Calgary, Alta –Today’s game opened with a big milestone as the Inferno celebrated veteran forward Jenna Cunningham’s 100th game in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL). The seats were filled with fans excited to watch the girls fire up the ice, though the game ended in a 2-1 victory for Montreal.    

“It’s been awesome to see the progress the Inferno has made so far. It started with Team Alberta and a split hockey team between Calgary and Edmonton, and now we’re at a point where we are selling out our home rink which is pretty exciting,” remarked Cunningham in her fifth season. “It’s been fun to see that progress, it just really shows how much work has been put into this by everyone in Calgary and the members of the CWHL. It’s been really nice to be able to be a part of that.”

The game began with two penalties taken by Les Canadiennes, which the Inferno were not able to take advantage of. Both teams fought furiously for the puck, each member bringing an aggressive passion to the final game of the weekend series. The first period remained scoreless.

With 14:13 left in the second period, Noemie Marin raced the puck over to the Inferno side, and jammed the puck in the net, assisted by Caroline Oulette. Soon after, the Inferno’s Aina Takeutchi took a penalty for holding. Despite having one-less-man on the ice, Delayne Brian was able to save a pressure attempt with 10:13 left of the second period. Five minutes later Lauriane Rougeau and Sophie Brault took penalties for Montreal. The Inferno had a 30 second five on three advantage which they were not able to capitalize on. The second period ended with a score of 1-0 for Montreal.

The third period was a race to win the game. Two minutes into the final period Katia Clemente-Heydra scored the second goal for Les Canadiennes, assisted by Cathy Chartrand. With five minutes left, the Inferno tried to make a comeback. Brianne Jenner scored the first goal for the Inferno with an assist from Hayleigh Cudmore. The Calgary Inferno continued to battle for the puck until the end of the game.   

With a one and one split against Montreal this weekend, Calgary will look to win both games against the third place Brampton Thunder next weekend. These games will determine who gets home ice for a best of three game playoff series, February 26-28. If Calgary is able to win one game, they will clinch second place in the league and get home ice advantage for the playoff series. Meanwhile, the first place Les Canadiennes will head home to host Boston. Join the Calgary Inferno live next weekend in Brampton here: http://cwhllive.com

“We played a really good game; we out-chanced them, we just weren’t able to find the back of the net. Montreal is a team where if you give them 30 seconds they are going to make you pay for it,” added Cunningham. “For next weekend we need to stick to our game plan. We have really committed to our team after the Christmas break to make sure we are working hard, supporting each other, we are beating the other team to the puck and just doing the little things that we got away from before Christmas. In a rink like Brampton where it’s really small those things will be really important. We need to make sure to keep building.”

The shots on goal were 35-24 for the Calgary Inferno.  

The three stars of the game are:

1.     #32 Charline Labonte, Les Canadiennes

2.     #19 Brianne Jenner, Calgary Inferno

3.     #19 Katia Celement-Heydra, Les Canadiennes