The Fearless, Frozen Females of Hockey

Leading in to the Sochi Winter Games, just one trading card set featured women’s hockey players (the Topps US Olympic and Paralympic Set ). The set had cards of Hilary Knight and the Lamoureux Twins, marking a disappointment for women’s hockey card collectors who were expecting a wider selection. In a hobby where there are very few trading cards of female athletes of any sport available (except Topps’ Allen and Ginter Sets ), the aftermath of Sochi breathed new life into the hobby. The 2014 Crown Royale hockey card set featured five women’s hockey players in its Fans of the Game insert set. Of note, the players in the set included Tessa Bonhomme, Jennifer Botterill, Meghan Duggan, Julie Chu and Meghan Agosta. Unfortunately, each card had a limited print run of 99 per card, making it a very difficult pull for collectors. While each card was autographed, they were difficult to find in the secondary market. Taking into account that the Meghan Duggan card marked the first time that sh...

For the Toronto Furies and the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, the 2014 edition of the Clarkson Cup was filled with drama, excitement and another exciting chapter in the lore of the event. The donnybrook between the Boston Blades and the Toronto Furies resulted in an outcome that provided numerous historic firsts. With Britni Smith having buried the puck past Blades goaltender Brittany Ott just 33 seconds into overtime, it marked the first Clarkson Cup to go into an overtime period. Becoming the first-ever team with a fourth-place regular season finish to hoist the coveted Cup was complemented by the fact that the Furies were the first championship squad with a .500 regular season record. The road to the Clarkson Cup began with a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Inferno, who were making their postseason debut in 2014.   Toronto   battled back from a 1-0 deficit to prevail by a 3-2 tally. Two-point performances by Meagan Aarts, Tessa Bonhomme and Natalie Spooner helped con...

The March 8 contest between the Montreal Stars and the Boston Blades at the Arena Etienne-Desmarteau encompassed many unique elements. From the outset, the Stars enjoyed a sold-out crowd of 14,000 fans as they held their annual Breast Cancer fundraiser. Of note, several players from the IWFL’s Montreal Blitz, the Tier II champions of 2013, were on-hand to show their support. Adding to the spectacle was the fact that several CWHL stars, including the likes of Julie Chu, Hilary Knight, Genevieve Lacasse and Caroline Ouellette were returning to league play after remarkable performances at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. With CWHL commissioner Brenda Andress participating in the ceremonial face off, the aforementioned (along with Lauriane Rougeau and Catherine Ward who were inactive for the game) joined her at centre ice. As Stars players were standing proudly on the blue line adorned in pink jerseys (which were auctioned off afterwards for Breast Cancer research), captains Cathy Cha...

One of the most talented goaltenders under 25 years of age in women’s hockey, Genevieve Lacasse can certainly be classified as an international superstar in waiting. Her involvement as a member for Team Canada in a gold medal effort at the Sochi Winter Games served as the final piece towards membership into the Triple Gold Club. The last three years have netted Lacasse all the components necessary to become only the second goaltender admitted into the exclusive Club, the first being fellow Canadian, Kim St. Pierre. Beginning in 2012 as a member of the Canadian contingent that claimed the gold at the IIHF Women’s Worlds in Burlington, Vermont, Lacasse would follow it up one year later with a memorable performance in Markham, Ontario. Standing between the pipes for the Boston Blades, Lacasse would backstop the black and gold to their first-ever Clarkson Cup championship. The experience was enhanced by the fact that she was the first rookie goaltender to win the Clarkson, along w...