West Islanders help Stars shine

The defending Clarkson Cup champions, the Montreal Stars defeated the Brampton Canadette Thunder Saturday at the Pierrefonds 4 Glaces Sportsplex with a 2-1 win.

The Stars, of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), have a few players with West Island connections, including Leslie Oles who scored the first goal for them on Saturday afternoon. After Brampton captain Lori Dupuis replied in the second period, the Stars answered back with Jessica Koizumi scoring the winner. She was assisted by Kelly Sudia, a West Islander, and Natalie Dery. Brittany Privee is another West Island native on the Stars.

Sudia, a former two-time MVP of the John Abbott Islanders, currently works as an academic advisor at the Ste. Anne de Bellevue college. Meanwhile, Privee works as a teacher at Kuper Academy in Kirkland. Oles played at JAC and on the U18 Canadian Team.

Sudia, a member of one of the first competitive women’s hockey team in the West Island, appears in a team photo that hangs in both the Kirkland and Beaconsfield arenas. Carol Reid, a former John Abbott College physical education teacher and their first coach, had to fight hard to get ice time for the girls to play a game they loved. Competing for ice time with the boy's hockey teams and the ringuette teams made ice hard to come by for the girls. These female players have come a long way, struggling for recognition before being crowned Clarkson Cup champions.

The CWHL is home to many of Canada women’s national team players, such as Kim St. Pierre and Caroline Ouellete, during the years between Olympic Games. The league gives Canada’s elite level female players a competitive environment to show case their skills.

Three members of the Stars have been selected to represent Canada at the Vancouver Olympic Games; Kim St. Pierre, Caroline Ouellette and Marie Philip Poulin (who attended Kuper Academy for one year).

For more information, check www.cwhl.ca. <@Cp>Chronicle, Jacques Pharand<@$p>