Looking at the list of national champions from the past five years, it would be easy to conclude that the University of Alberta Pandas are amidst a period of absolute dominance in the world of women’s university hockey. Alberta has convincingly won four out of the last five Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships; a rate of success most sports experts wouldn’t hesitate to call a dynasty.
However, there is much more parity at the top of the women’s hockey ladder than such an analysis would suggest. Judging by this past weekend’s championships, it appears that other programs are making great strides to increase their chances of ending the Pandas’ continuing supremacy.
It just so happens that the University of Toronto Varsity Blues are one of those teams.
Despite having their tournament getting off to the worst possible start (a 5-0 opening night loss to the Pandas and 2-0 loss to St. Francis-Xavier), the Blues showcased the resiliency they have become known for by battled back to win the fifth-place match.
Two shutout losses may not be the typical sign of a team on the rise, but the game against St. F.X. shows the competitiveness and promise of this Blues team. Toronto outshot the Axewomen 31-18, including 14-4 and 12-7 in the second and third periods, respectively.
The Blues also forced St. F.X. into taking a number of hooking and interference penalties, a sign of a team controlling the overall pace of the play. Unfortunately, Toronto couldn’t solve St. F.X. goaltender Katie Harvieux and were relegated to the fifth-place game versus the Dalhousie Tigers.
Toronto posted a 2-0 win of their own in that contest, with Lisa Robertson getting the shutout in her last game as a Blue. They dominated from beginning to end, out-shooting Dalhousie 33-10, but it wasn’t until Katie Dowdall’s third-period goal that Toronto was ahead for good.
The team recognizes that there are many long-term gains that will come out of their experience this past weekend. The Blues are only losing three players from this year’s roster and the rest will benefit next year from playing in last weekend’s national final.
Kim Devereaux, who, along with Robertson and Sue McCutcheon, played her last game in a Blues uniform, echoed this sentiment: “There were only four of us who had been here before. This was a huge experience because all of the rookies have said they have learned so much.”
The present edition of the Blues squad showcased the balance evident across this tournament. After being whitewashed by Alberta on opening night, the Blues did battle back and enjoyed a solid game against St. Francis-Xavier.
Alberta then needed a shootout to dispose of St. F.X, despite all signs pointing to an easy Alberta win. This was a result that clearly indicates the Blues own one-sided loss at the hands of the Pandas was nothing more than an aberration.
On the other side of the bracket, the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks dusted off the McGill Martlets 4-1, gaining the right to face Alberta for the gold medal-a rematch of last year’s final. Boosted by their thrilling win in the semifinal, Alberta came from behind to regain their spot at the top of the women’s hockey pyramid, beating Laurier by a 2-1 margin.
St. F.X., a team that had taken the eventual champions to the limit, lost the bronze-medal game 3-2 to McGill and ended up going home empty handed.
The unpredictable nature of this year’s national tournament displayed that, although one team has had its name continually engraved on the championship trophy, any university women’s hockey can win on any given night. The Blues certainly proved this fact at the CIS championship.
