McGILL SPORTS HALL OF FAME PROFILE: 2008 national champion hockey Martlets

By: Earl Zukerman

Gary Rush

Women's Hockey | 7/25/2018 12:01:00 AM

MONTREAL – This week, in our sixth and final installment of the 2018 inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, we feature the 2007-08 Martlets hockey squad, which became the first McGill women's team to win a national championship under the Canadian Interuniversity Sports banner (now known as U SPORTS).

The Martlets posted a 37-4-1 record overall, outscoring opponents by a lopsided 185-33 margin. They finished atop the Quebec league standings with a perfect 18-0 record and registered an unblemished 7-0 mark in post-season play en route to capturing the RSEQ banner and the Golden Path Trophy as national champs. At the Final Eight tournament in Ottawa, Martlets netminder Charline Labonté stopped all 55 shots faced, posting consecutive shutouts over Manitoba (6-0), StFX (3-0) and Laurier (2-0), to clinch the national title on March 10, 2008.

Rookie rearguard Cathy Chartrand scored the winning goal in the final match and was named tourney MVP. "We did it as a family," said Chartrand after the game. "We had one goal, and we followed it step by step." Chartrand was also named to the all-tournament team, along with defence partner Catherine Ward and McGill sniper Vanessa Davidson.

The rooting section for the Martlets during the gold medal game included a few surprising faces. Several players from the archrival University of Alberta, donned Martlet jerseys and cheered McGill on. Martlets team captain Shauna Denis encountered some of the Alberta players after the game and was told they wanted McGill to win because the Martlets demonstrated skill and class throughout the tournament.

The McGill roster featured six Quebec league all-stars and four all-Canadians (Labonté, Ward, Davidson and Ann-Sophie Bettez). Peter Smith (BEd'79, MA'86) was named RSEQ and CIS coach of the year, while Bettez was voted CIS rookie of the year and captain Shauna Denis won the national Marion Hillard Award for best combining hockey with academics and leadership.

Smith and Labonté travelled to China shortly after their CIS triumph, where they earned silver medals as members of Team Canada at the world hockey championships. Smith coached the national team and Labonté was one of its netminders.

Rounding out the roster was Carly Hill, Alessandra Lind-Kenny, Julie Casavecchia, Jordanna Peroff, Rebecca Martindale, Kate Elzinga, Alexandra Wells, Alyssa Cecere, Lisa Zane, Gillian Merrifield, Jasmine Sheehan, Chantal Gauvin, Amy Soberano and Victoria Wells, along with goaltenders Gabrielle Smith and Catherine Herron. The support staff included assistant coaches Amey Doyle, Joel Bergeron, and Stacey Hannay, in addition to Dana Rittmaster (strength & conditioning) and Marie-France Depin (equipment manager).

The medical staff was composed of head therapist Michele Brown in addition to student therapists Emilie Comtois-Laurin, Megan Robinson, Vanessa Beaumont and Vanessa Bouchard.

Other 2018 laureates for the McGill Sports Hall of Fame include Olympic rower Doug Vandor, soccer All-Canadians Danielle Day of Ile-Bizard, Que., and Adam Mar of Pointe Claire, Que., along with all-star hockey centre Shauna Denis of Stittsville, Ont., and all-Canadian hockey rearguard David Urquhart.

The hallowed hall now has 145 honoured members, 25 of them Olympians, since the pantheon was initiated in 1996.

The 23rd annual induction luncheon will kick-off the University's 2018 Homecoming Week celebrations on Thursday, Oct. 11. About 200 tickets will be available for the ceremony, scheduled to be held at the Windsor Ballroom on Peel Street. Tickets are $80 and can be reserved online at myalumni.mcgill.ca beginning in August or by contacting the McGill Alumni Association at 514-398-8288.

Biographies of all previous inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame are available online at http://www.mcgillathletics.ca/hof.aspx

Submissions for next year's induction can be made by completing an online nomination at the above website link and submitting it by March 1, 2019.

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)

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McGILL SPORTS HALL OF FAME PROFILE: 2008 national champion hockey Martlets