The Montreal Axion were a National Women's Hockey League team (2003 to 2007) located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Axion represented Quebec at the 2005 Esso Women's Nationals. They were previously known as Bonaventure Wingstar (1998–99) and Montreal Wingstar (1999–2003). This team was succeeded as the women's professional hockey team of Montreal by the Montreal Stars in the Canadian Women's Hockey League, starting with the 2007–2008 season.

History

The team evolved in the National Women's Hockey League starting in the 1998–99 season. During the inaugural season, they were named the "Bonaventure Wingstar", then the following season, they became the "Montreal Wingstar". Five years after its creation, in 2003, the team was renamed the Montreal Axion.

Season-by-season

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points. ;1998–99 The team takes gains the first championship of its division. During the playoff rounds, the Wingstar manages to steal in the first tour by winning its 2 matches and to consider for championship finale. The team loses the finale match 2–5 against Brampton Thunder which is crowned champion. ;1999–2000 The second season is more difficult and the Wingstar escapes from a single point the first position to the Division classification. In playoffs, St-Julie's panthers eliminate Wingstar from the first round: :On Saturday, 4 March 2000: St-Julie Panthers 6–0 Montreal Wingstar :On Sunday, 5 March 2000: Montreal Wingstar 2–1 St-Julie Panthers :in Extra time): Montreal Wingstar 0–1 St-Julie Panthers ;2000–01 The big addition of the 2000–01 season is the arrival of the goaltender

Manon Rhéaume Manon Rhéaume (born February 24, 1972) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first woman to play in exhibition game in any of t ...

. Rhéaume performed indeed and help the team to finish at the top of the East Division. The team's attack is not outdone by the presence of Caroline Ouellette and

France St-Louis France Saint-Louis (born October 17, 1958) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and retired player. She was a member of the Canadian women's national ice hockey team for nearly a decade, winning gold medals at five IIHF Women's World Championships and ...

. Behind the bench,

Julie Healy ''Dream Team'' is a British sports drama television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky One from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Premier League football club, Harchester U ...

acts as coach. Healy sees furthermore in the supervision of Concordia Stingers. ;2004–05 Several new players come lent strong hand to the team, among others Gina Kingsbury, Angela Ruggiero, Jenny Lavigne and Annie Desrosiers.Hockey Canada
/ref> For Goaltender, Charline Labonté replaces

. The Axion ends in the 1ier Division rank and 3th in the league. Gina Kingsbury score 31 goals and has 29 assist. She finish the season of 30 matches with more than 60 points contributing to the Axion'successes. In the Playoff rounds, Montreal Axion goes to finale game but loses in barrage 5–4 against Toronto Aeros. Also Montreal Axion represents Quebec to the 2005 Esso National Championships. ;2005–06 Axion of Montreal wins the National Women's Hockey League Championship by a victory 1–0 against Brampton Thunder in front of 6 000 supporters at Brampton, Ontario. The victorious Goal is scorer by Lisa-Marie Breton and the Shutout goes to Charline Labonté. Axion beforehand finished in the second rank) of its division, behind

Ottawa Raiders The Ottawa Lady Senators is a women's ice hockey organization, based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The organization organizes teams in several age divisions, including Intermediate in the Provincial Women's Hockey League (PWHL). The women's senior- ...

. It is about the only championship taken gained by Montreal Axion in the history of the National Women's Hockey League. ;2006–07 Less fortunate, this season, Montreal Axion ends in the Division 5th rank of the regular season but recovers serial eliminating heats: at first by gaining the East Division Championship then by participating in Championship Finale of National Women's Hockey League. Brampton Thunder triumphs 4–0 against Montreal Axion. Bramton Thunder so takes gains the championship. In the grip of grave difficulty financiers, the National Women's Hockey League stops its activities a little time after

Season standings

NWHL Championships

* 1998–99 finalist and lost the final game again Brampton Thunder * 2004–05 finalist and lost the final game again Toronto Aeros * 2005–06 won the championship * 2006–07 finalist and lost the final game again Brampton

2006–07 roster

Notable players

Several former players of Montreal Axion become famous in the new Canadian Women's Hockey League, among others Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux, Caroline Ouellette, Kim St-Pierre,

Nathalie Déry Nathalie Déry (born June 8, 1976) is a Canadian ice hockey coach, retired player, and high school teacher. Déry is an assistant coach for Les Canadiennes de Montreal, the team she played for as a defender before retiring in 2012. Playing car ...

, Angela Ruggiero,

Dominique Thibault Dominique Thibault (born August 26, 1988) is an ice hockey player for the Montreal Stars and a former reality tv contestant. Playing career NCAA Thibault spent the first three years of her NCAA career with the Connecticut Huskies women's ice hoc ...

, Emmanuelle Blais, Charline Labonté,

Sabrina Harbec Sabrina Harbec (born March 20, 1985) is a hockey player and the third winner of the Angela James Bowl after leading the CWHL with 15 goals and 39 assists in 29 games. Her performance helped the Stars finish first overall in league standing ...

Jesse Scanzano Jesse Scanzano (born October 15, 1988) is a Canadian retired ice hockey forward. She was selected fifth overall in the 2011 CWHL Draft. Mercyhurst's Jesse Scanzano was a three-time All-College Hockey America selection (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 ...

Kelly Sudia Kelly Sudia (born 3 July 1980 in Pointe-Claire, Quebec) is a former professional ice hockey player from Canada. She played in five consecutive Canadian Women's Hockey League championships and won three Clarkson Cup championships. After reti ...

and Jenny Lavigne *

Therese Brisson Therese or Thérèse is a variant of the feminine given name Teresa. It may refer to: Persons Therese *Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1773–1839), member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a Duchess of Mecklenburg *Therese of Br ...

Defender * Charline Labonte Goalie * Caroline Ouellette Forward * Gina Kingsbury Forward * Angela Ruggiero (2005–2006) *

Forward (2005–06 and 2006–07) *

Forward (1998–99 and 1999–2000) * Kim St-Pierre Goalie (2006–2007)

Coaching staff

* ''General Manager:'' Sylvain Dutil * ''Head Coach:'' Yanick Evola, Julie Healy (for Montreal Wingstar, season 2000–01) * ''Assistant Coach:'' Alain Hénault * ''Assistant Coach:'' Patrick Larivière ReferenceL'équipe de direction
/ref>

References

External links

The official site of Montreal Axion

NWHL website

Meg Hewings, Women got game Not just another pretty face-off
in Hour.ca, 9 December 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal Axion National Women's Hockey League (1999–2007) teams

Axion An axion () is a hypothetical elementary particle postulated by the Peccei–Quinn theory in 1977 to resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). If axions exist and have low mass within a specific range, they are of interes ...

Women's ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey clubs established in 1998 1998 establishments in Quebec Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2007 2007 disestablishments in Quebec Women in Montreal