Rivalry Series Preview: Canada vs. United States

This week, Élizabeth Giguère’s dream will come true.

For the very first time, the Quebec City product will play with Canada’s
National Women’s Team when it faces the United States within the first three
video games of the Rivalry Series.

Giguère, 25, has needed to wait a couple of years earlier than getting her first
alternative.

“Maybe I wasn’t ready at first, about five years ago,” she says. “I at all times
instructed myself that if I stored bettering and dealing on myself, I may consider
in my dream. I wasn’t going to surrender. Even although I’m 25, I’m nonetheless in
my greatest years. I’m glad to have my likelihood.”

Her cousins received her hooked on hockey, however Giguère needed to work arduous to
persuade her mother and father it was an actual ardour.

“I really wanted to try [minor hockey]; it looked fun,” she says. “I
began saving cash, and my mom requested me why. I instructed her it was to play
hockey. I began taking part in hockey the following yr and I appreciated it straight away,
although I wasn’t actually good at it.”

Giguère performed her first few seasons with boys’ groups earlier than becoming a member of the
ladies on the U15 and U18 ranges with the Citadelles de Québec.

After three seasons with Cégep de Limoilou, throughout which she helped the
Titans to a league championship, gained MVP and rookie of the yr honours and
led the crew in scoring twice, she needed to determine which college to attend
within the United States to proceed her educational and athletic pursuits.

Clarkson University rapidly grew to become the popular choice for the whole
household.

“It was difficult at first because I didn’t want to leave Quebec,” says
Giguère, who has beforehand represented Canada on the 2015 IIHF U18 Women’s
World Championship and 2017 Nations Cup. “I couldn’t converse English. I
did not need to go removed from dwelling. My mother and father inspired me to go there to
be taught English. Since it was solely a five-hour drive, I went to go to
Clarkson, and I actually appreciated it. It’s a small faculty, and the employees
reassured me that they’d assist me. Hockey can be extremely popular there.”

In the 2017-18 season, her freshman yr, Clarkson made it to the
championship recreation on the NCAA Frozen Four. Giguère was the hero, scoring
the successful aim in additional time.

That was simply the beginning. Giguère grew to become the most effective gamers within the
faculty recreation; she was twice named a First Team All-American, was ECAC
Rookie the Year and ECAC Player, led the Golden Knights in scoring in three
consecutive seasons, led the NCAA in scoring and, in 2019-20, obtained the
Patty Kazmaier Award as the very best participant in NCAA girls’s hockey.

After 4 seasons at Clarkson, together with her final as crew captain, Giguère
sat atop the college’s all-time scoring listing with 233 factors in 137 video games
(99 targets and 134 assists).

Eligibility guidelines launched by the NCAA throughout the COVID-19 pandemic meant
Giguère was capable of play a fifth season and she or he made the transfer to the
University of Minnesota Duluth, incomes Second Team All-American honours
and serving to the Bulldogs attain the Frozen Four remaining.

The additional yr pushed her profession whole to 295 factors, which ranks sixth in
NCAA girls’s hockey historical past.

“My best memory is probably winning the Frozen Four,” Giguère says. “That’s
fairly arduous to beat. The previous few years I used to be captain had been fairly powerful for
everybody as a result of we had been in the midst of a pandemic, however I would not change
something. I may even keep in mind my yr at UMD for the remainder of my life. It
was the most effective years. We made it to the nationwide championship remaining,
and it could have been nice to win one other title.”

Those years spent south of the border have additionally formed the particular person Giguère
has turn into.

Whether it’s as a hockey participant or just as an individual, she doesn’t remorse
her resolution to go.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, I used to be at one once I began [at Clarkson] and now
I’m at 10,” says Giguère, who’s starting her professional profession this season with
the Boston Pride of the Premier Hockey Federation. “It’s wonderful. I did not
converse any phrase of English, I used to be shy and really reserved. I’ve actually grown
as an individual. I’m extra mature, and now bilingual. As a hockey participant, I
realized loads from my coaches at Clarkson. Then I received to expertise a
completely different perspective with Minnesota Duluth, which allowed me to be taught
extra.”

Get to know Pride ahead Élizabeth Giguère (@Eligiguere11) after her electrical begin to her PHF profession! pic.twitter.com/k65e6dommU

— Boston Pride (@TheBostonPride) November 11, 2022

Alongside her expertise inBoston, the following chapter in Giguère’s profession
will likely be written in Western Canada.

While this will likely be her first look with Canada’s National Women’s
Team, head coach Troy Ryan has been following her efficiency for some
time.

“I keep in mind she was in Halifax at one in every of our pre-worlds camps [in 2019]. We
thought this August on the summer time camp that we had, we thought she appeared
actually good; we thought that she appeared assured and composed. That simply
received us much more curious. We’ve at all times been curious, we’ve at all times scouted
her, we’ve at all times watched her however her efficiency at this August camp, we
actually appreciated what we noticed.”

And what may very well be higher than going through the United States in her Team Canada
debut?

“The advantage of the Rivalry Series is that proper after worlds, you
have a possibility to repopulate the inspiration of your program, so we
thought it could be a terrific alternative for her to have a number of video games
in opposition to the United States,” Ryan says. “She’s clearly a really expert
hockey participant that likes to create offence. We’ll attempt to throw as a lot
data at her as we are able to proper now however let her instincts take over in
the play.”

After just a few days spent with the crew, Giguère is already nicely conscious of
the significance of those three video games, each collectively and individually.

“It’s essential to beat the Americans,” she says. “In my case, it’s going to
be my first official recreation in opposition to the United States. You can see on TV how
intense it could possibly get, [and] I can not wait to expertise that. I’ll should
watch loads to be taught the sport methods, how the crew works, and all that.
I’m not confused about it, I like studying. I’ve already realized a whole lot of
stuff after only a few practices. I’m simply going to play hockey and hope
every thing goes nicely.”