Midget AA Selects Finish Season Undefeated

By all accounts, completing a season with a 62-0-2 record would be deemed a success, but for the girls Midget AA Lac St. Louis Selects, success isn’t measured by wins and losses. To be sure, the wins were nice, but clearly their season was about much more than that.

Their long list of accolades includes four tournament victories, the regional championship and the Dodge Cup provincial championship, not to mention the fact that they didn’t lose a single game! But more important was the special bond that the girls forged with each other, united by a common goal and a passion for hockey.

Players and coaches alike attribute the on-ice success to their team-first mentality, put in place by Head Coach Luc Lacasse and carried out by his players. Teammates frequently referred to themselves as a family, claiming a sister-like bond.

“We never let each other fall,” offered assistant captain Bianca Della Porta. “Everyone was so supportive of each other and when someone had a bad shift we tried to pick them up on the bench. We all shared the same vision and it showed on the ice.”

Instrumental in this team bonding experience were two separate retreats organized by the coaching staff, where the team was sequestered in St. Lazare to get to know each other better. Part of this experience was setting individual and team goals that would form the basis of the players’ development all year.

“The most important questions we asked them had to do with what they wanted improve on personally and what kind of team image they wanted to project to fans and opponents,” Lacasse reflected. “The responses the girls gave were quite similar, emphasizing teamwork, discipline and respect.”

Lacasse said that it was during this first retreat in early October that he first saw that this team had the capacity to achieve special things, prompting him to remark one assistant coach that “this might be the first time we made all the right selections.” Della Porta agreed, adding, “it was like instant chemistry. By the end of the weekend it was as if we had been friends for years.”

Over the course of the season the Selects benefited from a number of special instructors, including Olympians Caroline Ouellette and Kim St. Pierre, several players on the McGill Martlets hockey team, kick boxing instructor Bruno Gladu and Amey Doyle, who designed their extensive training program. Lacasse was also quick to point out the contributions of his assistant coaches, Stéphane Whissell, Greg Murphy and Gabrielle Miller, for the fantastic job they did with the girls.

Members of the decorated Selects family are Melanie Fournier, Laurie-Anne Beaulieu, Audrey Lacasse, Erin Smith, Jenifer Pouliot, Gabrielle Davidson, Bianca Della Porta, Valerie Dilella, Laurie Kingsbury, Shauna Murphy, Cynthia Whissell, Christina Cox, Alex Lapointe, Sylvie Anne Begin, Mélodie Daoust, Joanne Cagianos and Dara Brunette.