christina Kessler, Burlington Defender: Britni Smith, Toronto Defender: Kacey Bellamy, Boston Forward: Sarah Vaillancourt, Montreal Forward: Sam Faber, Boston Forward: Kori Cheverie, Toronto
CWHL Monthly Top Scorer October: Noémie Marin, Montreal November: Caroline Ouellette, Montreal December: Caroline Ouellette, Montreal January: Caroline Ouellette, Montreal February: Caroline Ouellette, Montreal
Postseason Brampton travelled to Montreal and Toronto went to Boston for the first round of the playoffs. Montreal and Toronto won each of their matches against their opponents to participate in the Clarkson Cup Championship.
Date Score Time Arena Attendance NotesFriday, March 11 Toronto 4, Boston 27:00 PM Burbank Ice Arena280Friday, March 11 Montreal 2, Brampton 1 4:30 PM Ed Meagher Arena (Concordia University)100Montreal wins in shootoutSaturday, March 12Toronto 3, Boston 14:00 PM Bright Hockey Center (Harvard University)184 Toronto wins playoff seriesSaturday, March 12Montreal 4, Brampton 3 6:00 PM McConnell Arena (McGill University)200 Montreal wins playoff seriesMontreal reigns supreme in women's hockey,
Clarkson Cup The 2011 Clarkson Cup was held March 24–27, 2011. The four competing teams included three from the Canadian Women's Hockey League and the champion team of the Western Women's Hockey League, the Minnesota Whitecaps.
Date Time Teams Final Attendance March 24 12:00 noon Toronto vs. Brampton Toronto 3–2 100 March 24 6:00 pm Minnesota vs. Montreal Montreal 5–1 240 March 25 12:00 noon Minnesota vs. Toronto Toronto 6–0 300 March 25 7:00 pm Brampton vs. Montreal Montreal 7–4 1,000 March 26 11:00 am Minnesota vs. Brampton Brampton 7–2 500 March 26 3:00 pm Toronto vs. Montreal Montreal 2–1 1,000 March 27 1:00 pm Championship Montreal 5–0 2,300
Championship game March 27: The final game concluded with the Montreal team defeating Toronto 5–0. Montreal got off to a 2–0 lead in the first period with the first goal scored by Noemie Marin on a backhand shot as she converted a pass from Caroline Ouellette and the second goal scored off a face off in the Toronto end when Dominique Thibault took the draw and Vanessa Davidson put a shot behind goaltender Sami Jo Small. The lone goal of the second period was scored by Sabrina Harbec on an outside drive cutting by Annie Guay. Harbec drew the goalie across the crease and put the puck in the top corner. The shots at the end of the second period were 34 to 17 in favour of the Montreal.
Montreal added two more goals in the third period to win 5–0. At 5:33, Julie Chu passed to Caroline Ouellette and made a low shot for a goal. The final goal of the game was scored with 2:42 left as Sarah Vaillancourt picked up a pass from Ouellette and scored from about five feet out. Toronto goalie Sami Jo Small played well in defeat as Montreal controlled the game outshooting Toronto 51 to 26. Toronto did threaten offensively early in the game and could have turned the contest around but Montreal goalie, Kim St-Pierre, came up with exceptional saves to earn the shutout and ultimately crown Montreal Stars as the 2011 Clarkson Cup Champions.
Team Games won Games lost Montreal 4 0 Toronto 2 2 Brampton 1 2 Minnesota 0 3
Awards and honors Award WinnerTop goaltender in the tournament Player of the Game, Winning team, Clarkson Cup Final Dominique Thibault Player of the Game, Losing team, Clarkson Cup Final Jennifer Botterill Tournament Most Valuable Player Sarah Vaillancourt Top forward in the tournament Top defender in the tournament
See also 2010–11 Boston Blades season 2010–11 Montreal Stars season 2011 Clarkson Cup
References
External links CWHL.ca
External news story Cassie Campbell-Pascall, 2010 helped grow women's hockey on CBC Sports, February 9, 2011. Montreal hopes Clarkson Cup win promotes women's hockey league in Globe and Mail, March 27, 2011