The first half of the 2018-19 CWHL season was filled with surprises, from the sudden departures of top coaches and executives to unexpected performances.
Before the league resumes play Jan. 5 after a holiday break, here's a look back on the biggest surprises from the 2018 portion of the season as the league enters a new year.
Brunet steps down, Ouellette steps up
Dany Brunet, the winningest head coach in CWHL history, left Les Canadiennes de Montreal on Nov. 24. Brunet had been Montreal’s head coach since 2014 and had helped guide the team to the 2017 Clarkson Cup. According to Montreal’s press release, he stepped down due to personal reasons after winning his 100th regular season game with the franchise.
Les Canadiennes general manager Meg Hewings turned to Hockey Hall of Fame favorite Caroline Ouellette and Daniele Sauvageau to help lead Montreal for the rest of the season. Ouellette is the CWHL’s all-time leading scorer and a four-time Olympic medalist. Sauvageau was the first woman to coach in the QMJHL and was the head coach of Team Canada at the 2002 Olympics.
Montreal has gone 5-0-0-0 since the coaching change, including a three-game series sweep of the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays in China.
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Shannon Miller leaves the Inferno
Not long after Brunet left his post in Montreal, there was some shocking news tied to the CWHL’s other top team.
Shannon Miller, the Calgary Inferno’s third coach in three years, resigned Dec. 6 despite her team’s undeniable success. Under Miller, Calgary lost only one game in regulation (the first game of the season in Montreal against Les Canadiennes) and were averaging 4.17 goals for per game. That’s why many are still wondering why she is no longer behind Calgary’s bench, coaching a roster which features the most potent blend of Canadian and American superstars in the CWHL and the NWHL.
The news of Miller’s resignation came just three days after Rebecca Johnston was named the captain of the team with Zoe Hickel, Brianne Jenner, Brianna Decker and Blayre Turnbull serving as her alternates. Prior to the Sochi Olympics, Jenner was the Inferno’s captain and leading scorer.
For now, Ryan Hilderman and Mandi Duhamel — both assistant coaches under Miller — will be behind the bench on game days. Calgary recently lost its second game in regulation, the team’s first in two months, against the Toronto Furies.
Roustan’s resignation from the CWHL
On Nov. 26, W. Graeme Roustan of Roustan Capital resigned as a CWHL governor and investor after supporting the league since just after its inception. In his public letter of resignation, Roustan claimed that CWHL attorney Mike Strickland would not grant his request to see financial information regarding money or benefits that directors may have personally received. He also claimed that this was the first instance of the board denying his request to view such expenses.
In his letter, Roustan claimed that he was the longest-tenured member of the CWHL’s board and that the league’s former commissioner, Brenda Andress, informed him that he was the league’s “single biggest” financial contributor. However, the CWHL’s current partnership with China might have changed that.
The day after Roustan’s public resignation, the CWHL announced its board of directors and confirmed that “Mr. Roustan’s departure will not impede or hinder the future of the CWHL or the growth of women’s hockey.”
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The Blades’ goaltender carousel
In October, Paul Kennedy, the Blades’ new head coach, decided to look for a new starting goaltender despite the impressive performance of veteran Lauren Dahm over the last two years. Dahm posted a .907 save percentage in 2017-18 while facing the most difficult workload in the CWHL. This year, she’s been given just four starts and has posted an .892 save percentage, second only on Worcester to Jetta Rackleff’s .909.
At the CWHL’s holiday break, the Worcester Blades have four goalies who have played at least 100 minutes of hockey — no other CWHL team has more than two. The Blades are also dead last in the standings and are still searching for their first win of the 2018-19 season.
The Blades are averaging 47.87 shots against per 60 minutes this season, which is up from the 41.89 SA60 they allowed last year. No team in the CWHL needs great starting goaltending more than the Blades do. Unfortunately, Kennedy has been unable to cultivate that in his first 17 games behind the bench. He has already changed his goalie mid-game 11 times this season.
Victoria Bach is Markham’s top scorer
It didn’t take long for rookie forward Victoria Bach to establish herself as a sniper in the CWHL. After her first 17 games as a pro, Bach leads the Markham Thunder with 11 goals and leads the league with four game-winning goals. She’s also leading the Thunder in points by a wide margin despite Markham bringing back three Pyeongchang Olympians and Jamie Lee Rattray, 2018’s winner of the Jayna Hefford Trophy awarded to the MVP of the league as voted by its players.
Bach scored 39 goals in 33 games as a senior at Boston University last season and was a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. So, it’s not exactly surprising to see her finding the back of the net in the CWHL. She’s been a big threat for the Thunder on special teams this year with four power-play goals and one shorthanded goal on the season. One has to imagine she’s a leading candidate for the 2019 CWHL Rookie of the Year Award.