BY MIKE BURSE – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Team Alberta’s first season in the CWHL was a successful one for an expansion team. Alberta had 5-10 record in their 15 games, they ended the season in fifth place with 20 points (as they played a shortened season their wins were given 4 points in the standings). They also accumulated 38 goals for and 66 goals against in their first season. Alberta will play a full schedule in the upcoming season.
If Alberta had played a full 27 game season they would project to have had a record of 9-18 along with 68 goals for and 119 goals against. These numbers would rank them last in the league amongst the remaining teams. This is not surprise for the first year of operation for the franchise.
In goal, Lundy Day led the way with 10 starts and four wins, while Jillian MacIsaac filled the role of back up. First overall in the 2012 CWHL Draft Alberta selected goaltender Hillary Pattenden. Hillary is a former Mercyhurst Laker and is a very well established young goaltender. She is projected to stabilize the goal crease much like Liz Knox has for Brampton and Molly Schaus has in Boston. They also increased their depth in goal by selecting Kathy Desjardins, a goaltender for Moncton in the CIS last season.
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Alberta’s defence was led by Hockey Canada stalwart Meaghan Mikkelson (11 points). Bobbi-Jo Sulsar played five games with one point prior to suffering an injury that would keep her out the rest of the season. Mikkelson would be the only Alberta defender to contribute more than one point. The other regulars on the blue line were Courtney Sawchuk, Brittaney Maschmeyer and Tara Swanson (they appeared in all 15 games).
The first five rounds of the 2012 CWHL Draft saw Alberta stock up on defence. They selected Jocelyne Larocque (second round, sixth overall), Tara Watchorn (third round, 11th overall) and Brittany Haverstock (fourth round, 16th overall). As well in the later rounds defenders Whitney Sears and Andrea Boras were selected.
Both Jocelyne Larocque and Tara Watchorn should be top four defenders for Alberta and provide much needed depth and support behind the team’s best player Meaghan Mikkelson.
The final roster for Alberta on defence will include: Kelsey Webster, Tara Swanson, Meaghan Mikkelson, Bobbi Jo Sulsar, Courtney Sawchuk, Brittaney Maschmeyer, and Jayme Clarke.
Team Alberta is very lucky and pleased to have Bobbi Jo Sulsar back in the fold this season. She was a top ten draft pick in 2011 but missed all but five of Alberta’s 15 games last season due to injury.
The offence was led by Sam Hunt (14 points), Jenna Cunningham (13 points) and Karlee Overguard (7 points in 8 games). Alberta selected Leah Copeland (5th round, 21st overall) in the CWHL 2012 Draft out of the CIS’ University of Alberta Pandas program. Copeland is a CIS National Champion and should be a solid addition to the top six forwards in Alberta.
In total Alberta drafted 11 forwards and there should be a great deal of competition in training camp starting in mid-September for a spot in the Alberta forward ranks.
An interesting selection at forward was 17-year-old Shanelle Bjorndahl (the youngest selection in the draft), a native of Calgary, AB and she played for the Calgary Flyers of the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League (Midget AAA) last season. Shanelle contributed 10 goals and 8 assists in 29 games for the Calgary Flyers. It will be interesting to see if she can break camp on the roster with Team Alberta this season.
At forward Team Alberta will consist of: Laura Dostaler, Lauren Chiswell, Karlee Overguard, Olivia Sutter, Taryn Peacock, Chelsea Purcell, Jenna Cunningham, Colleen Olson, and Sam Hunt.
While Alberta’s defence and goaltending should be much improved this year expect them to be one of the lower scoring team’s in the league. It will take another year or two for them to accumulate the kind of depth required to challenge for the Clarkson Cup.
Alberta also has a new general manager, Chantal Champagne, and new head coach, Tim Bothwell, this season.
Champagne is no stranger to Women’s Hockey; she has 20 years of experience including more than 10 years with high-performance Women’s Hockey. She is also a Hockey Canada certified level six referee and has refereed at the National and International level.
Bothwell may be a name that some NHL types will recognize. He spent parts of 11 NHL seasons playing as a defenceman with the New York Rangers, Hartford Whalers and St. Louis Blues. He was also an Assistant Coach for the NHL’s now defunct Atlanta Thrashers from 2001 to 2003. From 2004-2006 he was an assistant with the Canadian Women`s National Hockey team and has been coaching at the University of Vermont Women`s Hockey program since then.
When you look around the league at Montreal, Toronto, Brampton and Boston and the offseason acquisitions it will be a tough road for Alberta. They do however have the character to potentially surprise everyone and it should be another exciting season in Alberta.
However the 2012 CWHL Draft was a tremendous step forward for the franchise and they appear to be building from the back end out. With a little patience Alberta will be challenging for the Clarkson Cup sooner than we think.
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