2013-14 AUS Women's Hockey Awards and All-Stars Announced

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2013-14 AUS women's hockey all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's head coaches following regular season play.

Fourth-year StFX forward Alex Normore was named the Atlantic University Sport most valuable player for the third consecutive season.

Other AUS major award winners announced today were Saint Mary's Breanna Lanceleve from Middle Sackville, N.S, who was named rookie of the year; Courtney King from St. John's, N.L. of the Mount Allison Mounties who was selected as the most sportsmanlike player; UPEI forward Ferran Brown of Calgary, Alta., who earned the Marion Hillard award for student-athlete community service; and Moncton Aigles Bleues head coach Denis Ross, who was named the AUS coach of the year.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Alex Normore, StFX

For the third year in a row, the Atlantic University Sport women's hockey most valuable player is Alex Normore of the StFX X-Women.

The Bedford, N.S., native led the CIS in points this season, tallying 48 in 24 games played. Her 15 goals and 33 assists were tops in the Atlantic conference, as was her +25 plus/minus rating and total shots on goal (115).

The 2011 CIS rookie of the year, Normore was also tied for first overall in the AUS this season in game-winning goals with three. Now a four-time AUS first team all-star, Normore helped lead the X-Women to a CIS No. 9 ranking at the end of the regular season. The first-ranked AUS team heading into the playoffs, StFX boasted a regular season record of 18-4-2.

"Alex has made a major impact on our hockey program as well as the AUS conference over the past four years," said StFX head coach David Synishi. "She has raised the bar for all players coming into the AUS."

Normore is a three-time CIS all-Canadian and just the second player from the X-Women to be named the AUS most valuable player. She is second in the AUS all-time record books for points scored by an individual in a single season with 55. She accomplished this feat in 2011-12. Only former StFX standout Candice Ernst sits above her with 57 points in the 2005-06 season.

She wraps up her fourth season fifth in the AUS record books for career points scored with 173 during regular season play.

Prior to Normore's reign, Brayden Ferguson was the only other StFX player to be named AUS MVP. She took home the honour in the 2007-08 season. Ferguson is also the only AUS player to win the CIS player of the year award, which she earned during the same 2007-08 campaign.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Breanna Lanceleve, Saint Mary's

Breanna Lanceleve, a first-year forward from Middle Sackville, N.S., is the AUS women's hockey rookie of the year.

Lanceleve, also named a first team all-star today, played in all 24 regular season games this season for the Huskies. She finished first overall in the conference in goals with 15, third in points with 24 and her +20 plus/minus rating was good for second best overall.

The 5-foot-8 arts student tied for first in game-winning goals with three this season and finished second overall in shots, taking 106. The Huskies finished second in AUS regular season play with a 16-6-2 record.

"Bea has been an impact player from the moment she set foot on campus. She carries herself like a true professional in everything she does and her on-ice performance is only surpassed by her dedication and attitude off the ice," said Huskies head coach Chris Larade. "Personally, having coached her at younger levels before she got here, I am particularly proud of her accomplishments and what she has grown up to become, though am not at all surprised. She is exactly the type of person and player we aim to have here at SMU and we are excited to see what the future has in store for her."

Lanceleve becomes the fourth Saint Mary's player to be named the conference's top rookie and the second from the Huskies in as many years. Saint Mary's goalie Sienna Cooke earned the award last year, while former Huskies Courtney Schriver and Lindsay Taylor picked up the honours in 2004-05 and 2002-03 respectively.  

Lanceleve will look to become the fourth Atlantic conference player to be selected as the CIS rookie of the year. StFX's Alex Normore (2010-11) and former Saint Mary's players Taylor (2002-03) and Schriver (2004-05) are the only AUS players to have won the CIS award.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Denis Ross, Moncton

Université de Moncton head coach Denis Ross has been selected by his peers as the 2013-14 AUS coach of the year.

This is the third time Ross, in his seventh season at the helm of the Aigles Bleues program, has won the award. He took home the same honour in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

This season, Ross led the Aigles Bleues to a 14-9-1 record and a third-place finish in the AUS conference standings.

His Moncton squad allowed only 40 goals against all season, finishing with the best goals against average in the AUS (1.64). They were second over the regular season in power-play goals (22) and power-play percentage (18.2). Their power-play kill percentage of 94.1 was the highest in the country.

Coaching for over 25 years, Ross has obtained his Theory III certification from the Canadian Coaches' Association as well as his High Performance 1 certification from Hockey Canada.

"Coach Denis Ross has done an outstanding job with our program and women's hockey team," said Moncton director of athletics Marc Boudreau. "Our team recorded the fewest penalty minutes this season, clearly demonstrating our leadership in promoting sportsmanship. I am pleased to see that his work was recognized by his peers. He is a tireless worker who possesses a good work ethic. He is well-supported by competent assistants and his recruiting abilities demonstrate the success of our program."

Ross has now guided the Aigles Bleues into the AUS post-season in all seven of his years behind the bench, winning the championship title his second year coaching in 2008-09.

He boasts a career regular season coaching record of 116-37-12.

His Moncton squad swept the UPEI Panthers 2-0 in the Subway AUS women's hockey championship best 2-of-3 quarterfinal series. The Aigles then topped the second-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies 2-1 in the semifinal series.

In the ongoing final series versus the Mount Allison Mounties, Moncton was victorious in Game 1 Tuesday night. They await Game 2 Thursday in Sackville, N.B.

MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER: Courtney King, Mount Allison

The Atlantic University Sport most sportsmanlike player is once again from the Mount Allison
squad. This year's winner is Mounties forward Courtney King.

This award recognizes an individual who maintains the standards of fair play and treats those around her with respect at all times.

King, a fourth-year biology student from St. John's, N.L., becomes just the second Mount Allison player to be recognized with this award. Former Mounties standout and current team manager Ashlyn Somers took home the award in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.

King appeared in 22 regular season games this year, finishing third in the AUS in assists with 11 and seventh in points with 18.  She has three assists so far this post-season. The Mounties swept the St. Thomas Tommies 2-0 in the championship quarterfinal series and upset the AUS top-ranked StFX X-Women, taking the semifinal series 2-1. Mount Allison is currently facing Moncton in the final series.

"Courtney is a senior with us who plays an impact role and also is an assistant captain.  She was our in-season points leader and she plays all situations," said Mounties head coach Zach Ball. "She only had two penalty minutes this year and has incredible work ethic.  She plays hard and she plays fair and is very deserving of this award."

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Ferran Brown, UPEI

Ferran Brown of the UPEI Panthers has been selected as the AUS student-athlete community service award recipient. This award honours the individual who best combines academics, athletics and community involvement.

Brown becomes the first-ever UPEI recipient of this award since its inception in 2002-03.

Playing in all 24 regular season games this year, the fourth-year forward contributed 11 points, with three goals and eight assists for the Panthers.

An arts student from Calgary, Alta., Brown is the first Panther from outside of P.E.I. to be named team captain.

Brown's community involvement on the island is extensive. In December she hosted two food drives for the Charlottetown Food Bank and the O'Leary Food Bank which services western P.E.I. The drives raised over $500 and $300 respectively in cash donations and collected approximately 300lbs of food for each organization.

During the Panthers' winter season, Brown organized and hosted 'Pink at the Rink' events where the local rink was dressed in pink and both the men's and women's hockey teams wore pink and black jerseys. Thanks to Brown's efforts, the hockey programs raised $1,144.45 to be donated to the local chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

"As a head coach I have always attempted to develop the leadership that each member of our program displays and to play a small part in Ferran's development is very rewarding," said Panthers coach Bruce Donaldson. "She is an amazing individual who took up the challenge to come play for the Panther family and, through her leadership development, has made an amazing impact on our team, school and the overall community."

Brown will now represent the conference as the AUS nominee for the CIS Marion Hilliard Award. The last AUS student-athlete to take home the CIS honour was St. Thomas's Kayla Blackmore following the 2012-13 season.

FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

This year's Atlantic University Sport first and second team all-stars, along with the all-rookie team members are as follows:

First team all-stars:
Goaltender: Kristin Wolfe, St. Thomas (5^th year – Chignecto, N.S.)
Defence: Jenna Pitts, StFX (4^th year – Antigonish, N.S.)
Defence: Rebecca Mosher, Saint Mary's (5^th year – Poplar Grove, N.S.)
Forward: Alex Normore, StFX (4^th year – Bedford, N.S.)
Forward: Breanna Lanceleve, Saint Mary's (1^st year – Middle Sackville, N.S.)
Forward: Marie-Pier Arsenault, Moncton (3^rd year – Bonaventure, Que.)

Second team all-stars:
Goaltender: Gabrielle Forget, Moncton (1^st year – Joliette, Que.)
Defence: Keirstin Visser, UPEI (4^th year – Crapaud, P.E.I.)
Defence: Emily van Diepen, Mount Allison (3^rd year – Morell, P.E.I.)
Forward: Katie Brewster, St. Thomas (5^th year – Sackville, N.B.)
Forward: Courtney King, Mount Allison (4^th year – St. John's, N.L.)
Forward: Daley Oddy, StFX (1^st year – Cranbrooke, B.C.)

All-Rookie Team:
Goaltender: Gabrielle Forget, Moncton (Joliette, Que.)
Defence: Emma Martin, UPEI (Winsloe, P.E.I.)
Defence: Nicole Corcoran, StFX (Piusville, P.E.I.)
Forward: Breanna Lanceleve, Saint Mary's (Middle Sackville, N.S.)
Forward: Daley Oddy, StFX (Cranbrooke, B.C.)
Forward: Lisa MacLean, Dalhousie (Inverness, N.S.)

The 2014 Subway AUS women's hockey championship best 2-of-3 final series is currently being played between the Moncton Aigles Bleues and the Mount Allison Mounties. The schedule is as follows:

Final Series (Best 2-of-3): Moncton (third seed) vs. Mount Allison (fifth seed)

Game 1: Tuesday, March 4 – Mount Allison 1 at Moncton 2 (FINAL)
Game 2: Thursday, March 6 – Moncton at Mount Allison, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Saturday, March 8 – Mount Allison at Moncton, 7 p.m.* (*if necessary)

The winners of this final series will advance to the 2014 Scotiabank CIS women's hockey championship being hosted by St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B. March 13-16. As host school, the St. Thomas Tommies will have the second AUS berth at the CIS championship.

All games of the AUS championship series will be webcast at www.AUStv.ca.