Les Canadiennes de Montréal

Les Canadiennes de Montréal were a professional women's ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2007 as the Montreal Stars (Stars de Montréal), they competed in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) in every season. The team appeared in and won the Clarkson Cup the most times out of any CWHL teams with four championships.

This article is about the women's hockey team. For Canadienne people of Montreal, see Canadienne, Canadians, and Montrealer.
"Les Canadiennes" redirects here. For the NHL team, see Montreal Canadiens. For other uses, see Canadien (disambiguation).
Les Canadiennes de Montréal
CityMontreal, Quebec
LeagueCanadian Women's Hockey League
Founded2007 (2007)
Folded2019 (2019)
Home arenaCentre Étienne Desmarteau
ColoursRed, blue, white
     
General managerMeg Hewings
Head coachCaroline Ouellette and Danièle Sauvageau
CaptainMarie-Philip Poulin
Websitemontreal.thecwhl.com
Franchise history
2007–2015Montréal Stars
2015–2019Les Canadiennes
Championships
Playoff championships4 (2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2016–17)
Montreal Stars 2012 championship team

In 2015, the team became an affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, with the franchise providing resources and marketing support to the team as part of their efforts to help promote women's hockey. This affiliation also led to its re-branding as Les Canadiennes for the 2015–16 CWHL season, adopting colours and jerseys resembling those of their men's counterpart. In December 2015, the Canadiennes and the Boston Pride played the first outdoor game in women's hockey as part of festivities for the 2016 NHL Winter Classic in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

In 2019, the CWHL ceased operations, as well as all teams that it directly owned including Les Canadiennes.[1]

Team history
Original team logo as the Montreal Stars

Team origins

The Montreal Stars joined the CWHL during its formation in 2007. The Stars were formed from players from the Montreal Axion, a team that played in the National Women's Hockey League before its demise.[2]

In their first season, 2007–08, Montreal won 23 games out of 30 regular season contests and finished first overall in the regular season,[3] but lost to Mississauga Chiefs in the playoffs that year in a two-game contest.

In 2008–09, the Stars won the Clarkson Cup on March 19, 2009, in Kingston, Ontario, the first year that the Clarkson Cup was openly played for between competitive professional women's hockey clubs rather than national teams such as before with Team Canada and Team Sweden in 2006. The Clarkson Cup was won by Montreal by defeating the Minnesota Whitecaps in the final. Initially, the game was tied at one goal apiece until Montreal scored two goals. Sabrina Habrec ultimately scored the game winner, in a 3–1 final score. Former Canadian Governor General Adrienne Clarkson was on hand to present the trophy to team captain Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux.[4] It was Adrienne Clarkson's hope that the Clarkson Cup be the women's equivalent to the Stanley Cup.[5] That same season, three players were named to the First and Second team all stars: Caroline Ouellette, Kim St.Pierre and Sabrina Habrec.[6]

The team had early success with league awards to its players. Kim St. Pierre won the CHWL's award for top goaltender in back-to-back seasons, 2007–08 and 2008–09. Caroline Ouellette was the CWHL MVP for the 2008–09, Marie-Phillip Poulin was the CWHL's rookie of the year in 2007–08 at the age of 16 scoring over 40 points in 16 games, and Sabrina Harbec led the CWHL in scoring with 54 points in 29 games that into the 2009–10 season.[7] In 2009–10, the team finished in first place but did not defend the Clarkson Cup in the playoffs.

During the 2013–14 CWHL season, three members of the Stars reached the milestone of 100 career points during the season. It marks the first time in CWHL history that three players from the same franchise reach the century mark in the same season.[8] It began on January 11, when CWHL co-founder Lisa-Marie Breton registered the 100th point of her career.[9] On February 8, Vanessa Davidson earned the 100th point in her CWHL career[10] and Emmanuelle Blais became the third in a March 8 match against the Boston Blades.

Montreal Canadiens partnership

In March 2015, the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League entered into a resource-sharing and marketing partnership with the Stars. Team CEO Geoff Molson explained that given the Canadiens' support of minor hockey in Quebec and the growth of Women's hockey, he felt that it "[was] the right time to concretely support women who play professional hockey, and, at the same time, promote the sport among up-and-coming players". Brenda Andress, commissioner of the CWHL, also stated that the partnership "affords the CWHL an opportunity to grow women's hockey hand in hand with one of the most storied franchises in professional sport."[11][12]

In September 2015, the team unveiled a new identity as Les Canadiennes, adopting a rounded "C" and star as its logo (alluding to the Canadiens' logo, and the team's former name), and a blue-white-red kit similar to that of the Canadiens.[13][14]

In a game against the Brampton Thunder on December 13, 2015, Noemie Marin registered the 200th point of her CWHL career.[15] She would record two assists in the game, including one on the game-winning tally, to reach the milestone.

On December 10, 2016, Les Canadiennes played a regular season game against the Calgary Inferno at the Bell Centre. They beat the Inferno 1–0, with the goal by captain Marie-Philip Poulin, in regulation in front of nearly 6000 spectators, marking a great success for the first ever CWHL hockey game to be played at the home of the Montreal Canadiens.[16]

On December 11, 2016, Caroline Ouellette, already the league's all-time leader in points and assists, registered her 300th career point. She then tied Jayna Hefford's league record of 130 goals on January 29, 2017, finishing the season with 309 career points and 130 career goals.[17]

In 2018, Les Canadiennes moved team operations to the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens' American Hockey League affiliate, the Laval Rocket. Les Canadiennes then scheduled some of their home games at Place Bell for the 2018–19 season.[18]

2016 Outdoor Women's Winter Classic

On December 31, 2015, the Canadiennes participated in an outdoor game, the 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic, against the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The game was held as an undercard to the following day's NHL Winter Classic, which featured their teams' NHL counterparts—the Canadiens and the Boston Bruins, and was the first ever outdoor professional women's hockey game.[19]

Olympics
Caroline Ouellette with Clarkson Cup on March 27, 2011

The team included notable forwards Caroline Ouellette, Sarah Vaillancourt and goaltender Kim St. Pierre,[20] all members of the 2010 Canadian Women's Hockey Olympic team who won the Olympic gold medal in Vancouver.[21][22]

For the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, Stars players Ouellette, Haley Irwin, Charline Labonté and Catherine Ward competed for Team Canada, while Julie Chu was a member of Team USA.

After the 2018 Winter Games, Hilary Knight signed as a free agent with Les Canadiennes on March 8, 2018, joining the team for the 2018 Clarkson Cup playoffs.[23]

Social work

Les Canadiennes support the fight against breast cancer with a Breast Cancer Fundraising event.[24] For the occasion, Les Canadiennes play with pink jerseys at their annual breast cancer fundraiser.[25] Les Canadiennes are also committed to supporting amateur girls' hockey teams and take their role as examples to the young girls growing up playing the sport, very seriously. The "Canadiennes Camps"[26] are just one way that these athletes connect with young players. They are also available to meet the girls at the autograph sessions following most of their games, they are accessible through social media, and many of them are involved in various community outreach events and school girls' hockey teams.

Seasons

Les Canadiennes won a total of eight regular season championships and four Clarkson Cups[4] in 12 seasons. From 2012 to 2019, the Clarkson Cup has been awarded to the CWHL playoff champion after previously being awarded to the top women's hockey team in Canada when there was multiple leagues.

Season-by-season
Year GP W L T/OTL GF GA Pts Finish Playoffs Clarkson Cup
2007–0830236111255481stLost in second roundNot awarded
2008–0930254113565511stWon CWHL championshipWon 2009 Clarkson Cup
2009–1030235212270481stWon CWHL championshipLost 2010 Clarkson Cup semifinal
2010–1126222212570461stWon CWHL championshipWon 2011 Clarkson Cup
2011–1227224116066511stWon 2012 Clarkson Cup championship game, 4–2 vs. Brampton Thunder
2012–1324185110558372ndLost 2013 Clarkson Cup championship game, 2–5 vs. Boston Blades
2013–142319229647421stEliminated in 2014 Clarkson Cup round-robin
2014–152414916749293rdLost 2015 Clarkson Cup championship game, 2–3 (OT) vs. Boston Blades
2015–1624213011436421stLost 2016 Clarkson Cup championship game, 3–8 vs. Calgary Inferno
2016–172417529148362ndWon 2017 Clarkson Cup championship game, 3–1 vs. Calgary Inferno
2017–1828225111759451stLost 2018 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 0–2 vs. Markham Thunder
2018–1928216111845432ndLost 2019 Clarkson Cup championship game, 2–5 vs. Calgary Inferno

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.

2018-19 roster

Updated October 2, 2018.[27]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
20 Canada Marie-Joelle Allard D L 31 2018 Victoriaville, Quebec
14 Canada Erin Ambrose (A) D R 29 2017 Keswick, Ontario
2 Canada Olivia Atkinson F L 26 2018 Oakville, Ontario
18 Canada Geneviève Bannon F R 28 2018 Châteauguay, Quebec
24 Canada Ann-Sophie Bettez (A) F L 36 2012 Sept-Îles, Quebec
47 Canada Emmanuelle Blais F R 35 2010 Lasalle, Quebec
23 Canada Sophie Brault D L 35 2014 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
19 Canada Katia Clement-Heydra F L 33 2015 Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec
12 Canada Catherine Daoust D R 28 2018 Montreal, Quebec
15 Canada Mélodie Daoust (A) F R 30 2017 Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec
17 Canada Melanie Desrochers D L 31 2016 Welland, Ontario
9 Canada Kim Deschênes F L 32 2014 Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick
35 Canada Marie-Soleil Deschênes G L 29 2017 Île Bizard, Quebec
76 Canada Karell Émard D L 35 2015 Marieville, Quebec
22 Canada Maude Gelinas F L 31 2018 Montreal, Quebec
21 United States Hilary Knight F R 34 2018 Palo Alto, California
60 Canada Geneviève Lacasse G L 34 2018 Kingston, Ontario
78 Canada Tracy-Ann Lavigne F L 31 2017 Montreal, Quebec
16 Canada Sarah Lefort F L 29 2016 Ormstown, Quebec
72 Canada Emma Martin D L 27 2018 Winsloe, Prince Edward Island
38 Canada Emerance Maschmeyer G L 29 2017 Bruderheim, Alberta
89 Canada Maude Nicol G R 25–26 2018 Sherbrooke, Quebec
29 Canada Marie-Philip Poulin (C) F L 32 2015 Beauceville, Quebec
5 Canada Lauriane Rougeau D L 33 2014 Beaconsfield, Quebec
11 Canada Jillian Saulnier F L 31 2018 Halifax, Nova Scotia
88 Canada Kayla Tutino F R 30 2017 Lorraine, Quebec
27 United States Taylor Willard D R 27 2018 Bolingbrook, Illinois

Jenny Lavigne, the Star's long-time starting goaltender, later served as an assistant coach for the team

Awards and honours

Captains
The Stars discussing strategy
SeasonCaptainAssistant captains
2007–08Lisa-Marie Breton
2008–09Lisa-Marie Breton
2009–10Lisa-Marie Breton
2010–11Lisa-Marie BretonNathalie Dery, Caroline Ouellette, Kelly Sudia
2011–12Lisa-Marie BretonNathalie Dery, Caroline Ouellette, Kelly Sudia
2012–13Lisa-Marie Breton
2013–14Cathy Chartrand
2014–15Cathy Chartrand
2015–16Cathy ChartrandCaroline Ouellette, Ann-Sophie Bettez, Noémie Marin
2016–17Marie-Philip PoulinCaroline Ouellette, Cathy Chartrand, Ann-Sophie Bettez

Scoring leaders

Season-by-season
SeasonLeader (F)GPGAPtsLeader (D)GPGAPtsPPGSHGGWG
2010–11[28]Caroline Ouellette29244771Annie Guay29131932Noemie Marin (6)Three tied with 2Noemie Marin (7)
2011–12[29] Meghan Agosta27413980Catherine Ward2722931Four tied with 5Agosta (2)Agosta (5)
2012–13[30]Meghan Agosta23163046Cathy Chartrand2351520Emmanuelle Blais (4)Three tied with 1Five tied with 3
2013–14[31] Ann-Sophie Bettez23162440Cathy Chartrand2392130Vinny Davidson (8)Two tied with 2Bettez (7)
2014–15Caroline Ouellette2281826Cathy Chartrand2251217Noemie Marin (7)Ouellette (2)
2015–16Marie-Philip Poulin22232346Lauriane Rougeau2221719Ann-Sophie Bettez (7)Caroline Ouellette (2)Ouellette (7)
2016–17Marie-Philip Poulin23152237Cathy Chartrand2431518 Caroline Ouellette tied with Jess Jones (5) Ann-Sophie Bettez (3) Marie-Philip Poulin (6)

See also

References
  1. "Final Public Communication" (PDF). CWHL. 2 July 2019.
  2. Kamila Hinkson (March 10, 2009). "Breton a Busy Bee After the Stingers' Life". Concordian Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  3. Canadian Women's Hockey League (2009). "2007–08 CWHL Review" (PDF). HockeyMedia.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  4. Andrew Podnieks (2009). "Montreal Wins First Clarkson Cup". IIHF News. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  5. Donna Spencer (2009). "Clarkson will be on hand to award her cup". CTV Globemedia. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  6. "Caroline Ouellette Named 2008–09 CWHL Most Valuable Player". CWHL. June 18, 2009. Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  7. "CWHL Player stats 2009–10". CWHL. 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  8. Staffieri, Mark (17 Mar 2014). "Emmanuelle Blais becomes third Montreal Star to reach century mark this season". CWHL. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014.
  9. Staffieri, Mark (30 January 2014). "Memorable milestone for CWHL co-founder and Montreal Stars veteran Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux". CWHL. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014.
  10. Staffieri, Mark (13 February 2014). "Vinny Davidson becomes second Montreal Star to reach century mark in 2013-14 season". CWHL. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014.
  11. "Canadiens partner with CWHL's Montreal Stars to grow women's game". The Globe and Mail. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  12. "The Montreal Canadiens enter a partnership with the Montreal Stars". Montreal Canadiens. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  13. "Montreal Stars reborn as Les Canadiennes de Montréal". NWHL. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
  14. "Montreal women's team gets new logo, name: Les Canadiennes". Sportsnet.ca. The Canadian Press. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  15. "MARIN HITS MILESTONE AS LES CANADIENNES SPLIT WEEKEND SET VS. BRAMPTON THUNDER". CWHL – Canadiennes de Montréal. 2015-12-13. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  16. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Sports -. "Un match historique et une victoire pour les Canadiennes au Centre Bell" (in Canadian French). CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  17. "Caroline Ouellette on verge of CWHL history". CBC Sports. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  18. "LES CANADIENNES TO PLAY AT PLACE BELL STARTING THIS FALL - Les Canadiennes de Montréal". Les Canadiennes de Montréal. 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  19. Berkman, Seth (31 December 2015). "Ice Problems and Injury Plague Women's Debut at the Winter Classic". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  20. "Clarkson Cup's namesake ready to honour winning women's team". TSN. 19 March 2009. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  21. "3 Stars selected go to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver". Montreal Stars. 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  22. "2010 Women's Olympic Hockey team Roster". Hockey Canada. 2010. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  23. Les Canadiennes Press Release (8 March 2018). "Hilary Knight to join Les Canadiennes". National Hockey League. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  24. Helene (6 March 2011). "Montreal players and fans give from the heart". Montreal Stars. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011.
  25. "Photo Gallery". Montreal Stars. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011.
  26. "CAMPS". Les Canadiennes de Montréal. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  27. "Les Canadiennes Roster". Les Canadiennes. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  28. "Active Players". Cwhlboston.hocket.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  29. "Active Players". Cwhlboston.hocket.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  30. "Active Players". Cwhlboston.hocket.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  31. "Active Players". Cwhlboston.hocket.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.

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