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June 5, 2010

Manitoba Maple Leafs joins the Western Women’s Hockey League

The Manitoba Maple Leafs were invited to join the Western Women’s Hockey League as a franchise according to president Bryon Stephen. The Maple Leafs will be on probation for one year for the 2010-2011 season. The Manitoba Maple Leafs expands the WWWL’s line up of top notch teams and elite female hockey players with experience on NCAA, CIS, ACAC, National and Olympic teams. The league features the best female players of western Canada and the western US. It offers a host of entertaining games as well as continued training opportunities for National team prospects.

The four core female ice hockey teams in the WWHL include: Strathmore Rockies, Minnesota Whitecaps and the Edmonton Chimos and now the Manitoba Maple Leafs. The teams commence their season in November 2010 and play through March 2011. The league will culminate their season with the Clarkson Cup; the National Championship of Women’s hockey when the strongest team from the WWHL faces the strongest team from the CWHL in the east. WWHL is looking forward to bringing the cup home this year! The WWHL Whitecaps of Minnesota won the Clarkson Cup in February 2010.

Chantal Larocque said, “We are thrilled to join the WWHL. This provides us with a senor team that completes training we provide girls from age 8. We have now created opportunities for senior elite players.

The Manitoba Maple Leafs is an organization built from the demand for high performance senior female hockey players in all of Manitoba. To compete and train at a national level as well as keep developing senior female hockey players, the MML have adapted a Gold and Silver Senior Team Program. The Gold team participates in the WWHL. The Silver program participates in the Winnipeg Senior Women’s League.

More information about the Maple Leafs is available on www.manitobamapleleafs.com or emailing Manitobamapleleafs@gmail.com.
The league schedule will be posted on www.westernwomenshockeyleague.com and we encourage public to come and watch the best female hockey players in the west!

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February 27, 2010

Minnesota Whitecaps bring home the Clarkson Cup

Elgin Barrows Arena in Richmond Hill Ontario was the site of the 2010 Clarkson Cup. The events began on Friday March 26th with a welcome banquet hosted by the CWHL. The single elimination game format started on Saturday March 27th at noon when the Brampton Thunder took on the Montreal Stars. Montreal was favored to win but was upset by Brampton with a final score of 3-2 putting the Thunder in the championships. Next up were the Minnesota Whitecaps against the hometown favorite Mississauga Chiefs. First goal of the game came from Team USA and Whitecaps Jenny Potter as she snatched the puck mid ice blasting it past former Team Canada goalie Sami Jo Small. First period ended Whitecaps up by 1. Second period started as rough and fast as the first. From the blue line Whitecaps Chelsey Brodt-Rosenthal shot hard to the net where Erin Keys redirected the puck for the second goal of the game. After an unsuccessful power play Maggie Fisher intercepted a pass in the Mississauga zone and went end to end for a breakaway goal ending the period with Minnesota up 3-0. Mississauga came out in the third period with all guns loaded and within thirty seconds Chiefs Sommer West found the back of the net on a rebound shot by Rebecca Davies. That was the last scoring of the game giving the Whitecaps the birth in the championship game.

The Championship game started with the ceremonial puck drop with Governor Clarkson, former USA and Canadian Olympians who play on teams from both the WWHL and the CWHL and players from both teams. The Whitecaps came out dominating the game with the first goal of the game coming three minutes in from Chelsey Brodt-Rosenthal as she pounded a slap shot from the blue line past Brampton’s goalie Laura Hosier. The first period ended Whitecaps 1-0. Halfway through the second period Jenny Potter picked up the puck beating a Brampton defense to take it in for a goal giving the Whitecaps a two goal lead. Brampton came out in the third stepping up their intensity giving them plenty of scoring chances just to get stonewalled by Whitecaps goalie Megan Van Beusekom-Sweerin. Whenever Team Canada’s Jayna Hefford had the puck the Whitecaps kept her in check. The Minnesota defense and fore check was ferocious throughout the game even with a short bench the Whitecaps pressed on. Megan McCarthy found Maggie Fisher in front who jammed it in for the third goal of the game. Less than a minute later, Maggie Fisher anticipated a clearing pass intercepting it and passed it up to Brooke White-Lancette who found the back of the net giving Minnesota a four goal lead. With the game out of reach Brampton took a series of penalties toward the end of the game. The Minnesota Whitecaps beat the Brampton Thunder to become the 2010 Clarkson Cup Champions. Awards were given after the game with Brooke White-Lancette named player of the game. Tournament awards were also handed out with Whitecaps Julie Chu named MVP of the tournament and Whitecaps Megan Van Beusekom-Sweerin named goalie of the tournament.

Congratulations to the Western Women’s Hockey League’s Minnesota Whitecaps who struggled through injury’s among some of their key players creating a short bench, digging deep to stay on top, defining themselves as the best elite women’s team in the USA and Canada.

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