CIS Players & Coaches to represent Canada at 2011 IIHF WC

OTTAWA – Six players and two coaches with a CIS affiliation will represent Canada at the IIHF women’s world ice hockey championship later this month in Switzerland.

The tournament is scheduled for April 16 to 25 in Zurich and Winterthur. Canada has appeared in every final since the inaugural championship was held in Ottawa in 1990 racking up nine gold medals and three silvers.

Leading the Canadian University representation in Switzerland will be current CIS stars Hayley Wickenheiser and Charline Labonté.

Wickenheiser, a forward from Shaunavon, Sask., was named CIS player of the year in 2010-11 following her first season with the University of Calgary. The three-time Olympic gold medallist tallied 40 points in only 15 conference outings for the Dinos to finish with a CIS-best 2.67 points-per-game average.

Labonté, a goaltender from Boisbriand, Que., returned to McGill University in ’10-11 after spending the previous year with the national team. The two-time Olympic champion guided the Martlets to their third CIS title in four seasons, was named a first-team all-Canadian for the fourth time in as many campaigns with McGill and set a CIS record with 37 shutouts in 67 career conference games.

Other Switzerland-bound players with CIS experience include goalie Kim St-Pierre of Châteauguay, Que., defenceman Catherine Ward of Montreal, as well as forwards Caroline Ouellette of Montreal and Jayna Hefford of Kingston, Ont.

St-Pierre was a four-time first-team all-Canadian with McGill and was named CIS player of the year in 2002-03, when she also received the BLG Award as CIS female athlete of the year. She suited up for McGill’s men’s team for two games in 2003-04.

Ward was a first-team all-Canadian each of her three seasons with the Martlets from 2006-07 to 2008-09 and was named MVP of the 2009 CIS championship after she helped McGill capture its second national title. She has since transferred to Boston University.

Ouellette played seven games for the Concordia Stingers in 2000-01, while Hefford spent one season in the OWIAA (now OUA) with the Toronto Varsity Blues in 1996-97, one year before women’s hockey was added to the CIS program.

St-Pierre, Ward, Ouellette and Hefford have all claimed Olympic gold with Team Canada.

Rounding out the CIS representation at the IIHF championship are assistant coaches Dan Church and Lisa Jordan.

Church has been the head coach at York University for seven years, while Jordan was recently appointed head coach at Ryerson after 14 campaigns at the helm at Saint Mary’s.

Canada opens the world championship on April 16 against Switzerland and will also face Kazakhstan and Finland in preliminary round play. The tournament includes two groups of four teams, with the top three teams from each group advancing to the medal round, which starts on April 23.

Hockey Canada website: www.hockeycanada.ca 

IIHF championship website: http://www.iihf.com/en/channels1011/ww/schedule.html

(Source: Michel Belanger CIS Communications)