Dozens of PWHL players have passed through Canada's U-18 national championships, including these players who earned awards at the event.
Dozens of PWHL players have passed through Canada's U-18 national championships, including these players who earned awards at the event.
© John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports - U-18 Nationals: A tournament filled with future prosHockey Canada's U-18 national championships kick off tomorrow, and looking at past events, it's a tournament filled with future professional hockey players.
Looking back to the 2007 and 2008 tournaments, Marie-Philip Poulin was named Top Forward and 2008 MVP at the event representing Team Quebec, who won silver both years. Poulin has since been a mainstay on Canada's national team and will play in the PWHL this season with Montreal. The 2008 Most Sportsmanlike Player from the tournament was PWHL New York's Jill Saulnier.
Moving forward in time, the 2009 Top Forward award went to PWHL Boston signee and national team veteran Jamie Lee Rattray who represented Ontario Red at the tournament.
After a year off, the tournament returned in 2010 with the top goaltender being PWHL Minnesota draft pick Amanda Leveille.
The 2013 MVP honor went to PWHL Toronto forward Rebecca Leslie, while PWHL Boston draft pick Jessica Healey was Top Defender, PWHL New York draft pick Alexandra Labelle was Most Sportsmanlike, and PWHL Montreal training camp invite Marlène Boissonnault was Top Goalie.
The trend continued over the next few years with Jamie Bourbonnais (PWHL New York) being named Top defender in 2015 followed by Olivia Knowles (PWHL Toronto) in 2016, and Emma Maltais (Toronto) earning Top Forward honors in 2016.
2017 MVP Sarah Fillier will certainly join these ranks soon.
When the puck drops November 5, there will be future pros on the ice.