NWT.004
March 16, 2005

CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S TEAM MEMBERS ADDING
SOME HARDWARE PRIOR TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

ESSO WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP – Sarnia, ON was host to the Esso Women’s National Championship from March 9-13, 2005. This championship featured six Canadian National Team members on three different NWHL teams. The Montreal Axion finished with a bronze medal and had the National team’s goalie Charline Labonte between the pipes along with Gina Kingsbury up front. The silver medal went to the Brampton Thunder who also had a pair of National team veteran’s, Vicky Sunohara and the tournament’s top forward and leading scorer, Jayna Hefford. The gold medal champions had another duo of National team members starting with the tournament MVP, Cheryl Pounder, and one of the tournaments top scoring forwards, Jennifer Botterill.

WWHL – The Western Women’s Hockey League is about to commence on its inaugural championship weekend being hosted in Calgary, AB from March 18-20. This will be a three team tournament involving the Edmonton Chimos, Minnesota Whitecaps, and the Calgary Oval X-Treme. Six of Canada’s National Women’s Team players and one coach will be involved with the championship weekend, as the Calgary Oval X-Treme have no less than seven National team members. Correne Bredin, Colleen Sostorics,  Kelly Bechard, Cassie Campbell, Danielle Goyette, Hayley Wickenheiser and National team assistant coach Tim Bothwell will all be trying to capture the first ever WWHL Championship.

NWHL – As the NWHL approaches it championship weekend, the Montreal Axion await the winner of the Brampton Thunder versus the Toronto Aeros series. Montreal features Charline Labonte and Gina Kingsbury, the Toronto Aeros have Cheryl Pounder and Jennifer Botterill and the Brampton Thunder boast Vicky Sunohara and Jayna Hefford. The NWHL Championship game will be televised live on TSN on Saturday, March 26 at 3pm ET from the Brampton Sports Centre.

NCAA – As the NCAA teams fight to get down to the frozen four in New Hampshire from March 25 - 27, there are currently eight teams still in the mix. The National Women’s team has five members still vying for the elusive NCAA National Championship. Dartmouth College has two players, Cherie Piper, a top ten finalist for the Patty Kazmer award, and Gillian Apps who will do battle with the University of Wisconsin and their captain, Carla MacLeod. Harvard University freshman sensation Sarah Vaillancourt will hope she can help lead here team to the frozen four in her first year of post secondary athletics. Minnesota-Duluth standout Caroline Ouellette is amongst the final three nominees for the Patty Kazmer award as the top player in the country, and she will help the Bulldogs as they try to advance with the top teams in the US. The final will be played on Sunday March 27, which means any National team members playing in the championship game will not arrive to join the National team until Monday, March 28.