Bishop's Gaiters women's ice hockey

The Bishop's Gaiters women's ice hockey program represents Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec in the sport of ice hockey in the RSEQ conference of U Sports women's ice hockey. When the Gaiters joined the RSEQ, they became the first-Quebec based program not from the city of Montreal to compete in the conference.[2]

Bishop's Gaiters women's ice hockey
Bishop's Gaiters athletic logo
UniversityBishop's University
ConferenceRSEQ
Governing BodyU Sports
Head coachDominic Desmarais
Assistant coachesValerie Bois
Dave Dubois
Eric Roy
Frederike Berger-Lebel
ArenaJane & Eric Molson Arena
Sherbrooke, Quebec
Colors   

History

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Women’s hockey at Bishop’s dates back to 1915. In 1975 and 1976, Bishops hosted the Women's Invitational Hockey Tournament. The 1975 participants also included the Loyola Tommies, University of Toronto and Dawson College. The Loyola Tommies captured the championship, defeating Toronto in the final.[3] The participants for the 1976 Tournament included John Abbott College, University of New Brunswick Red Blazers and Dawson College. John Abbott captured the championship, while Bishop's defeated Dawson College in double overtime for third place.[3]

Recent history has seen the Gaiters undergo significant movement. Members of the Independent Women’s Club Hockey League (IWCHL) in 2016-17, the program would spend the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons competing in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).[4] Following their sojourn in the ACHA, the Gaiters played an independent schedule in 2019-20.[4] In January 2020, it was announced that the Gaiters were poised to join the RSEQ for the 2020–21 season, benefitting from a lead gift from the Molson Family Foundation, including support from Molson Coors and the Bishop's University Foundation and other donors.[5] The Gaiters home arena was renamed the Jane and Eric Molson Arena. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020–21 season was cancelled.

Gaiters assistant coaches Val Bois and Katia Clement-Heydra formed the Women's Hockey Institute in December 2020, a partnership with Bishop's University and Fonction Optimum, based at the Jane & Eric Molson Arena.[6]

The Gaiters joined the RSEQ conference for the 2021–22 season, becoming the 37th U SPORTS-level women's hockey university team in Canada.[4] Their first game as an official member of the RSEQ conference is scheduled to take place on October 22, 2021, against the Montreal Carabins women's ice hockey program.

Season-by-season Record

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Won Championship Lost Championship Conference Champions League Leader
Year Conference Coach W L T OTL GF GA Pts Finish
2017-18 AHCA Dominic Desmarais 17 6 0
2018-19 AHCA Dominic Desmarais 14 2 0 0
2019-20 Ind. Dominic Desmarais 2 10 0 0 15 51 4 N/A
2020–21 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22 RSEQ Dominic Desmarais

Exhibition

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Date Opponent# Rank# Site Decision Result Record
Exhibition
October 26, 2019 Korea women's national ice hockey team Jane & Eric Molson Arena • Sherbrooke, QC Jade Shushu Saulnier-Cyr W 4-0 [7] 
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll.

Season team scoring champion

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Year Player GP G A PTS PIM
2019–20
2020–21 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22

Awards and honours

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Team awards

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University Awards

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  • Hayley Robitaille - Provigo/Robert Lafond Bishop's Athletes of the Week (awarded week ending November 19, 2018)[11]
  • Danielle Armand - Provigo/Robert Lafond Bishop's Athletes of the Week (awarded week ending October 27, 2019)[12]

References

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  1. ^ "BU Brand Visual Identity Guidelines" (PDF). Bishop's University. 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  2. ^ "Bishop's Gaiters Women's hockey team joins the big leagues". sherbrookerecord.com/. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  3. ^ a b Leslie A. Howe (1997) (2017-11-24). "At the Left Hand of the Divine; Women's Hockey at Bishop's University" (PDF). gaiters.ca. Retrieved 2021-09-17.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b c "Bishop's Gaiters Women's Hockey join RSEQ for 2020-21 – Molson Family Foundation and Molson Coors support program". ubishops.ca/. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  5. ^ "Bishop's Gaiters Women's Hockey join RSEQ for 2020-21". gaiters.ca/. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  6. ^ "BU Women's Hockey, Heydra Hockey & Fonctions Optimum partner to create the Women's Hockey Institute". gaiters.ca/. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  7. ^ "Gaiters skate past Korean National Team 4-0 on Saturday". gaiters.ca/. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  8. ^ "Noblecilla and Filion Claim Bishop's Athlete of the Year Honours". gaiters.ca/. 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  9. ^ "Rugby Players Bray and Scott take home top honours at Bishop's Athletic Banquet". gaiters.ca/. 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  10. ^ "Siciliano and Demosthene named Bishop's University Athletes of the Year; entire slate of awards announced". gaiters.ca/. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  11. ^ "Robitaille and Kamane named Provigo, Robert Lafond Bishop's Athletes of the Week". gaiters.ca/. 2018-11-19. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  12. ^ "Armand and Wolf named Provigo, Robert Lafond Athletes of the Week". gaiters.ca/. 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2020-04-10.