Get a McGill Martlets women's hockey team stat sheet, close your eyes, and drop your finger somewhere on the page. There's a pretty good chance the player you landed on deserves to win the McGill Tribune Female Athlete of the Year award. Goaltender Charline Labonté, who won the award for the past two years, allowed only 40 goals in 37 games, but had 12 fewer shutouts this year (14) than last year (26). CIS rookie of the year Marie-Andre Leclerc-Auger led the team with 94 points, but Ann-Sophie Bettez was only eight points behind her in five fewer games, and fourth-year forward Vanessa Davidson finished only two points behind Bettez. Defender Cathy Chartrand recorded an impressive 47 points, but so did fellow blueliner Catherine Ward. You'll need more than a stat sheet to pick the Female Athlete of the Year in 2009.
On the other hand, if you've seen a Martlets game this year, the choice becomes a lot clearer. Compared to the rest of the QSSF, and even her own teammates at times, Catherine Ward-who holds the McGill records for most career goals (34), assists (104) and points (138) as a defender-was simply on a higher level than those around her this season. The 5'6" rearguard was nearly impossible to knock down, always made the right pass, and routinely skated through the opposition forecheck with alarming ease. At least once per game, often late in the third period, Ward would gather the puck in her own end and embark on a Bobby Orr-esque rush, skating through all five opposition players on her way to the goal. She may not have always scored after reaching the net, but Ward usually made something good happen (she finished with seven goals and 38 assists). Case in point: on February 7, with the Martlets leading Concordia 5-0 five minutes into the third period, Ward grabbed a loose puck near centre ice on a power-play and proceeded to head towards Stingers netminder Audrey Doyon-Lessard. Three Stingers fell to their knees, trying to pry the puck away from her stick as she maneuvered around them. But their efforts were to no avail-Ward reached Doyon-Lessard, made a quick pass to Bettez, and it was 6-0 by the time the fallen Stingers got to their feet.
Though witnessing her silky-smooth skating with your own eyes is the only way to truly do Ward justice, the stats backed up her performance this year. She led all CIS defenders with an average of 1.6 points per game in league play, captured a spot on the CIS first team All-Star sqaud, and was named tournament MVP at the 2009 Nationals, even though she recorded only three points in three games. She's also one of the youngest members of Team Canada currently playing at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Tournament in Hameenlinna, Finland. As the second-youngest defender and only current representative of a CIS school (other than Labonté) on Team Canada, there's a reason Ward will play in the 2010 Olympic Games: she might just be the most exciting defender in all of women's hockey. And for that reason, she's the Tribune's Female Athlete of the Year.
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