The Rundown - All-Star Addendum

As you're likely aware, the Canada West women's hockey schedule is on break for both exams and the holiday season, so there are no game recaps today. There is an entry here, though, because I've always maintained that there should be a Canada West mid-season All-Star Game at some point where the most productive players from across the conference get a chance to showcase their talents, have some fun, and meet the players they compete against week-in and week-out without worrying about wins and losses. In saying this, I'm bringing back the Canada West All-Star selections at the midway point of the season!

Let me preface this article by saying that anything written below this line literally is an opinion on who has had the most success in the first half of the season. I'm quite certain that none of it carries any weight beyond the honours that I and my colleagues are bestowing upon these players for their success in the first half of the season, so please don't go making this into something it's not. For every player we name, there are likely two or three other players who could easily replace them thanks to the abundance of talent in Canada West.

Just as we did in 2019-20, there will be two teams drawn up based on geography. Because a little less than half the league plays in Alberta, the four Alberta-based schools make up one team that will affectionately be called "Team Rockies". The other five schools will make up the second team with those schools based in BC, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, so they will affectionately be called "Team Surf-n-Turf". That will make it easy to come up with teams without trying to redesign the map of Canada.

If this game were to be played, I'd want to see scoring and fast-paced action, so we're going to use the three-on-three format like we see at the NHL All-Star Game and in Canada West double-overtime. There is no denying that three-on-three overtime periods produce all sorts of scoring chances, so the Canada West All-Star Game will also go three-on-three.

In knowing that, the rosters don't have to be large, so this game will feature the best of the best. To make this work, both teams will play three lines - two forwards and a defender - and two goalies for a total of eleven players with no more than three players from each Canada West team being chosen. Each team must have at least one representative on her respective all-star team, and both teams must feature at least one first-year-of-eligibility player in Canada. Of course, with limited roster sizes and these rules, there will be very good players who may miss the cut. I apologize for this, but I cannot stress enough that we could easily interchange players for likely another eleven players.

To round out the All-Star teams, we need some coaches so the top Alberta-based coach and the top non-Alberta-based coach at the conclusion of the first half of the schedule will be selected as the coaches for the Canada West All-Star Game.

Joining me in this completely fun and in-no-way-serious look at all-star teams are two people who I hold in the highest regard: Kyleigh Palmer and Jenna Thompson! As you may be aware, Kyleigh does play-by-play for Bisons women's hockey broadcasts, so she's quite aware of who has been playing well this season. Having played the game at the Canada West level, she's also aware of the consistency and the effort needed to be a high-performance athlete at the Canada West level, so her input was something I knew I needed when choosing all-stars in Canada West.

Jenna, as you know, is a regular co-host on The Hockey Show, but she is also the broadcast analyst for MacEwan women's hockey broadcasts on Canada West TV! Jenna played with the Griffins for three seasons where she found all sorts of success as the Griffins won multiple ACAC championships! Knowing what it takes to be successful at the university level for hockey means something to me, so Jenna's input was mandatory as well. Needless to say, these two women were automatics when seeking out other views on who should play in this fantasy Canada West All-Star Game!

Jenna, however, had some help in making her selections, so we need to give credit where credit is due. Former MacEwan Griffins defender Kennedy Davidson was vetting Jenna's all-star picks, and she too knows a little something about playing at the highest level consistently as she is also a former ACAC champion with the Griffins. Because Kennedy had a hand in making Jenna's picks a little more honest, it would be a mistake to leave her out of this exercise. Therefore, Jenna's selections will now be noted as "Jenna/Kennedy" as "Team Jennedy" makes its mark on the game once again!

Let's look at who the three of us selected for the Canada West All-Star Teams in 2021-22! Players in yellow are forwards, players in orange are defenders, and players in red are goaltenders. Rookies will be noted with two asterisks.

Teebz	Kyleigh	Jenna/Kennedy
Ko (MRU)	Ko (MRU)	Ko (MRU)
Kollman (MRU)	Kollman (MRU)	Kollman (MRU)
Willan (ALB)	Willan (ALB)	Willan (ALB)
Lang (CAL)	Lang (CAL)	Lang (CAL)
Ricker (MAC)	Ricker (MAC)	Kieser (ALB)**
Borrow (CAL)	Reuther (CAL)	Borrow (CAL)
Chambers (MAC)**	Chambers (MAC)**	Chambers (MAC)**
Skoye (MAC)	Skoye (MAC)	Skoye (MAC)
Anker (ALB)	Anker (ALB)	Bergesen (MRU)
De Beauville (MRU)	De Beauville (MRU)	Bender (MAC)
Oswald (ALB)	Oswald (ALB)	Oswald (ALB)

Head coach of Team Rockies will be Mount Royal's Scott Rivett after coaching the Cougars to the top spot in Canada West through twelve games. His team plays fast and aggressively while not giving up much on defence, so he deserves this honour after the great start to the season Mount Royal has had.

With four teams making up eleven roster spots, the math works out that virtually each team sends three players. The only team who didn't get a third player was Calgary, and I honestly struggled to not include Holly Reuther after the great start to this season she's had. Anna Purschke and Tatum Amy also could have gone for Mount Royal quite easily as per our discussions, but it's hard to overlook what Zoe De Beauville has done in the crease while Ko and Kollman are having monstrous seasons thus far.

Willan was an automatic for Alberta, Anker's play was hard to ignore on the blue line, and Halle Oswald has been consistent all season. MacEwan's Chantal Ricker and Kyrelle Skoye have been the heart and soul of the Griffins' team for a number of years so it felt right to Kyleigh and I in honouring them, and they'll be joined by standout rookie defender Aryn Chambers at the game!

Jenna's choice of Natalie Bender over any of the other netminders in Alberta is a direct result of her believing that Bender has been a key reason why the Griffins are in a playoff spot, and she filled two spots with players Kyleigh and I also debated as Jenna added Emma Bergesen from Mount Royal as Jenna has seen the Cougars play a number of times, and added standout Alberta rookie Natalie Kieser to her all-star choices!

Teebz	Kyleigh	Jenna/Kennedy
McConnell (UBC)	McConnell (UBC)	Bassi (UBC)
Edwards (MAN)	Edwards (MAN)	Edwards (MAN)
Carpenter-Boesch (REG)	Carpenter-Boesch (REG)	Carpenter-Boesch (REG)
Lalor (SAS)	Lalor (SAS)	Lalor (SAS)
Germann (TWU)	Germann (TWU)	Germann (TWU)
Keller (MAN)**	Keller (MAN)**	Kunnas (MAN)
MacKinnon (UBC)	MacKinnon (UBC)	MacKinnon (UBC)
Long (REG)**	Long (REG)**	Zuchotzki (SAS)**
Warkentin (MAN)	Warkentin (MAN)	Gottfried (MAN)**
Hugens (UBC)**	Hugens (UBC)**	Hugens (UBC)**
Drever (SAS)	Drever (SAS)	Drever (SAS)

Head coach of Team Surf-n-Turf will be UBC's Graham Thomas after coaching the Cougars to second-place in Canada West through twelve games. His team plays fast, aggressively, and physical and gets great support from its blue line, so he deserves this honour after the great start to the season UBC has had.

Can I say that I seriously tried to fit Chanreet Bassi into this team about a dozen times? The only problem was that to do so meant I had to sacrifice the conference's leader in assists and power-play assists in McConnell, the conference's other leading scorer, co-leader in goals scored, and best-scoring defender in MacKinnon, or the conference's best goaltender in terms of wins, goals-against average, and shutouts in rookie Elise Hugens. Kyleigh was in the same boat whereas Jenna opted to keep Bassi and exclude McConnell. It's pretty clear that UBC is boasting too much talent this season.

Manitoba is getting great contributions from Halle Edwards and Ashley Keller, and Lauren Warkentin has been the team's best defensive defender this season in both Kyleigh's and my eyes. Jenna liked Molly Kunnas' clutch goal-scoring while Rachel Gottfried's cannon got full marks from the two MacEwan defenders.

Lilla Carpenter-Boesch has already tied her season high in points for Regina so she was in, and Megan Long, to Kyleigh and I, is looking every bit like a veteran defender despite being a rookie. Neisha Germann has scored a number of key goals for Trinity Western, so she had to be included as a unanimous choice.

Sophie Lalor has been the Huskies' most consistent offensive player in our views while Camryn Drever might be the most consistent netminder in Canada West, but gets no run support routinely which hurts her overall record. Jenna noted that Kendra Zuchotzki has rounded into Saskatchewan's most consistent defender over the first twelve games - something not easy for rookies to do.

Like the Elo scores for the Top Ten, these lists mean nothing and are meant for discussion purposes only! If you're a player or a relative of a player who is reading this, understand that we do this for fun because there are some amazing athletes whose efforts need to be highlighted more often than just a social media post when they score a goal. All of the women mentioned here are exceptional athletes and even better people, and they deserve to be recognized for those qualities. But let it be known that athletes who weren't mentioned here play just as big a role in the successes of the teams as these recognized athletes do without any doubt.

Do you agree? Disagree? Who would you replace on these teams if you were given an opportunity to pick? Sound off in the comments and we can have a discussion about any and all players who you believe should be on these teams. And if you haven't seen some of these players play the game live and in-person, it might be a good idea to scribble "Canada West women's hockey tickets" onto your holiday wishlist so you can see them in action!

And because it's a big day in Canada, GO BOMBERS GO!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!