The president of the Montreal expansion team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), Kevin Raphaël, had promised earlier this month to sign players very quickly. And he kept his word.
The team has announced the identity of its first seven players officially under contract for the 2022-2023 season. They are attackers Ann-Sophie Bettez, Kim Deschênes, Jade Downie-Landry, Alexandra Labelle, Sarah Lefort and Kristina Shanahan, as well as defender Brigitte Laganière.
“This is a very exciting step forward for the start of the PHF in Montreal and throughout the province of Quebec,” said Raphaël. This group is an excellent mix of youth and experience, players with character. »
“We’re not just building a hockey team, we’re building a family, and I’m extremely proud of that. »
Seven recruits
Bettez is the most experienced of the group, with 10 seasons of professional hockey under her belt. The 34-year-old Sept-Îles player has spent the past three seasons as a member of the Professional Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), after seven years in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) with the Stars of Montreal and the Canadians.
She had her best offensive season in her last CWHL campaign, in 2018-19, collecting 48 points in 26 games. In the same year, she won the bronze medal at the World Championship with the women’s national team.
“For my background, I’m still near the end of my career, and it made sense to participate in the development of this new team here in Montreal,” Bettez said in a telephone conversation with The Canadian Press at the end of the week. afternoon, Monday.
Bettez is confident that Montreal’s membership in this circuit will have beneficial effects for women’s hockey in Quebec, especially since the Montreal team will play its games in different places in the province.
“I think it’s going to be a good start to promote women’s hockey, in the sense that we’re going to tour across Quebec,” she noted.
“At the female level, I felt like we lost a lot of girls once they finished college. There weren’t necessarily places to play. I think that this league will make sure to give greater visibility to a greater number of people to be able to play, in fact, hockey. And not only to play, but to be paid to do so. »
Deschênes, of Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick, has eight seasons of professional hockey experience, three as a member of the PWHPA and five with the Montreal Stars and Les Canadiennes.
Labelle, 26, from Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, spent her college career with the Montreal Carabins from 2015 to 2020, where she totaled 90 points in 97 games and helped the program win a national championship title in 2016.
Lefort joined the CWHL after graduating from Boston University and played three seasons with the Canadiens.
Downie-Landry, of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and Laganière, of Anjou, reach the professional level after their university career. Shanahan, of Montreal, just completed his stint in the NCAA, playing five seasons with the University of Vermont.
The PHF announced the addition of Montreal to its circuit on July 12, and the team will begin its activities during the 2022-2023 season. The schedule for the next season has not yet been revealed.