MONTREAL -- One of the more bizarre seasons in McGill University sporting history basically began at a rest stop, south of the border, on Highway I-89 and then ended abruptly, out east in Charlottetown, PEI.
 
It was a tale of heartbreak that sounded like something straight out of a country song, but that's truly how the McGill women's hockey team began a 2019-20 season that had no real ending.
 
And the finish was just as memorable, if not devastating, as the start.
 
A harbinger of things to come began with a planned home game versus Bishop's on Sept. 27 that had been canceled due to road closures as a result of massive march on climate change in downtown Montreal. Two weeks later, the Martlets were on their way to a preseason matchup at Harvard during a three-game road-trip to the United States in early October, when the team charter suddenly encountered mechanical trouble. Fortunately, they were not traveling in the air and their bus was able to limp to a rest stop minutes from the Vermont-Connecticut state line.
 
"The disappointment was we had to miss the Harvard game, because that's always a fun one to play," said 20-year bench boss  Peter Smith, whose squad typically plays about six NCAA opponents every season. "I was on the phone with the Harvard coach every few hours and she was very empathetic to our situation."
 
A helpful rest stop worker alerted a nearby state trooper of the team's situation. The officer swung by in his patrol car and drove Coach Smith to the closest town to pick up some pizzas for his stranded team.
 
"Those adventures are memories we will have forever," recalled third-year forward Kellyane Lecours. "At first it wasn't really funny, but we found a way to enjoy it."
 
"That was the hallmark of this team – nobody ever complained," said Smith. "It was starting to get cold too. The girls studied at some picnic tables and on the bus. Never a complaint!"
 
The team was stranded for a total of 10 hours and had to cancel their annual confrontation with Harvard. McGill fell 4-2 to Yale the next night but rallied for a morale-boosting 6-0 decision at Dartmouth the following day.
 
Despite the impromptu team-bonding experience, the Martlets were subpar in the first half of the season by their lofty standards. The four-time national champs registered a tepid .500 winning percentage by the holiday break. But McGill turned it around in the second half, posting a 7-2-1 record in their final 10 regular season games to finish second in the Quebec conference, their highest standing in three years. Overall, they ended up with a stellar 23-12 record.
 
"Every year our team gets better as the season goes on," Smith noted. "Generally speaking, by the time we get to playoffs, we're playing our best hockey. The reason that happens is the players just work so darn hard. We have a plan and the players follow the process."
 
"If you look at the (first half) we weren't where we wanted to be," said Lecours. "Peter always says you have to look at it as a process and everyone has to buy in. As the season went on, we understood we had to trust the process. We were confident in how good we could be."
 
True to form, the Martlets rolled through the RSEQ best-of-three playoffs, sweeping the Ottawa Gee-Gees 2-0 in the first round, followed by a 2-0 sweep over archrival Montreal Carabins in the Quebec final. It was the program's first league championship in three years and their 12th overall.
 
Although the group relied on depth when the injury bug bit early in the season, the Martlets were supported down the stretch by stellar play from their stars.
 
Goaltender Tricia Deguire was a first-team all-star and sported an eye-popping 1.00 goals-against average with a stingy .960 save percentage in the postseason. Top line forwards Jade Downie-Landry and Léa Dumais combined for 35 points in 20 regular season games.
 
"You'd rather have them on your team than be against them," remarked Lecours, who played against both Downie-Landry and Dumais in the Quebec CEGEP hockey league before joining McGill.
 
Downie-Landry earned All-Canadian second-team honours, while both Dumais and rearguard Kate Devries merited RSEQ second-team nods.
 
Seeded No. 4 heading into the U SPORTS Final Eight national championship tournament in Prince Edward Island, the Martlets were looking to exorcise some wicked demons. They had fallen in the national gold medal game in two of the previous three seasons. 
 
However, less than 24 hours before their first game, scheduled for Day 2 against the York Lions, the McGill team was called into an impromptu meeting.
 
"At 9:30 p.m. we got a text from our captain saying (the coach) wanted to have a meeting," recalled Lecours. "Everyone's like, 'a meeting? This late at night? What's going on?'"
 
The championship was slated to run from March 12-15 but the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting to become apparent.
 
"The first game of the tourney on the Thursday went off and during the second game I got wind that Hockey Canada was going to pull their officials," recalled Smith on the eve of Friday the 13th. "Therefore, U SPORTS was going to have to cancel the tournament.
 
"I called the team into our meeting room and gave them the disappointing news. It was a very emotional time for everybody."
 
In the blink of an eye, the Martlets were told there would be matchup with York, no shot at redemption and their season was over.

"It was sad for everyone, but especially our graduating players," said Lecours. "For them to end their careers this way is devastating."
 
The university careers of six seniors – Emilia Cotter, Shana Walker, Nicole Howlett, Zoe Todd, Olivia Ramos and Sidonie Chard – were over in a flash.
 
"You have to realize at that time not everybody really comprehended the extent of what was going on," said Smith. "In retrospect, you look back and it was the right thing to do."
 
McGill had traveled to PEI by airplane but could not get a flight back on short notice and had to make the long trip back to Montreal by bus. Due to distancing guidelines that were put into place after that weekend, those would be their final moments together as a team. A season-ending banquet was later held in an virtual online format.
 
Despite a roller-coaster season full of adversity and triumph, the legacy of the 2019-20 Martlets may be off the ice.
 
Cotter, the team captain, won the RSEQ leadership and social engagement award for the second consecutive year and then merited the national Marion Hilliard Award, presented to the U SPORTS women's hockey player who best combines academics, leadership and citizenship.
 
Cotter and her teammates spearheaded countless initiatives in the McGill and Montreal community.
 
"Everyone was involved with something over the course of this year," said Smith. "They were part of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters group. They organized their annual Shoebox Game (in support of homeless women in November), did the Christmas gift-wrapping for under-privileged families, a food drive for the needy and a Bell Let's Talk mental health game, as well as mentorship and information sessions for recruits."
 
"We're really involved with what Emilia has created with the Shoebox Project," said Lecours. "For the game, people brought something that was useful for a homeless woman, like shampoo or a toothbrush. It encourages people to participate and we divided these items up into boxes (and distribute them to the needy). Emilia is really the one who brought up this idea and we supported her as best we can."
 
There may not be a fifth national championship banner hanging from the rafters in McConnell Arena but nonetheless, the 2019-20 edition of the Martlets will leave a lasting legacy.
 
"I've told them many times; they'll take these experiences – both positive and less positive – into the rest of the lives and they'll remember this forever," concluded Smith.