Season has been a win for all

The idea of the CWHL was to create a league not just to promote the sport, but to promote the players and help forge a way for female hockey players to earn a living playing the game they love.

It’s not there yet, but the women’s game seems to have turned a corner. Johnston was a big part of that step forward when the NHL invited her to its allstar weekend with Inferno teammate Brianna Decker, Renata Fast of the Toronto Furies and Kendall Coyne Schofield of the NWHL’s Minnesota Whitecaps.

“That was an amazing experience,” Johnston said. “For me to be able to be on the ice with all the best hockey players in the world, players I watch on TV everyday and try to learn from, it was pretty remarkable.

“And to do the same events they were doing, and be able to perform fairly well, was pretty exciting as well — to be able to develop women’s hockey, to promote it as much as we can, grow the game and show people there’s a lot of talent and it’s a great game. Hopefully we get people to watch it more.”

The league has a ways to go. Though the final, like the allstar game earlier this season, is on Sportsnet, the CWHL streams many of its games on the internet. And it’s not a league being driven by attendance. Montreal led all teams with an average of about 900 fans a game. But the women’s game seemed more on people’s lips this year than in the past. In a non-Olympic year, that alone was remarkable.

There was a well-received Ri- valry Series between the national teams of Canada and the United States. Coyne Schofield turned her amazing performance at the all-star game into a colour analyst’s gig on NHL games on NBC. Locally, the Toronto Furies and Markham Thunder appeared tirelessly at local charities and other public events.

“The main thing for us is to try to develop the game and showcase it more,” Johnston said. “There are so many people that watch women’s hockey every four years and have no idea where we play the other three years. So this year was a great stepping stone for us.”

The big event on the calendar is the Clarkson Cup. Montreal vs. Calgary. The top two seeds made it to the final. Calgary, the regular-season champion, beat Montreal in four of six meetings this year.

“We’re very talented, hard working, very passionate,” Johnstons said. “We have a lot of talent up front, some great defencemen who can score but who are also responsible defensively.

“(Montreal’s strengths are their) tenacity, their work ethic, (they’re) always in your face ... It can get annoying at times. They have a lot of talented players. Their scoring ability in the front end is definitely something we should be aware of.”

It should be appointment viewing.

“When it comes down to it, you have to be ready, you have to be prepared for this one game,” Johnston said. “It shows your ability to deal with that pressure ... one game, winner takes all.”