Bishop's Gaiters Women's Ice Hockey

The Bishop's Gaiters women's ice hockey program represents Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec in the sport of ice hockey in the RSEQ conference of U Sports women's ice hockey. When the Gaiters joined the RSEQ, they became the first-Quebec based program not from the city of Montreal to compete in the conference. The Gaiters have won one national championship, winning in their first tournament appearance in 2025.

History

Women’s hockey at Bishop’s dates back to 1915. In 1975 and 1976, Bishops hosted the Women's Invitational Hockey Tournament. The 1975 participants also included the Loyola Tommies, University of Toronto and Dawson College. The Loyola Tommies captured the championship, defeating Toronto in the final. The participants for the 1976 Tournament included John Abbott College, University of New Brunswick Red Blazers and Dawson College. John Abbott captured the championship, while Bishop's defeated Dawson College in double overtime for third place.

Recent history has seen the Gaiters undergo significant movement. Members of the Independent Women’s Club Hockey League (IWCHL) in 2016–17, the program would spend the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons competing in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). Following their sojourn in the ACHA, the Gaiters played an independent schedule in 2019–20. In January 2020, it was announced that the Gaiters were poised to join the RSEQ for the 2020–21 season, benefitting from a lead gift from the Molson Family Foundation, including support from Molson Coors and the Bishop's University Foundation and other donors. The Gaiters home arena was renamed the Jane and Eric Molson Arena. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020–21 season was cancelled.

Gaiters assistant coaches Val Bois and Katia Clement-Heydra formed the Women's Hockey Institute in December 2020, a partnership with Bishop's University and Fonction Optimum, based at the Jane & Eric Molson Arena.

The Gaiters joined the RSEQ conference for the 2021–22 season, becoming the 37th U Sports-level women's hockey university team in Canada. Their first game as an official member of the RSEQ conference took place on 22 October 2021, against the Montreal Carabins women's ice hockey program.

After winning the conference championship for the first time in the 2024-25 season, the Gaiters qualified for their first national tournament as the third-seeded team in the 2025 U Sports Women's Ice Hockey Championship. The Gaiters won three straight games, including the gold medal game against the host Waterloo Warriors, to earn their first U Sports women's ice hockey championship in just their fourth season of play.

Exhibition

, -
!colspan=12 style="background:#582C83;color:#D6D5D5;", Exhibition
, -

National championships

U Sports Tournament results

Awards and honours

Team awards

''Rookie of the Year''
*2017–18: Kayla LeTouzel
*2018–19: Miranda Snable
*2019–20: Lory Lacombe

''Charles Chapman Award''
*2017–18: Christine Gauthier
*2018–19: Arianne Charette
*2019–20: Pascale Desmarais

''Most Improved Player''
*2017–18: Jessica Briere
*2018–19: Meghan McGovern
*2019–20: Lory Lacombe

''Most Valuable Player''
*2017–18: Kayla LeTouzel
*2018–19: Jess Belanger
*2019–20: Jess Belanger

University Awards

*Hayley Robitaille – Provigo/Robert Lafond Bishop's Athletes of the Week (awarded week ending 19 November 2018)
*Danielle Armand – Provigo/Robert Lafond Bishop's Athletes of the Week (awarded week ending 27 October 2019)

References

{{Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's ice hockey championship

Bishop's Gaiters
U Sports women's ice hockey teams
Women's ice hockey teams in Quebec
Ice hockey teams in Sherbrooke
Ice hockey clubs established in 1915
1915 establishments in Quebec