Ann-Renée Desbiens

Ann-Renée Desbiens (born April 10, 1994) is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender for the Montreal PWHL team and member of the Canada women's national ice hockey team.

Ann-Renee Desbiens playing for Team Canada in 2017
Born (1994-04-10) April 10, 1994
La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
PWHPA team
Former teams		 Montreal
PWHPA Minnesota
Wisconsin Badgers
Montréal Stars
National team  Canada
Playing career 2013–present
Medal record
Women's ice hockey
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2022 BeijingTeam
Silver medal – second place2018 PyeongchangTeam
World Championship
Gold medal – first place2021 Canada
Gold medal – first place2022 Denmark
Silver medal – second place2015 Sweden
Silver medal – second place2023 Canada

She participated at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship,[1] the 2018 Winter Olympics.[2], the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship, the 2022 Winter Olympics, and the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship.

Playing career

Desbiens was the first female player drafted to the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League, the second-highest men's junior league in Québec after the QMJHL. She was selected by the Loups de La Tuque but was cut before ever playing a game because the coach didn't believe there was any point in developing girls.[3] That same year, she participated in the Shawinigan Cataractes training camp.[4]

She made one playoff appearance for the Montréal Stars of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) in 2012, as the team won the Clarkson Cup.

NCAA

In 2013, she was offered a scholarship to play at the University of Wisconsin in the NCAA, despite not being fluent in English. Across four years with the Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey program, she led the team to four Frozen Four appearances, tallied 99 wins in 122 games, and set several individual records, including highest career save percentage (SV%), at .963, and lowest goals against average (GAA), with 0.71.

During her senior year, on November 6, 2016, Desbiens broke Noora Räty's record for most NCAA career shutouts of any gender. In a 6–0 shutout victory against the Bemidji State Beavers, Desbiens would log career shutout number 44.[5] At the end of her senior year, Desbiens was awarded the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top female college ice hockey player in the United States.[6]

Desbiens was the first Canadian selected at the 2016 NWHL Draft, chosen in the first round, fourth overall by the Boston Pride.[7][8][9] As of 2021, she has not appeared with the team nor made any indication of interest in playing in the NWHL.

After the 2018 Olympics, during the 2018-19 season, Desbiens took a break from hockey, citing exhaustion and the uncertainty of options to play professionally.[10][11] In May 2019, she returned to hockey by joining the PWHPA.

In the 2019–20 season, Desbiens appeared for the Fond du Lac Bears in the Great Lakes Hockey League, an elite men's amateur league. She also participated in the women's ice hockey showcase at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, making 15 saves as the Canadian All-Stars beat the American All-Stars.[12]

PWHPA

Standing between the pipes for Team Bauer (Montreal) in the 2021 Secret Cup, which was the Canadian leg of the 2020–21 PWHPA Dream Gap Tour, Ann-Renee Desbiens registered 19 saves in a 4-2 championship game win over Team Sonnet (Toronto).[13]

PWHL

In 2023, the PWHPA and the rival Premier Hockey Federation consolidated into the new Professional Women's Hockey League.[14] With each of the six new teams able to make three initial free agency signings, Desbiens was widely assessed as a probable signing by the new Montreal PWHL team.[15][16][17] On September 5, she was reported as one of Montreal team's first three players, alongside Team Canada teammates Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey.[18]

International play

Desbiens was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship, where she guided Canada to a silver medal.[2] She was also selected to play for Team Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where she again won a silver medal.[2]

On January 11, 2022, Desbiens was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.[19][20][21]

Personal life

Desbiens has a master's degree in accounting.[22][23] She has named NHL goaltender Patrick Roy as a role model, her family being supporters of the Quebec Nordiques and then the Colorado Avalanche.[24]

Awards and honours
  • WCHA Player of the Week (Recognized for games of November 4–6, 2016) [25]
  • 2016 WCHA Player of the Year [26]
  • WCHA Offensive Player of the Month, January 2017[27]
  • WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of February 14, 2017) [28]
  • 2016-17 AHCA-CCM Women's University Division I All-American [29]
  • 2017 Patty Kazmaier Award winner[6]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPWLOTLMINGASOGAASV% GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
2011–12 Montréal Stars CWHL ————————— 110——03.00.000
2013–14 University of Wisconsin WCHA 1211106771231.06.957 ————————
2014–15 University of Wisconsin WCHA 372674223643141.15.941 ————————
2015–16 University of Wisconsin WCHA 383341227929210.76.960 ————————
2016–17 University of Wisconsin WCHA 352924211025170.71.963 ————————
2019–20 Fond du Lac Bears GJHL 110060101.00.960 ————————
2019–20 Montréal PWHPA ————————— ————————
2020–21 Montréal PWHPA ————————— ————————
NCAA totals 122991497304109550.90.955 ————————

International
Year Team Event Result GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2008 Canada U18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3210179511.67.900
2015 Canada WC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3200140431.71.931
2018 Canada OG 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 110060010.001.000
2021 Canada WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5500307711.37.908
2022 Canada OG 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5500300901.80.940
Junior totals 3210179511.67.900
Senior totals 1414008072051.49.930

Sources: EliteProspects, University of Wisconsin, Fond du Lac Bears

References
  1. "2015 IIHF World Championship roster" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  2. "Ann-Renée Desbiens". olympic.ca. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  3. Lavoie, Kathleen (October 21, 2017). "Ann-Renée Desbiens, la muraille canadienne". Le Soleil (in French). Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  4. "Ann-Renée Desbiens à la croisée des chemins – Photo Pierre Rochette". Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  5. "Wisconsin women's hockey: Ann-Renée Desbiens breaks NCAA shutout record in win". WCHA.com. November 8, 2016. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  6. "Ann-Renee Desbiens Wins 20th Patty Kaz Award". pattykaz.com. March 18, 2017. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  7. Wells, Nathan (June 18, 2016). "WCHA Players Dominate 2016 NWHL Draft". SB Nation College Hockey. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  8. Shircliff, Elaine (September 1, 2016). "Meet the 2016 Boston Pride Draftees". The Hockey Writers. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  9. Bevis, Hannah (September 28, 2017). "Women's Hockey Top 25 Under 25 | Number 2 - Ann-Renée Desbiens". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  10. Lorange, Simon-Olivier (January 30, 2020). "Ann-Renée Desbiens: "On n'est pas habituées à ça !"". La Presse (in French). Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  11. Rioux, Benoît (November 28, 2019). "Ann-Renée Desbiens : la "barbare" de La Malbaie". Le Journal de Montréal. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  12. Woodley, Kevin (February 6, 2020). "Desbiens getting chance in goal for Canada". NHL.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  13. "Team Bauer beats Team Sonnet to win Canadian leg of PWHPA Secret Dream Gap Tour". sportsnet.ca. May 30, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  14. Wawrow, John (July 4, 2023). "'Years in the making': Marie-Philip Poulin ready to start new women's hockey league". CBC Sports. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  15. Sadler, Emily (September 1, 2023). "PWHL Free Agency Primer: Where Poulin, Knight, Nurse could go and why". Sportsnet. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  16. Kennedy, Ian (September 3, 2023). "Three Free Agency Targets For Each PWHL Team". The Hockey News. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  17. Salvian, Hailey (August 31, 2023). "Professional Women's Hockey League: Predicting the top 18 players who could sign". The Athletic. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  18. "Marie-Philip Poulin to sign with PWHL Montreal, Sarah Nurse to join Toronto". Sportsnet. September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  19. Awad, Brandi (January 11, 2022). "Team Canada's women's hockey roster revealed for Beijing 2022". Canadian Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  20. "Canada's 2022 Olympic women's hockey team roster". Canadian Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. January 11, 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  21. "2022 Olympic Winter Games (Women)". www.hockeycanada.ca/. Hockey Canada. January 11, 2022. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  22. "WCHA 20th Anniversary Team - Ann-Renée Desbiens, Wisconsin". Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Archived from the original on January 16, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  23. Murphy, Connor (August 25, 2018). "2018 Women's Hockey Top 25 Under 25 | No. 7: Ann-Renée Desbiens". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  24. Tardif, Carl (February 18, 2018). "20 questions à... Ann-Renée Desbiens". Le Soleil (in French). Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  25. "UMN'S PANNEK, AND UW'S DESBIENS AND ROQUE NAMED WCHA WOMEN'S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK". WCHA.com. November 8, 2016. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  26. "WCHA ANNOUNCES 2015–16 POSTSEASON AWARDS". WCHA.com. March 3, 2016. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  27. "UMD's Stalder, UW's Desbiens And OSU's Dunne Named WCHA Women's Players of the Month". WCHA ice hockey. February 3, 2017. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  28. "UW'S WELLHAUSEN, DESBIENS AND ROQUE NAMED WCHA WOMEN'S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Players honored for games of February 10 – 12, 2017". WCHA ice hockey. February 14, 2017. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  29. "2017 All-American Teams". ahcahockey.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.