For the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team, the 2004-2005 season can be described as one of promise, regular season success, and, in the end, utter disappointment. It is a shame that, for a team that played solid and exciting hockey throughout the year, it is the memory of a crushing 3-1 loss to the Laurier Golden Hawks in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) final that lingers in most fans’ minds.

Although the Blues failed to reach university hockey’s annual summit, the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship, it is impossible to ignore the many positives that came out of last season. The team featured a balanced attack of scorers up front with a steady defense corps supporting a dazzling platoon of goaltenders throughout the year.

The leader of the pack and master architect behind the Blues last year was once again Karen Hughes, who has had great success as a coach on national and international stages, and who continues to be one of the only female head coaches in CIS women’s hockey. This was the tenth year behind the bench for the former U of T hockey star, who steered her team to a winning record once again. The Blues have not had a losing season while Hughes has been behind the bench.

U of T has seen four OUA championships and the school’s only women’s hockey national title during Hughes’ tenure as head coach. Assistant coaches Dave Wakabayashi and Karen Spence were also indispensable components of the Blues’ on-ice success throughout the season.

The Blues followed up an impressive streak of wins during the middle part of the regular season with outstanding play in the final few matches of the campaign. The team put together a seven-game winning streak in November and January and managed to secure victories in four of their last five games.

This stretch of success secured the team a first place finish in the OUA East division, and propelled the Blues to sixth overall in the CIS rankings.

The team finished with a stellar 14-6-1-1 record in regular play. That record includes an impressive three overtime wins out of five games that went to an extra session.

Several members of the team were honoured at the end of the season for their excellence on the ice. Sue McCutcheon was awarded the CIS Marion Hilliard Trophy for her work in the classroom, on the ice, and in the community. Also, Kim Devereaux and Jill Savin were named as OUA first team all-stars, and Jackie Cherevaty and Mary Modeste were given spots on the second team.

For much of the season Cherevaty was chasing the OUA’s all-time scoring record, but came up just short. She still managed a respectable 14 points-seven goals and an equal number of assists-on the season. Cherevaty ended her Blues career with 128 points, which is good enough for fifth place on the OUA all-time scoring list.

Savin earned her spot on the OUA all-star team by leading the Blues in scoring. She scored nine goals and contributed eight assists on the season, giving her a total of 17 hard-earned points. Also on her resumé is a membership on Canada’s under-22 National Team in 2002-03, an organization which has been home to many past greats from U of T.

The goaltending team of Lisa Robertson and Stephanie Lockert deserves honourable mention as well, as both netminders had solid seasons in the twine tent. The goalies shut out opponents five times during the campaign-Robertson had four of those-and only allowed more than three goals in a game four times.

The playoff loss to eventual CIS champions Laurier was all that kept the Blues out of the national showdown. The Blues had edged past Queen’s 2-1 in the semi-final game the previous night, but had trouble mustering any offence against an explosive Golden Hawks team in the big game.

The last time the Blues won the OUA title was in 2003. That year U of T lost a gold-medal thriller in overtime and had to settle for bronze. The team has now gone four years without a national championship, as their last CIS title came in 2001.

Veteran players such as Jill Savin, Jacqueline Cheravaty, Amy Caldwell and Kim Devereaux consistently led the charge for the team all year, and helped youngsters like Emily Patry, Mary Modeste and OUA East rookie of the year Laura Foster to emerge as stars for the blue and white.

With Savin, Cheravaty and Caldwell all having played their final games for U of T, it will be up to these emerging stars to step up and become the new heroes for U of T in the upcoming season.