Sport Ice hockey Commissioner Brenda Andress Countries Canada, United States | Founded 2007 No. of teams 5 | |
Headquarters Newmarket, Ontario, Canada | ||
The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) is the highest women's ice hockey league in Canada. The CWHL was founded in 2007. The league currently has five teams: two in Ontario, one in Quebec, one in Alberta and one in Boston, Massachusetts.
Contents
History
The CWHL was an initiative spearheaded by players such as Lisa-Marie Breton, Allyson Fox, Kathleen Kauth, Kim McCullough, Sami Jo Small and Jennifer Botterill, all of whom played in the recently disbanded (in 2007) National Women's Hockey League. The players worked with a group of volunteer business people to form the CWHL by following the example of the National Lacrosse League. The league would be responsible for all travel, ice rental and uniform costs, plus some equipment, but does not pay players.
2007–2008 season
The Brampton Canadettes Thunder won the first CWHL championship on 22 March 2008, winning 4–3 over the Mississauga Chiefs in the final. Molly Engstrom scored the overtime-winning goal while Lori Dupuis won the Championship Game MVP honours. At end of the 2007–08 season, Jayna Hefford was voted the league's regular-season Most Valuable Player. Jennifer Botterill won the Angela James Bowl as the league's top scorer and was voted the CWHL Top Forward. Becky Kellar was voted the CWHL Top Defender, Kim St-Pierre was voted the CWHL Top Goaltender, and Marie-Philip Poulin was voted the CWHL Outstanding Rookie.
Also in 2007, Hockey Canada announced it would revamp the Esso Women's Nationals, with the Western Women's Hockey League champion and finalist meeting the Canadian Women's Hockey League champion and finalist. Since 2009, teams from the two leagues instead compete for the Clarkson Cup at the end of the season.
2008–2009 season
In 2008–09, the Montreal Stars repeated as regular season champions, winning a league record 25 games. At the season's end, Caroline Ouellette was voted the league's regular-season Most Valuable Player. Jayna Hefford won the Angela James Bowl with a new record of 69 points and was also voted the CWHL Top Forward. Becky Kellar was voted the CWHL Top Defender, Kim St-Pierre was voted the CWHL Top Goaltender, and Laura Hosier was voted the CWHL Outstanding Rookie.
2009–2010 season
In 2009–10, Sabrina Harbec won the Angela James Bowl as the top scorer as the Stars repeated as regular-season champions. She was also voted the league's most valuable player, the CWHL Top Forward and a CWHL First Team All-Star. Teammate Annie Guay was voted CWHL Top Defender while Laura Hosier was voted CWHL Top Goaltender. Danielle Blanchard was voted CWHL Outstanding Rookie.
2011–2012 season
The league announced on April 19, 2011, that it would merge with the Western Women's Hockey League for the 2011–12 CWHL season. The merger would feature one team based in Edmonton and Calgary and is a combination of the former WWHL franchises the Edmonton Chimos and Strathmore Rockies. The team would play their games in various locations around Alberta. The WWHL announced that there was in fact no merger and that the WWHL would continue for the 2011–12 season with two new teams joining the league. Strathmore and Edmonton were welcome to depart the WWHL but the league would not disband as initially reported by the CWHL through various media outlets.
2012–2013 season
In the summer of 2012, the league announced that it would fold its Burlington club in order to strengthen the league. The league also created a draft system whereby players in Boston, Alberta and Montreal could choose which team they would play on, but players in the Toronto area could be forced to play for one of the two remaining GTA teams, Brampton or Toronto. Further, a player's pre-draft declaration of the regional area in which they wished to play could be altered after the draft. As a result of these rules, players wishing to leave GTA-area teams to play in Boston, Alberta or Montreal could do so as desired, without compensation to the GTA-area team that they left. Players who wished to leave one GTA-area team to go to the other GTA-area team could only be moved upon a trade between the teams.
On November 13, 2012, in a reversal from its previous position that sponsorships could not be directed to a particular team, the CWHL announced that the Toronto Furies would be partnering with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL in a multi-year deal by which the Maple Leafs would provide funding for coaches, equipment and travel expenses. The CWHL announced a similar partnership between the Alberta CWHL entry and the Calgary Flames.
2014–2015 season
The league held its 1st Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game on December 13, 2014 at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.
Television
Since 2014-15, specialty television channel Sportsnet airs the playoffs and the All-Star Game. The most watched game has been the February 4, 2017 game between Montreal and Toronto, which averaged 136,400 viewers.
Playoffs
Brampton Thunder won the first Championship of the CWHL.
Playoffs
Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL
Playoffs
Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL.
2010–2011 Championship
The 2010–11 CWHL season is the fourth in the history of the League. There is an addition of one expansion's team: Boston Blades. A request was made for an endorsement of the National Hockey League as an official NHL women's league. However, the CWHL has yet to receive a decision from the NHL.
Playoffs
Montreal Stars won the Championship of the CWHL. Montreal, Brampton and Toronto competed for the 2011 Clarkson Cup, which the Montreal Stars also won after defeating Toronto 5–0 in the tournament's final game.
Season standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.
Team Alberta CWHL plays fewer regular-season games than the other CWHL teams because of travel expenses. Points are consequently adjusted with another teams.
Drafts
The first ever league draft was held on August 12, 2010 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. In the 2010 CWHL Draft, Olympic gold medallist Tessa Bonhomme was the first overall selection.
All-time leading scorers (2007–08 to 2014–15)
The annual CWHL scoring champion wins the Angela James Bowl. In 2011–12, rookie Meghan Agosta set a CWHL single-season record with 80 points.
All-time leaders in shutouts (2007–08 to 2014–15)
Most shutouts during the CWHL regular season. Kim St-Pierre (2008–09) and Sami Jo Small (2009–10) hold the single-season record with five shutouts.