Five former X-Women drafted in 1st ever women's elite hockey draft

X-Women hockey was well represented in the first ever draft for the newly restructured Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) last week in Toronto, ON. X-Women alumni Rebecca Davies, Lindsay Brown, Brayden Ferguson, Christina Davis and Amanda Church were all drafted by respective teams.

With five new teams in the CWHL (Boston, Montreal, Burlington, Brampton and Toronto), the historic draft represented the first step in the professionalization of the league and featured some impressive names in women’s hockey.

Rebecca Davies, who played with StFX for four years from 2003-2007 was selected 21st overall by Toronto. Davies was a CIS All-Canadian and two-time AUS all-star during her playing years with the X-Women and currently sits 4th overall in the AUS record book in career goals with 80.

Lindsay Brown played defense for the X-Women for four years (2005-2009) and was a gritty player on the ice. She accumulated 50 points over her career with StFX. Lindsay was drafted 35th overall by Brampton.

Brayden Ferguson was selected 57th overall by Burlington and graduated from StFX as one of the most decorated female hockey players, having played five seasons from 2004-2009. She became the first-ever X-Woman to be named CIS Player of the Year in 2008 when she led the country in scoring, and was also a CIS All-Canadian and five-time AUS all-star. She is currently the all-time AUS leader in career points (196) and career goals (105) and holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season with 50.  

Christina Davis was chosen 67th overall and joins Davies on the Toronto squad. Another five year X-Woman (2002-2007), Davis was a two-time AUS all-star and currently sits third overall in AUS career scoring (184), career goals (86) and career assists (93). Most recently she was an assistant coach last year with the current X-Women squad.

Amanda Church played with StFX for four seasons (2004-2008) and was drafted 79th overall by Toronto. She finished her career with 100 career points including 58 goals and 42 assists in 78 games played. 

More information on the CWHL draft follows from the official press release below.

Women's Elite Hockey "First Ever" Draft
Team picks announced at historic female hockey draft
Courtesy Canadian Women’s Hockey League

Nervous excitement filled the Hockey Hall of Fame last night as the first women’s hockey draft in history got underway. Media, family, friends and fans packed the amphitheatre and awaited as the coaches and general managers from each of the five new teams in the pilot league began the selection process for their new squads: Boston, Montreal, Burlington, Brampton and Toronto.

Over the summer, the CWHL restructured to lay the groundwork for a pilot league that will begin to professionalize the game. The draft is the first step and meant to ensure parity across the league’s 5 new teams. Since players won’t be paid full salaries, they won’t be asked to move far from their hometown. As a result, the draft was limited to the 3 teams located in Southern Ontario: Toronto, Burlington and Brampton. Teams in Montreal and Boston will hold open tryouts, but announced their protected players and tryout roster at the Hall.

After a brief introductory speech by Executive Director Brenda Andress, Olympian Cheryl Pounder took to the microphone to preside as master of ceremonies. The first order of business was to present the protected players. Teams each had the chance to secure a total of 5 players who had previously played in the CWHL. In the process, some of the world’s best players were protected and spread out among the 5 teams, including many members of the 2010 US and Canadian Olympian teams: (Montreal) Caroline Ouellette, Kim St-Pierre, Julie Chu, Kim St-Pierre, Sarah Vaillancourt (Brampton) Gillian Apps, Jayna Hefford, Cherie Piper (Burlington) Becky Kellar, Brianne McLaughlin (Toronto) Jennifer Botterill, (Boston) Erika Lawler, Angela Ruggeiro, Karen Thatcher, Kacey Bellamy, Caitlin Cahow, Molly Engstrom.
After that, it was on to the first round picks. Toronto started, selecting Tessa Bonhomme, a decorated offensive defense and Canadian Olympian, who co-captained the Ohio State Buckeyes in the NCAA where she was the fourth all-time scoring defensemen with 47 points. Burlington used the next vote to pick Ashley Riggs, a star scorer for the Niagara University Purple Eagles, and key member of Canada’s Under 22 Olympic team. Toronto (who forewent protecting 2 players in order to secure the no. 1 and 3 round picks) snagged Brittney Smith. In another surprise, Brampton named Yekaterina Smolentseva, the leading scorer of the Russian Olympic team, to their list.

“This has been exciting. The Montreal and Boston rosters look strong, so we’ll have our work cut out for us. It’s going to be fun,” said Brampton’s Jayna Hefford at the draft.

The league now features some of the most impressive rosters ever seen in the history of the elite women’s game, and will showcase stellar play all next season. The coaching staff is also standout, with recent inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame Angela James, announced as the coach of the Brampton team.

Tryouts for the final 22 spots on each team will be held in September, and the final rosters will be announced prior to the pre-season this fall.

The players drafted for the 2010-11 season, as well as the coaches and general managers for each team, can be found by clicking here.