By Alex Quevillon
It’ll be the Calgary Inferno squaring off against Les Canadiennes de Montréal in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s championship game on March 13 in Ottawa at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The Clarkson Cup is the Stanley Cup of women’s hockey, although perhaps the Grey Cup is a closer cousin out of the trio of trophies donated by Governor Generals of Canada given its format – a one-game, winner-take-all championship at a pre-determined site.
“It’s more of an event now,” indicates Cup organizing committee member Patrick Pion, the Ottawa Senators’ director of strategic development, noting the Sunday afternoon game will be preceded on the Friday and Saturday by the league’s awards gala and community day.
The NHL club partnered with the CWHL to bring the Clarkson Cup to the nation’s capital for the first time this year and in 2017 to coincide with Canada’s 150th anniversary.
“The tournament has always been hosted in the Toronto area, or Markham, so they wanted to expand here,” Pion highlights. “Hopefully it gives them a bigger profile to have it in an NHL rink and in a city like Ottawa.”
While Ottawa hasn’t had a CWHL franchise since it folded in 2010, there is a handful of local content connected to the Cup.
Although their Brampton Thunder were swept in their best-of-3 semi-final series against Calgary, CWHL players and Ottawa natives Erica Howe and Jamie Lee Rattray put together an in-game promotion for a Sens home game.
Howe is up for goalie of the year at the awards ceremony along with Boston’s Geneviève Lacasse, who trains in Ottawa during her off-season.
And Ottawa-born Chelsey Saunders will be part of the big game, fighting for a championship with Les Canadiennes, who are led by Canadian Olympic hero Marie-Philip Poulin. The 24-year-old defender is in her second season with the Montreal franchise and is looking forward to the opportunity to play back at home.
“It’s good for Ottawa and the community,” signals Saunders, a former Nepean Jr. Wildcats player who won two Canadian university titles with the McGill Martlets. “I know there are a couple girls’ teams going. It’s exciting for them, and my friends and family.”