The 41st annual Concordia-Theresa Humes Women’s Hockey Tournament is shaping up to be a classic showdown between the Quebec and Ontario university conferences.
Eight teams – four from each region – will face off in the three-day showcase, beginning Friday, Jan. 2 at the Ed Meagher Arena in Montreal.
“It’s like a Challenge Cup between Quebec and Ontario,” said Les Lawton, head coach of the Concordia Stingers and the tournament’s administrator. “It will be very interesting to see how the two leagues fair against each other.”
Vying for bragging rights are several of the CIS’s Top 10 teams, including the No. 1-ranked McGill Martlets and the No. 10-rated Ottawa Gee-Gees representing the Quebec conference. The Guelph Gryphons in the No. 5 spot and the Toronto Varsity Blues, who are ranked eighth, are the top Ontario contenders.
“With so many Top 10 teams I think all the games will be hard-fought and tight,” Lawton said.
Rounding out the field will be the Carleton Ravens, the Queen’s Golden Gaels, the Brock Badgers and the host Stingers.
Concordia finished second in the 2008 event, while the Martlets won the tournament. Lawton’s not making any predictions for his Stingers this time.
“It’s thrill to kick off the second half of the season with a highly competitive event,” he said. “It will be interesting. I think we’ll have a couple of extra days of practice and hopefully that will give us an edge.”
On the opening day the matchups are as follows:
- McGill vs. Queen’s – 2 p.m.
- Ottawa vs. Guelph – 4:30 p.m.
- Concordia vs. Brock – 7 p.m.
- Carleton vs. Toronto – 9:30 p.m.
From there, winners advance to the championship side of the draw, while losers compete in the consolation round. The championship game is scheduled for Jan. 4 at 3:30 p.m.
