Inside the CWHL: Inaugural draft makes women’s hockey history

Inaugural draft makes women’s hockey history

It was fitting that the first ever Canadian Women’s Hockey League draft was held in a venue next to a replica of the Montreal Canadiens dressing room.

Forty-seven years after the Habs made Garry Monahan the top pick at the first-ever NHL Entry Draft, the world’s elite women’s hockey players gathered at the Molson Theatre of the Hockey Hall of Fame on Thursday as three club teams – Toronto, Mississauga, and Burlington – decided their playing futures.

The honour of becoming the first ever CWHL draftee went to Sudbury native Tessa Bonhomme, six months removed from winning a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. “I’m really excited and very honoured to have been chosen first overall,” said the 25-year-old offensive defenceman who joins a Toronto team that includes her Olympic teammate Jennifer Botterill (forward) and 2002 gold medal winner Sami Jo Small (goalie).

Botterill and Small were on Toronto’s protected list that was established prior to the start of the draft. All three GTA teams were allowed to protect a maximum of five players, however Toronto elected to exercise the option for three women only – Martine Garland from Switzerland being the other member. As a result the club was awarded the first draft pick, which it used to select Bonhomme.

Now entering its fourth season after rising from the ashes of the defunct National Women’s Hockey League, the CWHL has embarked on its next step to becoming a full-fledged professional league. The often-painstaking process under which the league has continued to evolve has been largely under the direction of Small, the Vice Chairperson and Player Director of the CWHL. The Stanford graduate who served in the backup role to Canada’s gold medal-winning effort in Salt Lake City eight years ago was greeted with a standing ovation when she received her ceremonial Toronto club sweater as one of the team’s protected players.

“I wasn’t expecting (the applause). To get that kind of support from my peers is absolutely incredible,” said a humble Small. “But, it really wasn’t just me that started this league. There were so many people that lent a hand, and so many players that faced all the challenges with me. It’s been a long road, but it’s so great that so many people appreciate what we’ve done behind the scenes.”

With five member clubs, the league has one fewer team than last year. Both Ottawa and Vaughan folded shop, while an expansion team was added in Boston.

Brampton, Burlington, Montreal and Toronto (nee Mississauga) remain as holdovers.

Neither Boston nor Montreal participated in the draft, as the league felt that the timing wasn’t right to uproot players from their current hometowns to potentially play in those cities. Instead, both those clubs held open tryouts. Montreal will have the benefit of Olympic heroes Caroline Ouellette and Kim St. Pierre on their roster, while Boston’s club boasts no fewer than six players from the United States national team that captured the silver medal in Vancouver.

“I went to school in Boston for four years, and it’s a great hockey city. There are a lot of great talented players that play in the U.S.,” said Botterill, a Harvard alumnus. “In terms of exposure of the game, it just adds a new element to the league, and the exposure of women’s hockey.”

Without a television contract for broadcasting regular season league games, and with sparse attendance at the rinks, the CWHL still faces many challenges, particularly in the prevailing attitude of indifference to the women’s game outside of the Olympics.

But players like Botterill remain undeterred.

“It’s about making the game the best calibre that we possibly can, so that when people come to watch, they respect that and want to see more names.”

For the CWHL’s protect players list, click here.

For a complete CWHL draft listing, click here.

Video: Tessa Bonhomme is thrilled to be the CWHL’s first ever draftee.