The JWHL is pleased to welcome the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame (Wilcox, Saskatchewan) and the Okanagan Hockey Academy (Penticton, British Columbia) to the league for the 2012-2013 season.
“After a two year moratorium on expansion, the league looked at several applicants and found Notre Dame and Okanagan to fit with the JWHL philosophy of player development and preparation for collegiate hockey. Notre Dames 100 year history in the game and OHA’s future potential are noteworthy and we look forward to having them join the league.” said JWHL co-founder Kush Sidhu.
Janice Rumple, Head Coach of the Notre Dame Hounds said, “We feel fortunate to have been accepted into the JWHL. We feel that it will help us continue our success of moving players into college hockey.”
Andy Oaks, President of Okanagan Hockey Academy said, “Okanagan Hockey Academy is very excited and honored to be accepted into the JWHL. The league has proven to be one of the top leagues in North America for female athletes to compete in and get exposure to University and Collegiate programs. The athletes and staff of OHA would like to thank the JWHL for considering our program and we look forward to being a positive member of the league.”
Notre Dame and OHA will join the JWHL West Division along with Balmoral Hall School (Winnipeg, MB), Edge School (Calgary, AB), Pacific Steelers (Vancouver, BC), and Warner School (Warner, AB). The Minnesota Thoroughbreds will move to the East Division this Fall.
Port Alberni, BC – The Alberni Valley Bulldogs are very excited to announce that Jared Wilson (1994) from Calgary, Alberta, has committed to play for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs starting the 2012/13 season. Wilson is a 6’1” left-handed defenseman that weighs in at 175lbs.
Wilson comes to the Bulldogs organization from the Calgary Royals Midget AAA program where he led the Royals in scoring (34GP, 12G, 20A, 32PTS) and penalty minutes (70PIM). Moreover, Wilson was the league’s top scoring defenseman and was his team’s alternate captain.
“I am very excited to play for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs next season,” said Wilson. “Port Alberni is a beautiful town and has a great hockey atmosphere.” Wilson and his father visited Port Alberni in early March and had the opportunity to experience “Pack The Plex” night.
“The Bulldogs have the best fans in the league which I got a taste of at the “Pack The Plex” game,” said Wilson. “It is very impressive that the organization is consistantly developing players to the next level. I look forward to working with the coaching staff and the team to win a championship in the coming years.”
“We are very excited that Jared and his family decided to commit to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs over the other teams that were pursuing him,” said Head Coach Kevin Willison. “Jared is a competitor with tremendous upside who can also contribute offensively. He comes from a great family and will be a great addition to the Bulldogs line up.”
Wilson will continue to train in Calgary, Alberta, during the off-season and we look forward to welcoming Jared when main camp opens in mid-August.
Welcome to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs organization, Jared. For more information please contact Head Coach Kevin Willison at 250.735.0487 or Assistant Coach Adam Hayduk at 250.723.4412 or adam@albernivalleybulldogs.ca.
Vancouver Canucks Hockey Schools
Vancouver Canucks will be announcing a special promotion on their Facebook page on Friday, March 23. Make sure you check out the Canucks Facebook page (www.facebook.com/canucks) on Friday to take advantage of the promotion!
Hockey is comprised of a series of one-on-one battles. There are battles in the corners, battles along the walls, battles in the face-off dots and battles in front of the net. The team that wins the battles generally wins the game. Coaches and scouts always consider how a player competes and battles when evaluating them. Learn what it takes to compete and win those important battles. Click here to see the Battle & Compete Program video.
EDMONTON – The University of Calgary Dinos defeated the Montreal Carabins 5-1 Sunday night at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, capturing the first national championship in the program’s history.
Hayley Wickenheiser scored twice and added two assists as the Dinos defeated the sixth-seeded Carabins, who are in just their third year of existence, for the national title.
It is the 44th CIS championship in the University of Calgary’s history and the first hockey title, and it’s an impressive debut for the Joan Snyder Program of Excellence, which made its debut in 2011-12 after a $500,000 donation by philanthropist Joan Snyder, who joined the team on the ice after the celebration.
Head coach Danielle Goyette, who took over the program five years ago and led the team from the basement of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference to the pinnacle of Canadian Interuniversity Sport in that short time, was thrilled for her troops.
“For them, it’s their Olympics. As a player, when you win something you have some emotion, but as a coach, when you win, you multiply that feeling by 23. It’s pretty amazing,” beamed Goyette after the win.
“I have to give credit to our goaltender. I said at the beginning if you want to win a championship, you have to have a good goaltender, I think she proved she was one of the best in Canada here this weekend,” she continued.
Wickenheiser, last year’s CIS Player of the Year, had two goals and two assists in the championship game to tie for first among all scorers in the tournament with five points.
“She wanted it so bad, that I even had to calm her down,” Goyette said of her star’s performance. “You saw out there tonight that she was trying to do it all on her own, but all year we’ve had success with a team game and that’s what we needed to get back to.”
Sophomores Iya Gavrilova and Jenna Smith as well as fourth-year Elana Lovell each had a goal and an assist while Tapp stopped 27 of 28 shots sent her way by the top offensive team at nationals. The Calgary-born goaltender made 61 saves in three games, earning a .986 save percentage and 1.00 goals-against-average to be named a tournament all-star as well as the tournament MVP.
“I just tried to do whatever I could to get in front of pucks,” Tapp said. “There were some scrambles and battles in front of the net, but the girls did a lot and really helped me out a lot tonight. It was a great hockey game, and I’m really proud to have been a part of it. It’s a team game, and I made as many first stops as I could, and the girls in front of me helped me take care of the rest. I’m really proud to win this game with this group of girls.”
Defender Élizabeth Mantha scored the lone goal for Montréal, also earning a spot on the tournament all-star team. Fellow sophomore Josianne Legault had an assist to tie Wickenheiser for the tournament scoring lead, getting her third helper to go with two goals.
Wickenheiser scored her pair of tallies 88 seconds apart in the first period. The first was a short-handed marker at 16:46 of the opening frame when Gavrilova rushed up ahead to catch up to a loose puck in the Carabins zone and made a drop pass to Wickenheiser who used a screen to put a backhand shortside on Rachel Ouellette.
The former Olympian then scored her third goal of the tournament when she circled into the high slot and floated a wristshot past another screen, giving the Dinos a 2-0 lead with 1:56 left to go in the first period.
With two straight power-plays midway through the second, Montréal tried to reduce the deficit, but Tapp stopped all nine shots in the four minutes of man-advantage time, including thrilling stops on a deflection right in front of the net and a partial breakaway by Kim Deschênes, who started the tournament on Thursday with a four-point performance of her own.
Wickenheiser would get point number three by feeding rearguard Casey Irving at the point, former Swift Current Wildcat Smith deflecting the shot to the top right corner to build the Calgary lead with 1:17 left on the clock in the second.
At the 1:34 mark of the third, Wickenheiser won a faceoff in the Carabin end and made a goalmouth pass to Gavrilova for an easy tap-in to make it a four-goal deficit.
Mantha would reply just under five minutes later, stopping Tapp’s shutout bid with a seeing-eye point shot through a screen, the power-play marker coming with 14 minutes left.
At the 10:58 mark of the final frame, however, Lovell put a halt to any comeback, taking a Tanya Morgan pass from the point while all alone in the front, having ample time to deke around Ouellette for the 5-1 lead.
The gold medal win by Calgary marks the sixth different winner of the women’s hockey CIS championship.
“We know that not that long ago, the University of Calgary was thinking about cutting this program,” said Goyette. “So to win this championship, five years later, is pretty amazing. Our goal is to be one of the best programs in the country and we’re on the right track now.”
The Dinos, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, and the Toronto Varsity Blues now all have one title apiece, the Concordia Stingers have two, the McGill Martlets winning three (all in a four-year span from 2008 to 2011), and the Alberta Pandas lead with seven championship crowns.
The University of Montreal was playing in their first women’s hockey championship as well, despite only starting the program three years ago. In that short span, they have made two national championship appearances, winning the 5th place game in 2010, and collecting silver this year.
CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS
Tournament MVP: Amanda Tapp, Calgary
R.W. Pugh Fair-Play Award: Andrea Boras, Alberta
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs are pleased to announce one year contract extensions for Head Coach Kevin Willison and Assistant Coach Adam Hayduk. This extension will take both coaches through the end of the
2012 – 2013 season.
“We feel that this move to remain consistent with the existing coaching staff allows for a stabilization of the team on and off the ice. Since joining the team in early December Kevin has improved the player’s work ethic, discipline and production while continuously playing with an injury riddled line up.” stated Andy Oakes President.
“Extending Adam Hayduk along with Kevin for the next year was a very easy decision. Adam brings energy, enthusiasm, and is a tremendous young coach with a lot to offer the organization, players and the community of Port Alberni” added Rick Schievink, Director of Hockey Operations.
Kevin and Adam will be available to the media after the game tonight on Friday March 9th, 2012.
The JWHL is pleased to welcome the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame (Wilcox, Saskatchewan) and the Okanagan Hockey Academy (Penticton, British Columbia) to the league for the 2012-2013 season.
