Boston’s Loren Gabel named tournament MVP
The Premier Hockey Federation’s Canadian All-Stars emerged victorious in Sunday’s showcase event, defeating Team World 3-2 in the championship final on home ice at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Jade Downie-Landry of the Montreal Force broke the 2-2 tie with the winning goal inside the game’s final three minutes. Boston’s Loren Gabel earned MVP honors with three goals and one assist over three tournament games, including a goal and an assist in the final.
“It’s truly an amazing experience to be here amongst some really amazing players and some of the coaches on the bench who had such amazing careers,” Gabel said. “Having all those fans and supporters out there cheering us on was an amazing and a surreal experience. We were on our home ice and we wanted to bring the crowd a good game for this All-Star event and we stayed positive on the bench and got the job done.”
Gabel currently leads the PHF in scoring with 24 points in 13 games, one ahead of Toronto’s Brittany Howard who also had a goal and an assist in the final contest and finished with four points overall. Pride goaltender Corinne Schroeder continued her strong play between-the-pipes in her first PHF season, earning the decisive victory to claim the event’s most outstanding goaltender award.
“Playing in that final game we were all business, kind of from the get-go,” said Kaleigh Fratkin, Pride defender and Canada captain following her fifth All-Star appearance since 2016. “The type of goals that were scored in the game is a testament to the type of skill that we have in this league now. It has really come a long way. The All-Star Game, in regards to the quality of play, has evolved over the last eight years as well.”
Another one of the night’s top performers was Riveters forward Fanni Gasparics who led the tournament with four goals in three games. The Hungarian star scored a hat-trick to lead Team World to a 3-2 victory over Team USA, then netted the first goal of the final.
“I think this was one of the best hockey weekends of my life. I am going to remember it for a long, long time,” Gasparics said. “Coming to the PHF from a very small league in Hungary to make my team and family proud and coming here to meet hockey players from all over the world – U.S., Canada, and my team. Meeting them and having fun with them. At the Hockey Hall of Fame we had so much fun together. It was so much more than playing hockey. It was representing women’s sports and showing the world what we are capable of doing and we did that. Our goal for this weekend was to show the world that Europe can beat the U.S. and Canada and we did that in the first two games. I am so proud of my team and it feels really good to be part of this All-Star weekend.”
Team World advanced to the final as the top seed following round-robin wins over the United States as well as Canada by a 2-1 score getting goals from Toronto’s Leah Lum and Minnesota’s Denisa Křížová. Canada opened the event with a 2-1 shootout win over the U.S. with Howard scoring the winner. Whitecaps defender Patti Marshall scored USA’s first goal, with Connecticut’s Taylor Girard and Boston’s Jillian Dempsey adding singles. Riveters defender Anna Kilponen also tallied in the final game for the international squad.
“It was so amazing to see the players on the ice from all three teams,” said Kim St-Pierre, a member of Canada’s coaching staff. “They were so skilled, so fast, and the intensity. I was so surprised by the high intensity, that’s what we wanted from our team. For us at the end, we pulled it out. It was not easy, I’m so glad everyone had so much fun. Winning is always great!”
St-Pierre celebrated victory alongside fellow Hall of Famer, Geraldine Heaney. They were part of a group of seven Olympians behind the bench including USA’s Kacey Bellamy and Colleen Coyne, Team World’s Erika Holst and Venla Hovi, and goaltending coach Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle who helped the PHF celebrate women’s hockey and the global game throughout the weekend.
“I was very curious to see what was happening at the PHF level, and so impressed by everything that I saw this weekend,” added St-Pierre. “It was an honor to be a part of these events. To see that our sport is growing and it’s moving forward at the professional level now is something that’s impressive to me and I’m so excited to see the future of women’s hockey. The players are very skilled, they’re great role models as well for everyone watching, and I hope that it’s just going to get better.”
2023 PHF ALL-STAR SCORES:
Game 1: USA 1 vs CANADA 2 SO – Box Score | Highlights
Game 2: CANADA 1 vs WORLD 2 – Box Score | Highlights
Game 3: USA 2 vs WORLD 3 – Box Score | Highlights
Final: WORLD 2 vs CANADA 3 – Box Score | Highlights
All games were single period 4-on-4. Round-robin contests were 14 minutes each, and the final was 18 minutes in length.
A ceremonial face-off was performed by members of Canada’s gold medal winning National Women’s Under-18 Team. Prior to the first official puck drop, a moment of silence was observed in honor of Hazel McCallion, the beloved longtime Mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, and women’s hockey advocate who passed away at the age of 101.
Officials for the games were Canadian referee Lacey Senuk and linesperson Justine Todd, along with international officials in referee Agnese Karklina from Latvia and linesperson Tiina Elina Saarimaeki who were assigned in partnership with the IIHF.
2023 PHF All-Star Weekend was presented by Air Canada and Sailun Tire. Additional weekend events included a Toronto Maple Leafs game on Friday, two Saturday practices with Toronto girls hockey associations, and an All-Star reception at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Sunday’s game was broadcast live across the United States on ESPN2 and in Canada on TSN.
PHF TEAM CANADA CHAMPIONS:
Kelly Babstock (MET), Sarah Bujold (MET), Catherine Daoust (MON), Jade Downie-Landry (MON), Kaleigh Fratkin (BOS), Loren Gabel (BOS), Élizabeth Giguère (BOS), Mikyla Grant-Mentis (BUF), Brittany Howard (TOR), Kennedy Marchment (CTW), Corinne Schroeder (BOS), Kati Tabin (TOR), Saroya Tinker (TOR), Emma Woods (TOR). Ann-Sophie Bettez (MON) was originally selected for the roster but was unable to compete. Coaches were Kim St-Pierre, Geraldine Heaney, and All-Stars goaltending coach Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle.
Photos by Lori Bolliger
