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CWHL Frozen Fantasy Draft recap with Wickenheiser's eyebrow-raising comment

TORONTO, Ont. – The second inaugural CWHL All-Star weekend kicked off with a glitzy cocktail reception at the Toronto Hilton where fans could mingle among the CWHL All-Stars in attendance.

The party later moved into the ballroom for the Frozen Fantasy Draft. Julie Chu from Les Canadiennes de Montreal and Natalie Spooner of the Toronto Furies, acting as fan-selected captains, determined their starting lineup.

With Chu receiving the highest percentage of fan votes, she was afforded the opportunity to pick first. The captain selected league leading scorer, and Les Canadiennes teammate, Marie-Philip Poulin. After the announcement, Poulin joked, "I have to pay [Chu] a lot" for drafting her first overall.

As for Spooner's first pick, she went with Brianne Jenner of the Calgary Inferno. The forward is fourth in the CWHL in total points. When asked what it was going to take to beat the other team, she replied with a deadpan, "Headshots. Plenty of headshots."

Chu filled out the rest of her starting lineup with teammate, and hockey legend, Caroline Ouellette, Brampton Thunder defenseman Laura Fortino, Inferno forward Jillian Saulnier, and Furies goaltender Christina Kessler.

Spooner followed up her first selection with Thunder forward Jamie-Lee Rattray, Boston Blades defenseman Tara Watchorn, Thunder defenseman Courtney Birchard, and Les Canadiennes goaltender Charline Labonte.

After the starters were selected, the captains picked from color coded sticks in a bucket labeled with each player's name to fill out their lineup. It was a relatively quick process from that point on out.

The only moment that took everyone back was that of Hayley Wickenheiser's comments following her drafting to Team Chu. Wickenheiser, who is technically a rookie in the CWHL this year, is a Canadian hockey legend and one of the most noticeable women in the game. She said, "We know here are two leagues and there should only be one, and this is the one."

The other league she is referencing is the NWHL. There is clearly no love lost between the two leagues. The two of them came together after much negotiation to put on the women's game at the Winter Classic, but that has been the most the two have worked together since the NWHL's inception. Wickenheiser was not available to the media following the fantasy draft.

The final two players left were Brampton's Candice Styles and Calgary's Elana Lovell. Porter Airlines, a sponsor of the CWHL, gave both women vouchers for roundtrip tickets to anywhere Porter Airlines flies.

The women take to the ice on Saturday at 1:00pm ET in the Air Canada Centre for the All-Star Game. Sportsnet will offer the game on a tape delay at 3:00pm ET.

Here's the complete rosters with season stats:

TEAM CHU 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Player

POS

Team

GP

G

A

PTS

+/-

PIM

PP

SH

GWG

 

 

 

Laura Fortino

D

Brampton Thunder

18

6

15

21

+8

10

8

1

1

 

 

 

Julie Chu (C)

D

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

10

2

6

8

+7

2

7

0

0

 

 

 

Cathy Chartand

D

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

16

1

11

12

+17

12

3

2

0

 

 

 

Laurianne Rougeau

D

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

14

1

6

7

+12

2

4

1

0

 

 

 

Michelle Bonello

D

Toronto Furies

20

0

2

2

-12

28

1

0

0

 

 

 

Sena Suzuki

D

Toronto Furies

18

1

5

6

-11

4

0

1

1

 

 

 

Kristina Brown

F

Boston Blades

18

2

0

2

-20

4

1

0

0

 

 

 

Jess Jones

F

Brampton Thunder

18

12

6

18

+11

22

3

0

3

 

 

 

Elana Lovell

F

Calgary Inferno

18

13

9

22

+13

8

6

0

2

 

 

 

Hayley Wickenheiser

F

Calgary Inferno

17

3

9

12

+12

8

2

1

0

 

 

 

Jillian Saulnier

F

Calgary Inferno

16

11

7

18

+9

14

5

1

3

 

 

 

Ann-Sophie Bettez

F

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

16

13

12

25

+21

6

7

1

3

 

 

 

Caroline Ouellette

F

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

16

8

9

17

+16

12

4

1

3

 

 

 

Kim Deschenes

F

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

16

9

12

21

+17

6

2

0

2

 

 

 

Marie-Philip Poulin

F

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

14

13

13

26

+13

8

7

2

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Player

POS

Team

GP

GS

Min

W

L

OTL

SOL

SO

GA

GAA

SV

SV%

Christina Kessler

G

Toronto Furies

16

16

928

3

11

0

1

1

51

3.30

488

0.905

Delayne Brian

G

Calgary Inferno

14

14

795

10

1

1

0

2

38

2.87

315

0.892

 

TEAM SPOONER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Player

POS

Team

GP

G

A

PTS

+/-

PIM

PP

SH

GWG

 

 

 

Dru Burns

D

Boston Blades

17

0

2

2

-26

14

1

0

0

 

 

 

Tara Watchorn

D

Boston Blades

19

2

4

6

-30

20

3

0

0

 

 

 

Courtney Birchard

D

Brampton Thunder

18

2

13

15

+7

6

6

1

0

 

 

 

Jocelyn Larocque

D

Brampton Thunder

18

2

3

5

+7

24

0

0

0

 

 

 

Sarah Edney

D

Brampton Thunder

18

3

4

7

+8

8

3

0

1

 

 

 

Jacquie Pierri

D

Calgary Inferno

18

0

1

1

+14

14

0

0

0

 

 

 

Candice Styles

F

Brampton Thunder

18

6

8

14

+8

26

2

0

2

 

 

 

Jamie-Lee Rattray

F

Brampton Thunder

16

10

10

20

+5

16

5

1

1

 

 

 

Brianne Jenner

F

Calgary Inferno

18

8

15

23

+20

4

6

1

3

 

 

 

Brittany Esposito

F

Calgary Inferno

18

6

12

18

+12

2

8

0

1

 

 

 

Jessica Campbell

F

Calgary Inferno

16

10

10

20

+10

6

3

0

1

 

 

 

Katia Clement-Heydra

F

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

16

5

9

14

+15

2

0

0

0

 

 

 

Natalie Spooner (C)

F

Toronto Furies

18

16

9

25

-1

20

8

1

0

 

 

 

Emily Fulton

F

Toronto Furies

18

4

7

11

-6

10

2

0

0

 

 

 

Kelly Terry

F

Toronto Furies

12

2

4

6

-3

8

4

0

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Player

POS

Team

GP

GS

Min

W

L

OTL

SOL

SO

GA

GAA

SV

SV%

Genevieve Lacasse

G

Boston Blades

20

20

1203

1

19

0

0

0

87

4.34

934

0.915

Charline Labonte

G

Les Canadiennes de Montreal

12

11

660

10

1

0

0

4

14

1.27

189

0.931

 

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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.

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