OTTAWA – Ann-Sophie Bettez, a McGill University graduate from Sept-Iles, Que., scored just 64 seconds into overtime as Montreal edged Ottawa 3-2 in their debut game of the new Professional Women's Hockey League before a record crowd of 8,318 at TD Place, Tuesday.
 
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"It's definitely at the top part of my career goals," Bettez told the media after the game. "I'm closer to the end of my career and with each moment I can't help but wonder if it's my last or if there will be others, so I try to appreciate each one as if it were my last."

Bettez, 36, is one of two McGill hockey graduates under contract to play in the PWHL, joining New York's Jade Downie-Landry, who collected an assist in their debut 4-0 win over Toronto on Jan. 1. The Montreal franchise also has McGill graduate Melodie Daoust, a three-time Olympic medalist, on its free agent reserve list. Daoust is only available for some games as she has a full-time teaching position at Collège Bourget.
 
Each team carries a roster of 23 players under contract and three reserve players this season.  Reserve players will practise exclusively with their teams this season and can be signed to a short-term contract if they need to be called up in case of injury. The collective bargaining agreement also allows those players to be called up by a different team when required, but they don't have to play against the team they regularly train with.
 
Bettez,  a speedy, 5-foot-4 centre, was Montreal's 14th round pick in the 2023 PWHL Draft. Recruited to the university ranks from Dawson College, she graduated from McGill in 2011 with a commerce degree, majoring in marketing, entrepreneurship and organizational behaviour,  followed by a certificate in public relations in 2012. Bettez had a prolific five seasons at McGill, where she merited All-Canadian status each year, en route to tallying 148 goals and 323 points in 196 games overall. She won the Brodrick Trophy in 2012 as the Canadian university hockey player of the year and was named as the McGill female athlete of the year after concluding her stellar university career as McGill's all-time leader in goals, assists and points. Bettez guided the Martlets to a national championship tourney appearance in each of her five years, including gold medal victories in 2008, 2009 and 2011. She was also a key member of the CIS all-star squad that captured gold at the 2011 world university FISU Winter Games in Turkey. She was inducted to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 20, 2022. Bettez also helped the national team win bronze at the 2019 IIHF world championship in Finland and also suited up for Canada in the 2021 Rivalry Series against the USA.
 
Montreal is slated to play at Minnesota on Jan. 6 and at New York on Jan. 10, before its home-opener against Boston on Jan. 13.

PWHL SCORESHEET (Montreal-Ottawa; Jan. 2, 2024)


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
McGill Athletics & Recreation
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
(514) 983-7012 (cell)