History
The CWHL was an initiative spearheaded by players such as Lisa-Marie Breton, Allyson Fox, Kathleen Kauth, Kim McCullough, Sami Jo Small and Jennifer Botterill, all of whom played in the recently-disbanded National Women's Hockey League. The players worked with a group of volunteer business people to form the CWHL by following the example of the National Lacrosse League. The league would be responsible for all travel, ice rental and uniform costs, plus some equipment.
The Brampton Canadettes Thunder won the first CWHL championship on 22 March 2008, winning 4-3 over the Mississauga Chiefs in the final. Molly Engstrom scored the overtime-winning goal while Lori Dupuis won the Championship Game MVP honours. At end of the 2007–08 season, Jayna Hefford was voted the league's regular-season Most Valuable Player. Jennifer Botterill won the Angela James Bowl as the league's top scorer and was voted the CWHL Top Forward. Becky Kellar was voted the CWHL Top Defender, Kim St-Pierre was voted the CWHL Top Goaltender, and Marie-Philip Poulin was voted the CWHL Outstanding Rookie.
Also in 2007, Hockey Canada announced it would revamp the Esso Women's Nationals, with the Western Women's Hockey League champion and finalist meeting the Canadian Women's Hockey League champion and finalist. Since 2009, teams from the two leagues instead compete for the Clarkson Cup at the end of the season.
In 2008-09, the Montreal Stars repeated as regular season champions, winning a league record 25 games. At the season's end, Caroline Ouellette was voted the league's regular-season Most Valuable Player. Jayna Hefford won the Angela James Bowl with a new record of 69 points and was also voted the CWHL Top Forward. Becky Kellar was voted the CWHL Top Defender, Kim St-Pierre was voted the CWHL Top Goaltender, and Laura Hosier was voted the CWHL Outstanding Rookie.
In 2009-10, Sabrina Harbec won the Angela James Bowl as the top scorer as the Stars repeated as regular-season champions. She was also voted the league's most valuable player, the CWHL Top Forward and a CWHL First Team All-Star. Teammate Annie Guay was voted CWHL Top Defender while Laura Hosier was voted CWHL Top Goaltender. Danielle Blanchard was voted CWHL Outstanding Rookie.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Women's Hockey League
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