Dave Scharf, Centretown News
Danika Smith (left), former Canadian Women’s Hockey League player, and Mandi Duhamel, manager of female development for Hockey Canada, attend the Clarkson Cup.The Clarkson Cup, often referred to as the Stanley Cup of female hockey, landed in Ottawa for the first time from March 11 to 13.
Having this level of women’s hockey is exciting to many fans who are looking to have a higher level of competition brought to Ottawa. That includes Kanata native Jamie-Lee Rattray, a Canadian Women’s Hockey League player for the Brampton Thunder, who was happy to see the tournament make its way to the Canadian Tire Centre.
“It’s pretty special to see the biggest game in women’s hockey in your hometown,” says Rattray. “I’m excited for everyone in Ottawa to see the amazing hockey that is in the CWHL.”
Rattray was recently named to Team Canada after years of playing in rinks across Ottawa—from the Tom Brown arena to the Sensplex—and says this tournament is one that will get more young girls taking the sport seriously.
“If we can get every little girl wanting to win the Clarkson cup as much as little boys want to win the Stanley cup then we are doing okay in growing the women’s game,” says Rattray.
The CWHL partnered with the Ottawa Senators for the championship game between the Montreal Canadiennes and the Calgary Inferno, playing it on Rogers TV and to a lower bowl full of live sports fans.
With an 8-3 victory, Calgary walked off with their first-ever CWHL title.
“This exciting new partnership is a continuation of the Ottawa Senators commitment to investing in the growth of the women’s game in Ottawa and across the National Capital Region,” said Senators owner Eugene Melnyk in a CWHL press release.
“The Clarkson Cup represents the pinnacle of women’s hockey in Canada and we are proud to bring this event to the nation’s capital.”
The Clarkson Cup is an opportunity to celebrate women’s hockey, but it has also brought the challenges of female hockey development in Ottawa to many people’s minds.
Ottawa used to be home to the Ottawa Raiders, a CWHL team, which became the Ottawa Senators before it folded in 2010.
Danika Smith, who played for the Senators during their final year, as well as at the University of Ottawa and has coached girls hockey in Centretown says that women’s hockey in Ottawa needs a team like the Senators to remind girls of their potential, give them role models and show everyone its importance to the development of the sport.
“We had strategic meetings to try and keep the team, but the league wanted to centralize the Olympians so they could train together, she says. “The team went to Toronto and a bunch of girls left with it. Some went to Montreal as well.”
Smith played alongside Mandi Duhamel, manager for Female Development with Hockey Canada. Duhamel says that while the cuts were unfortunate for her, spreading resources thinly was not beneficial for the players. Minimal funding, part-time coaches who often couldn’t make practices while the women were managing other commitments made for an atmosphere that she calls challenging.
“I think the focus for the organization is to maximize the funding it does have to create a viable product,” she says.
“Once the league creates that kind of sustainability and is confident in the funding they will try to expand the league further. Ottawa, in my opinion, would be a great place to start that expansion as it would have some of the least costly travel additions and it is not too far for players to move in order to balance out the calibre.”
The Ottawa Senators organization also believes the CWHL is gaining momentum in popularity and that girl’s minor hockey is also soaring.
Patrick Pion is the director of Strategic Development with the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club. He says the organization hopes this event will help increase the popularity of girls’ hockey in the community.
“We hope it will encourage young girls to pursue their passion for hockey and encourage them to play hockey,” Pion says.
“It will solidify Ottaw as a market that loves hockey and offers a lot of opportunities for boys and girls to play hockey and pursue their dream of perhaps playing at a high level. It may generate interest in potentially having a CWHL team in Ottawa. By helping the league grow its popularity across Canada, we think it may eventually be a natural fit to add a team in Ottawa if the CWHL looks at expanding in the future.”
The Senators have made a two-year commitment to host the cup finals. This will add to the city’s already massive plans to commemorate Canada’s 150th anniversary.