2011-12 CWHL season

The 2011–12 CWHL season was the fifth in league history. Regular season play begun on October 22, 2011, as the defending champion Montreal Stars host the Brampton Thunder. The league expanded from five teams to six as Team Alberta (CWHL) joined the league for competitive play. The 2012 Clarkson Cup in Niagara Falls was also contested between the Stars and Thunder, with Montreal winning its second consecutive title.
==Offseason==
===News and notes===
*April 19: The league announced on April 19, 2011, that it would merge with the Western Women's Hockey League for the 2011-12 season. The merger will feature one team based in Edmonton and Calgary and is a combination of the former WWHL franchises the Edmonton Chimos and Strathmore Rockies. The team will play their games in various locations around Alberta.Chimos Part of Merger With CWHL Strathmore Rockies founder Samantha Holmes-Domagala, will join the sponsorship division of the CWHL and look after the requirements of the expansion team.
*July 21, 2011: Philanthropist Joan Snyder donated $2 million to Winsport Canada. The goal is to ensure priority rink access to female hockey players at all levels, and help expand the Canadian Women's Hockey League with the creation of Team Alberta. Part of the donation will cover the new addition to the Athletic and Ice Complex at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. This will serve as the future home to Hockey Canada. In addition, there shall be four hockey rinks, one of which will be aptly called the Joan Snyder Rink. Team Alberta will benefit with the allocation of free practice time, a dressing room exclusive to the club.https://www.tsn.ca/canadian_hockey/story/?id=372220
==CWHL Draft==
The following are the first ten overall picks in the CWHL Draft. For further detail, please see 2011 CWHL Draft
Pick	Player 	Team
1 	Meghan Agosta 	Montreal Stars
2 	Molly Schaus 	Boston Blades
3 	Meaghan Mikkelson	Team Alberta (CWHL)
4 	Vicki Bendus 	Brampton Thunder
5 	Jesse Scanzano 	Toronto CWHL
6 	Courtney Birchard	Brampton Thunder
7 	Catherine Ward 	Montreal Stars
8 	Meghan Duggan 	Boston Blades
9 	Bobbi-Jo Slusar 	Team Alberta
10 	Sommer West 	Burlington Barracudas
==NCAA exhibition==
Date 	CWHL team 	NCAA school 	Score 	CWHL goal scorers
Oct. 25, 2011	Brampton Thunder	Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey 	Cornell, 6-0http://cornellbigred.com/documents/2011/10/14/final_stats.pdf	None
Nov. 2, 2011 	Brampton Thunder	Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey	Brampton, 3-1 	Jayna Hefford, Jesse Scanzano, Vicki Bendushttp://hurstathletics.com/news/2011/11/2/WHOCK_1102113238.aspx?path=whockeyx
*On November 2, 2011, Scanzano was on loan from the Toronto Furies, as she appeared in one game for the Brampton Thunder. The game was an exhibition contest versus her alma mater, the Mercyhurst Lakers.http://hurstathletics.com/news/2011/11/2/WHOCK_1102113238.aspx In the second period of said contest, Scanzano scored the game-winning goal as the Thunder defeated the Lakers by a 3-1 tally.http://hurstathletics.com/documents/2011/11/2/mc-bram.htm?id=990
==Regular season==
===News and notes===
*October 13, 2011: The CWHL will participate in two charity hockey games for cancer research at Windsor Arena. The event is called 'Stick It To Cancer' and the Montreal Stars will compete versus the Toronto Furies in two games on Nov. 26 and 27. The campaign is being organized in partnership by the CWHL, along with Breast Ride Ever, a not-for-profit organization. Proceeds from the games will benefit local cancer programs and the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County.http://www.windsorstar.com/business/Elite+women+hockey+players+stick+cancer+Windsor+charity+games/5545252/story.html
*On November 18, 2011, several Burlington Barracudas players (including Christina Kessler, Shannon Moulson, Ashley Stephenson, Jana Harrigan, Amanda Shaw, Annina Rajahuhta, Samantha Shirley, Amanda Parkins, and Lindsay Vine) competed in the first ever Hockey Helps The Homeless Women’s Tournament. Said tournament was held at the Magna Centre in Newmarket, Ontario.http://hockeyhelpsthehomeless.com/2011-Events/Toronto-Womens/Home.aspx?seid=4483
*November 19, at Montreal, the second annual "Game on to beat breast cancer" benefit. The target to surpass last year's donation results was far exceeded. A new attendance record was also set at the game, with over 1,100 fansLes Stars de Montréal se font charitables
 in the stands.Les Stars de Montréal contre Boston! Un grand moment… et plus de $9,000 amassés pour la Fondation du Cancer du Sein! December 8, Montréal Stars offer a cheque for close to $15 000 to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundationhttp://www.womenshockeylife.com/around_the_rink_view.cfm?RinkId=77
*Barracudas players Christina Kessler and Shannon Moulson were part of an event at Power Play Sports in Niagara Falls, Ontario on December 20, 2011 to promote the 2012 Clarkson Cup (to be held in Niagara Falls). After the event, they met players from the NFGHA (Niagara Falls Girls Hockey League) for photographs and autographs.http://www.snapniagarafalls.com/?option=com_sngevents&id[0]=353776
===Season standings===
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.
 Regular season 
No.	Team 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	GF 	GA 	Pts
1 	Montreal Stars 	27	22	4 	1 	160	66 	51
2 	Boston Blades 	27	20	7 	0 	107	61 	46
3 	Brampton Thunder 	27	18	7 	2 	102	80 	40
4 	Toronto Furies 	27	9 	13	5 	75 	105	26
5 	Alberta CWHL 	15	5 	10	0 	38 	66 	20
6 	Burlington Barracudas	27	1 	26	0 	46 	150	2
Team Alberta CWHL plays only half of the number of regular matches. This because of the geographical estrangement. Points are consequently adjusted with another teams.
ReferenceCWHL Standings 
==League leaders==
===Scoring leaders===
Players	TEAM 	GP	G 	A 	PTS	PIM
 	Montreal Stars 	27	41	39	80 	16
 	Montreal Stars 	27	30	36	66 	12
 	Montreal Stars 	27	24	25	49 	26
 	Boston Blades 	27	24	17	41 	16
 	Brampton Thunder	27	19	20	39 	70
 	Montreal Stars 	24	12	22	34 	16
 	Brampton Thunder	25	12	21	33 	10
 	Boston Blades 	26	11	22	33 	10
 	Boston Blades 	27	11	21	32 	24
 	Montreal Stars 	27	2 	29	31 	28
 	Brampton Thunder	27	15	14	29 	18
 	Montreal Stars 	14	10	18	28 	30
 	Montreal Stars 	21	10	17	27 	24
 	Brampton Thunder	27	4 	23	27 	22
 	Montreal Stars 	17	8 	16	24 	2
===Goaltending leaders===
Player	TEAM 	GP	MIN 	W 	L 	OTL	GA	SO	GAA
 	Boston Blade 	23	1386:05	16	7 	0 	0 	0 	2.38
 	Montreal Stars 	23	1358:13	19	4 	0 	0 	2 	2.39
 	Brampton Thunder 	20	1206:06	13	6 	1 	0 	1 	2.94
 	Toronto Furies 	9 	525:00 	2 	5 	1 	1 	0 	2.97
 	Team Alberta CWHL 	10	603:33 	4 	6 	0 	0 	0 	3.98
 	Toronto Furies 	16	933:13 	5 	7 	2 	2 	1 	4.11
 	Burlington Barracudas	11	634:44 	1 	10	0 	0 	0 	5.10
 	Burlington Barracudas	13	675:12 	0 	11	0 	0 	0 	5.86
ReferenceGoalie Leaders
==Awards and honours==
The 2012 CWHL Awards Banquethttp://hockeymedia.ca/wHockey_Review_2013_byhockeyMedia.pdf was held on Mar. 21, 2012 in Niagara Falls, ON (during the 
Clarkson Cup weekend). That night, the league formally recognized the Angela James Bowl winner, the Most Valuable Player, the Goaltender of the Year, the Rookie of the Year, and the Coach of the Year.
* Most Valuable Player: Meghan Agosta, Montréal
* Angela James Bowl: Top Scorer Meghan Agosta, Montréal
* Outstanding Rookie: Courtney Birchard, Brampton
* Coach of the Year: Lauren McAuliffe, Boston
===CWHL Top Players===
* Top Forward: Meghan Agosta, Montréal
* Top Defender: Catherine Ward, Montréal
* Top Goaltender: Molly Schaus, Boston
===CWHL All-Stars===
First Team All-Stars
* Goaltender: Molly Schaus, Boston
* Defender: Catherine Ward, Montréal
* Defender: Molly Engstrom, Brampton
* Forward: Meghan Agosta, Montréal
* Forward: Caroline Ouellette, Montréal
* Forward: Kelli Stack, Boston
Second Team All-Stars
* Goaltender: Jenny Lavigne, Montréal
* Defender: Gigi Marvin, Boston
* Defender: Tessa Bonhomme, Toronto
* Forward: Gillian Apps, Brampton
* Forward: Jayna Hefford, Brampton
* Forward: Vanessa Davidson, Montréal
===CWHL All-Rookie Team===
* Goaltender: Molly Schaus, Boston
* Defender: Catherine Ward, Montréal
* Defender: Courtney Birchard, Brampton
* Forward: Meghan Agosta, Montréal
* Forward: Kelli Stack, Boston
* Forward: Erika Lawler, Boston
===CWHL Monthly Top Scorer===
* October: Kelli Stack, Boston
* November: Caroline Ouellette, Montréal
* December: Meghan Agosta, Montréal
* January: Meghan Agosta, Montréal
* February: Meghan Agosta, Montréal
* March: Gillian Apps, Brampton
==Postseason==
The postseason was held at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario. All teams played in a round robin to determine the contestants in the Clarkson Cup finals.
Date 	Away 	Home 	Score
March 22	Toronto 	Montreal	Montreal, 7-0
March 22	Brampton	Boston 	Brampton, 3-2
March 23	Toronto 	Boston 	Boston, 5-2
March 23	Brampton	Montreal	Montreal, 2-0
March 24	Toronto 	Brampton	Brampton, 4-2
March 24	Boston 	Montreal	Montreal, 5-4 (OT)
Team 	W	L	OTL	GF	GA
Montreal	3	0	0 	14	4
Brampton	2	1	0 	7 	6
Boston 	1	1	1 	11	10
Toronto 	0	3	0 	4 	16
===Clarkson Cup===
Date 	Location 	Final Score 	Attendance
25 March	Gale Centre – Niagara Falls, ON	Montreal Stars 4-2 Brampton Thunder	5,000
==References==
Category:Canadian Women's Hockey League
Category:2012 in hockey
Category:CWHL seasons