2015–16 CWHL season
{{Short description | Ninth season of Canada's women's hockey league}}
{{Infobox sports season
| title = 2015–16 CWHL season
| league = Canadian Women's Hockey League
| sport = Ice hockey
| duration = October 17, 2015 – February 21, 2016
| no_of_games = 24
| no_of_teams = 5
| attendance =
| season = Regular season
| season_champ_name =
| season_champs = Les Canadiennes
| MVP = Marie-Philip Poulin
| MVP_link =
| top_scorer = Marie-Philip Poulin
| top_scorer_link = Angela James Bowl
| finals = Clarkson Cup
| finals_link = 2016 Clarkson Cup
| finals_champ = Calgary Inferno
| finals_runner_up = Les Canadiennes
| nextseason_year = 2016–17
| prevseason_year = 2014–15
}}
File:CWHL_Oct_17,_2015_-_Boston_Blades_@_Toronto_Furies_(22286702121).jpg
The 2015–16 CWHL season is the ninth season of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL).
Offseason
=CWHL Draft=
{{main|2015 CWHL Draft}}
For the second consecutive year, the Brampton Thunder held the first pick overall and selected Harvard defender Sarah Edney. Two members of Canada's gold medal winning roster at the 2014 Winter Olympics were selected during the first round: Marie-Philip Poulin by Les Canadiennes and Brianne Jenner by the Calgary Inferno.{{cite web |author=Jason La Rose |title=Taking the next step. Four first-round picks lead U18 nationals alumnae selected in CWHL Draft |url=http://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/news/u18-nationals-alumnae-chosen-at-2015-cwhl-draft |publisher=Hockey Canada |date=2015-08-25}} Calgary also selected Hayley Wickenheiser ninth overall. In total, the five teams selected 55 players over 13 rounds.{{cite web |title=Draft Tracker |url=http://cwhl.ca/view/cwhl/cwhl-draft-1/draft-tracker |publisher=CWHL}}
Regular season
Les Canadiennes won the Commissioner's Trophy for the best regular season records for the fifth time in seven years, eight points ahead of second-place Calgary Inferno.{{cite web |title=Blades Wrap Season with Clash Against Canadiennes |url=http://boston.cwhl.ca/view/cwhlbostonblades/boston-blades-news/news_398175 |publisher=Boston Blades |date=2016-02-19}} Montreal also lead the league with a +78 goal differential and an average of 4.75 goals per game. With a 5–4 win against the Brampton Thunder in the final game of the season, Calgary was the second team to secure home-ice advantage for the play-offs. Defending Clarkson Cup champions Boston Blades, however, would only record one shootout victory in their second game of the season, finishing last in the league with two points.
Regular season scoring was led by four Canadiennes players, with Marie-Philip Poulin claiming the Angela James Bowl as the CWHL's top scorer. Along with Natalie Spooner of the Toronto Furies and Laura Fortino of the Brampton Thunder, she was also nominated for the MVP title.{{cite web |title= 2016 CWHL Award Nominees Announced | url=http://cwhl.ca/view/cwhl/news-644/news_402448 |publisher=CWHL |date=2016-03-02}}
=Milestones=
In a game against the Brampton Thunder on December 13, 2015, Noemie Marin registered the 200th point of her CWHL career{{cite web|url=http://pointstreaksites.com/view/lescanadiennes-en/news-786/news_369168|title=MARIN HITS MILESTONE AS LES CANADIENNES SPLIT WEEKEND SET VS. BRAMPTON THUNDER|publisher=CWHL – Canadiennes de Montreal|date=2015-12-13|accessdate=2017-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202003004/http://pointstreaksites.com/view/lescanadiennes-en/news-786/news_369168|archive-date=2017-02-02|url-status=dead}}
. She would record two assists in the game, including one on the game-winning tally, to reach the milestone.
=Standings=
{{Color box|#97DEFF|y–|border=darkgray}} indicates team has clinched regular season title
{{Color box|#bbffbb|x–|border=darkgray}} indicates team has clinched a playoff spot
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:50em" | |||||||||||
| bgcolor="#DDDDFF"
! width="25%" | Team ! width="5%" | {{abbr|GP|Games played}} ! width="5%" | {{abbr|W|Wins}} ! width="5%" | {{abbr|OTW|Overtime wins}} ! width="5%" | {{abbr|SOW|Shootout wins}} ! width="5%" | {{abbr|OTL|Overtime losses}} ! width="5%" | {{abbr|SOL|Shootout losses}} ! width="5%" | {{abbr|L|Losses}} ! width="7.5%" | {{abbr|Pts|Points}} ! width="7.5%" | {{abbr|Pts%|Points percentage}} ! width="7.5%" | {{abbr|GF|Goals for}} ! width="7.5%" | {{abbr|GA|Goals against}} | |||||||||||
| bgcolor=#97DEFF
| align=left| y– Les Canadiennes | 24 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 | .875 | 114 | 36 |
| bgcolor=#bbffbb
| align=left| x– Calgary Inferno | 24 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 34 | .708 | 97 | 67 |
| bgcolor=#bbffbb
| align=left| x– Brampton Thunder | 24 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 33 | .688 | 91 | 67 |
| bgcolor=#bbffbb
| align=left| x– Toronto Furies | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 14 | .292 | 59 | 87 |
| align=left| Boston Blades | 24 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 | .042 | 18 | 122 |
=All-Star Game=
{{main|2nd Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game}}
The CWHL All-Star Game was held at Toronto's Air Canada Centre for the second time. In an online poll, Natalie Spooner and Julie Chu voted as team captains by the fans. Chu's Team Black won the game 5–1, with Marie-Philip Poulin scoring two goals and being named the All-Star Game MVP.
Statistical leaders
= Leading skaters =
The following players are sorted by points, then goals.{{cite web |title=Scoring Leaders |url=http://cwhl_site.stats.pointstreak.com/scoringleaders.html?leagueid=1113&seasonid=14588 |publisher=CWHL}}
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" | ||||
| style="width:12em" | Player
! style="width:12em" | Team ! style="width:4em" | GP ! style="width:4em" | G ! style="width:4em" | A ! style="width:4em" | Pts ! style="width:4em" | PIM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left| Marie-Philip Poulin
| align=left| Les Canadiennes | 22 | 23 | 23 | 46 | 10 |
| align=left| Ann-Sophie Bettez
| align=left| Les Canadiennes | 24 | 19 | 25 | 44 | 12 |
| align=left| Kim Deschenes
| align=left| Les Canadiennes | 24 | 13 | 20 | 33 | 6 |
| align=left| Caroline Ouellette
| align=left| Les Canadiennes | 24 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 18 |
| align=left| Natalie Spooner
| align=left| Toronto Furies | 22 | 17 | 13 | 30 | 20 |
| align=left| Jamie Lee Rattray
| align=left| Brampton Thunder | 22 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 18 |
| align=left| Brianne Jenner
| align=left| Calgary Inferno | 24 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 6 |
| align=left| Laura Fortino
| align=left| Brampton Thunder | 24 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 10 |
| align=left| Rebecca Vint
| align=left| Brampton Thunder | 24 | 19 | 7 | 26 | 42 |
| align=left| Elana Lovell
| align=left| Calgary Inferno | 24 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 8 |
= Leading goaltenders =
The following goaltenders with a minimum 500 minutes played lead the league in goals against average.{{cite web |title=Goalie Leaders |url=http://cwhl_site.stats.pointstreak.com/goalieleaders.html?leagueid=1113&seasonid=14588 |publisher=CWHL}}
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout loss
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||||||||||
| style="width:12em" | Player
! style="width:12em" | Team ! GP | TOI | SA | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | W | L | OTL | SOL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charline Labonte | Les Canadiennes
| 20 | 1144:26 | 386 | 29 | 5 | 1.52 | .925 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Liz Knox | Brampton Thunder
| 10 | 502:00 | 276 | 21 | 2 | 2.51 | .924 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Erica Howe | Brampton Thunder
| 17 | 941:24 | 495 | 42 | 2 | 2.68 | .915 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Delayne Brian | Calgary Inferno
| 20 | 1104:29 | 500 | 55 | 2 | 2.99 | .890 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
Clarkson Cup playoffs
{{main|2016 Clarkson Cup}}
{{4TeamBracket
| RD1=Clarkson Cup semifinals
| RD2=Clarkson Cup final
| seed-width =
| team-width =
| score-width =
| RD1-seed1 = 1
| RD1-team1 = Montreal
| RD1-score1 = 2
| RD1-seed2 = 4
| RD1-team2 = Toronto
| RD1-score2 = 0
| RD1-seed3 = 2
| RD1-team3 = Calgary
| RD1-score3 = 2
| RD1-seed4 = 3
| RD1-team4 = Brampton
| RD1-score4 = 0
| RD2-seed1 = 1
| RD2-team1 = Montreal
| RD2-score1 = 3
| RD2-seed2 = 2
| RD2-team2 = Calgary
| RD2-score2 = 8
}}
Awards and honors
- CWHL Most Valuable Player: Marie-Philip Poulin, Montreal
- CWHL Top Forward: Marie-Philip Poulin, Montreal
- CWHL Defender of the Year: Laura Fortino, Brampton
- CWHL Goaltender of the Year: Charline Labonte, Montreal
- Angela James Bowl winner: Marie-Philip Poulin, Montreal
- CWHL Outstanding Rookie: Elana Lovell, Calgary
- CWHL Coach of the Year: Tyler Fines, Brampton
- CWHL Humanitarian of the Year: Lisa-Marie Breton, Montreal
=CWHL All-Rookie Team=
- Goaltender: Sydney Aveson
- Defender: Brigitte Lacquette
- Defender: Sarah Edney
- Forward: Elana Lovell
- Forward: Jillian Saulnier
- Forward: Rebecca Vint
References
{{reflist}}
{{Canadian Women's Hockey League}}
{{Professional Women's Hockey seasons}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 CWHL season}}