Hockey notes: Montreal Stars win Clarkson Cup

Highest honour in women's hockey

The Gazette, Postmedia News March 28, 2011

The Montreal Stars' Dominique Thibault (left) scores a goal during the Clarkson Cup final Sunday against Toronto.

MONTREAL - The Montreal Stars have been crowned 2011 Clarkson Cup champions after defeating Toronto 5-0 on Sunday in the tournament's final game.

It is the second Clarkson Cup title for the Stars, the highest honour in North American women's hockey. The Stars were perfect throughout the tournament, winning all three round-robin games and capping it off with Sunday's win.

The Stars got goals from Noémie Marin, Vanessa Davidson, Dominique Thibault, Caroline Ouellette and Sarah Vaillancourt. Montreal goalie Kim St. Pierre made 26 saves for the shutout, while Sami Jo Small made 46 saves in a losing effort.

Source: © Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Montréal reigns supreme in women’s hockey

by Hélène Lapointe
photo by Pasquale Stalteri

The Montreal club has come out on top as the CWHL’s regular season Champion. They beat the number 2 seed Brampton in two straight games this weekend in Montreal. The playoff victory confirms Montréal’s considerable talents, having maintained the top spot in the league since the first puck dropped at the beginning of the season. This gives them home-ice advantage at the Clarkson Cup Championship on March 24-27 in Barrie Ontario, where North America’s best clubs will compete for the ultimate prize in elite women’s club hockey.

On Friday evening, an imposing Gillian Apps opened the scoring for Brampton, minutes into the first period. Caroline Ouellette replied for Montréal, to tie the game at 1-1, a score that stuck until the end of the game. Although Montréal dominated play with 44 shots on goal against Brampton’s 25, Brampton’s stellar goaltending, first by Laura Hosier, who was later taken off injured, and later by Kira Hurley, also stalwart in Saturday’s game. Things still winless after the 5-minute overtime, teams picked their top shooters. Finally, after 9 shots were equalized, Team captain Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux sealed the deal in front of the jubilant crowd at Concordia’s University Ed Meagher arena.

Brampton (who went to the box 9 times Friday) maintained their physical play Saturday, in front of an excitable crowd at the McGill University arena on “Fan Appreciation Night”. Brampton captain Jayna Hefford scored early, but 10 minutes later, Sabrina Harbec replied. Montreal added three goals in the third period, Brampton only 2, sealing a 4-3 victory.

A dynamic duo during their time at Harvard, Olympians Sarah Vaillancourt (Team Canada) and Julie Chu (Team USA), stood out this weekend. Vaillancourt scored one goal and two assists, including one of the most spectacular goals of the playoff, a wicked one-timer from the face-off circle that beat Hurley over her shoulder top shoulder. Chu, for her part, got three assists and mastered the blue line. “We were ready to play them,” said captain Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux. “We knew there would play a very physical game and prepared ourselves accordingly. We plan on re-living this experience at the Clarkson Cup,” she added.