Two members of the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team were honoured at the U SPORTS awards gala that launched the national championship in Kingston, Ont. this evening.
Fourth-year defender Caroll-Ann Gagné was named a U SPORTS second team all-Canadian, while Alexandra Nikolidakis earned a spot on the all-rookie team.
A native of Fermont, Que., Gagné is the first Stinger in more than a decade to earn all-Canadian honours. The last one was Roxanne Dupuis, also a blueliner, in 2004-05.
This season she was named to the RSEQ’s first all-star team. It was the second all-star honour of her career. She was a member of the second team in 2015-16. This year, she collected a goal and 12 assists for 13 points in 20 games. She also had three assists in four playoff games.
“Caroll-Ann is one of the most unassuming players on our team,” said Concordia head coach Julie Chu. “She’s not flashy in the way she plays. She goes under the radar. But if you watch her carefully, she does a lot of things well.
“She is a tremendous skater with the ability to play against the top lines. She is able to transition us out of our defensive zone and onto offence. And that’s a really important part of the game.”
Nikolidakis of Laval, Que. displayed great poise and enjoyed a very successful first season. She played in 15 regular season games, picking up 10 assists. She was also named to the RSEQ all-rookie team.
“Alexandra does a lot of little things well in a quiet way,” said Chu. “You don’t notice her initially, but when you watch her play you notice the great impact she has when she’s on the ice.
“She embodies the student-athlete concept. She excels on the ice and in the classroom.”
The young defender comes out of the very accomplished Dawson College hockey program. As a member of the Blues she played in the Cégep all-star game her last season. Previously she was on Quebec’s U16 Team and was part of John Rennie’s Sport-Études program in high school.
