|
Historic weekend in Montreal as Caroline Ouellette gets 300th CWHL Point |
|
|
|
|
|
It was a historic weekend for women’s hockey in Montreal over the weekend as a number of milestones were reached and surpassed. For the first time ever, the Bell Centre hosted a professional women’s hockey game as Les Canadiennes de Montreal hosted and defeated the the Calgary Inferno 1-0 in their Heritage game, celebrating the franchise and the 10th anniversary of the CWHL. It was a rematch from last season’s Clarkson Cup final when the Inferno defeated the Canadiennes 8-3 as the teams had yet to play each other this season. 6,000 fans showed up to the Bell Centre to support the Canadiennes as it was a wonderful opportunity for families to see professional hockey at only $15 a ticket. 6,000 is in fact an incredible crowd, especially considering that the Clarkson Cup final had an attendance of only 2,500 fans.
The game itself was an exciting affair as the teams were determined to put on a good show for the fans. The Bell Centre has been the site of many goaltender duels and Saturday afternoon was no different as Canadiennes goalie Charline Labonte and Inferno goalie Emerance Maschmeyer went toe to toe, nearly matching save to save. Maschmeyer was certainly the busier of the two as the Canadiennes outshot the Inferno 32 to 25. Canadiennes and Team Canada Captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored the lone goal at 11:52 of the first period. She and her linemates Ann-Sophie Bettez and Karell Emard had numerous other scoring chances but Maschmeyer refused to let another get by her and stoned the Canadiennes for the rest of the game. While Labonte had an easier night, she was more than up to the task and made all of her saves look easy.
The only downside to the game was that unfortunately Caroline Ouellette of the Canadiennes did not pick up a point and so she was unable to collect her 300th CWHL point at the Bell Centre in front of 6,000 fans. However, she would not have to wait much longer as the next day she would record two assists for her 300 and 301st CWHL career leading points. Unfortunately though, she likely would have preferred to get the W as the Inferno were able to get revenge and won Sunday’s contest 5-3. Genvieve Lacasse got the win for Calgary making 31 saves while Labonte was on the losing end, stopping 19 of 24 shots.
Up front, the Inferno were led by Bailey Bram who had two goals. The rest of the scoring was rounded out by Sarah Davis, Blayre Turnbull and Brigette Lacquette. Rebecca Johnston and Jessica Campbell each had two assists for the Inferno as well. Bettez, Lorianne Rougeau and Karell Emard were the goal scorers for the Canadiennes.
Ouellette is the CWHL all time point leader and this season at the age of 37 she is still leading the CWHL in points with 23. She is a four time Olympic gold medalist and captained Canada at the 2014 Sochi games. Having won it all at every level, Ouellette has retired from international play, despite the fact that she could easily still be on Team Canada’s roster.
In other CWHL news, the Boston Blades earned their first victory of the season and first in 420 days as they defeated the Toronto Furies 3-2 in a shootout. Lauren Dahm made 38 saves for the big victory while Nicole Giannino and Tara Watchorn scored in regulation for the Blades. Megan Myers and Melissa Bizzari both scored in the shootout for the Blades while Dahm made all of the stops ensuring the win.
Cheers and follow along!
Join the Discussion:
»