East meets West to make history in first-ever Clarkson Cup
March 16, 2009
By Anne Douglas

After grueling showdowns amongst the CWHL’s top four teams, the Brampton Thunder and Montreal Stars have earned the honour to represent the East in this weekend’s Clarkson Cup, the inaugural national women’s hockey league championship.

This past weekend, Montreal played the Burlington Barracudas on home ice in Montreal while Brampton and Mississauga fought it out in Brampton. Each match-up consisted of two games, with ties decided in 10 minutes of sudden death, four-on-four overtime.

On Saturday, Montreal overwhelmed Burlington 6-1, but the Barracudas were not done yet. Sunday, they answered with a 3-1 comeback to tie the series. Seven hard-fought minutes into overtime, a pass from Caroline Ouellette set up Noémie Marin for the series-winning goal.

In Brampton, the Thunder edged out Mississauga Chiefs on Saturday with a 3-2 win. Sunday, two quick goals early in the second period put Mississauga ahead 2-0 and they managed to maintain that momentum for a 4-1 victory over Brampton, tying up the series. In overtime, Allyson Fox put the puck on Brampton sharpshooter Jayna Hefford’s tape, who fired it into the top right corner to earn the trip to the finals.

“It is an amazing feeling,” said Hefford. “Our team is really excited about the opportunity to compete at Nationals. It is extra special for me that it is in Kingston — my hometown. We want to go there and represent the CWHL and the city of Brampton well.”

Montreal and Brampton will face the Minnesota Whitecaps and the Calgary Oval X-treme, the top two Western teams after the Western Women’s Hockey League (WWHL) semifinals. The Whitecaps boast Team USA players and netminder Manon Rhéaume, while the X-treme’s roster includes Team Canada players such as Gillian Ferrari and Gina Kingsbury.

“We don’t know what to expect from the western teams as we’ve never played them before,” said Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux, Montreal’s captain. “But we know they’ll be strong. Any of the four teams has the potential to win so we’ll have to bring our best game.”

The Clarkson Cup was donated by the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, who will attend the historical event at The Rock in Kingston, March 19-21. The final game will be held March 21 at 1 p.m. and will be covered by TSN and CTV.

“It is an honour to compete in the first-ever Clarkson Cup,” said Hefford. “This is going to be a big part of women’s hockey history.”