Charline Labonté (born October 15, 1982) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player. Labonté played professionally for the Montreal Stars/Les Canadiennes de Montreal of the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the leag ...

. She was a member of the

Canada women's national ice hockey team The Canadian women's national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada in women's hockey. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and participates in international competitions ...

that won three gold medals at the Olympics and two gold medals in the World Championships. She is an alumna of the

McGill Martlets The McGill Redbirds (formerly the McGill Redmen) and McGill Martlets are the varsity athletic teams that represent McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Team name According to Suzanne Morton, a professor of history at McGill, the name ...

hockey program. Labonté now lives in Montreal, and graduated from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

with a degree in Physical Education. Labonté was named to the 2014 Olympic roster for Canada. She would be the winning goaltender for Les Canadiennes de Montreal in the final of the 2017 Clarkson Cup. In September 2017, she retired from Les Canadiennes and the Canadian national hockey team, as the goalie ranking second most all-time in games won (45), shutouts (16), and games played for Canada, with three Olympic gold medals, 2 world championship wins and 6 world silver medals.

Playing career

Hockey Canada

Labonté was one of two goaltenders playing for the Canadian women's hockey team in the 2006 Turin olympics. At the Torino Games, Labonte and Kim St. Pierre allowed a combined two goals in five games played. Labonte logged 180 minutes of ice time and led all goaltenders with a goals against average of 0.33 and a save percentage of .976, respectively. In 2010, she served as the third goaltender for the gold medal winning Canadian women's team. Prior to this she played for the Montreal Axion and Laval Le Mistral, Teams of the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and h ...

. She was awarded Top Goaltender honours at the 2009 world championships.

QMJHL

She was one of the few women to play

Major Junior Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

hockey, appearing in 28 games with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

between 1999 and 2000. Her play for the QMJHL club was featured on a hockey card issued by Upper Deck in their 1999–2000 UD Prospects set (card #54). She competed for Team Quebec at the 1999 Canada Winter Games. She was a member of the Montreal Axion in 2004–05, and one of her teammates was fellow Olympian

Gina Kingsbury Gina Kingsbury (born November 26, 1981) is a Canadian former women's professional ice hockey player. She graduated from St. Lawrence University with a degree in psychology, and ranks second all-time in scoring among St. Lawrence Skating Saints ...

McGill Martlets

With McGill, she competed in five CIS National tournaments. On December 31, 2010, Labonte required only 13 saves to post her 59th career shutout with McGill as the

Martlets A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expre ...

defeated the nationally ranked fifth overall Alberta Pandas by a 3–0 mark in the final game of the Bisons Holiday Classic tournament at Max Bell Arena. In the game, the Martlets held a 31–13 edge in shots.

Gillian Ferrari Gillian Ferrari (born June 23, 1980 in Thornhill, Ontario) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player. She was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Her mother is from Wales and her father was born in Italy. Playing career As ...

was credited with the game-winner on the power-play at 5:49 of the first period. Jasmine Sheehan, a fifth-year defender scored the second goal of the game. Logan Murray, a freshman from Calgary, scored the last goal of the contest. In an October 29, 2011 contest against the

Montreal Carabins The Montréal Carabins are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Teams play at the CEPSUM Stadium and at l'aréna du CEPSUM, located at the Université de Montréal campus. ...

, Ariane Barker scored on Labonte with 71 seconds left in a 3–2 win versus McGill. Labonte took the loss for the Martlets, giving her a 69–2 overall record in her CIS career. It marked the Martlets first loss to a Quebec conference opponent for the first time in 108 games.

Inline hockey

Also a member of the

Canada women's national inline hockey team Canada women's national inline hockey team is the national team for Canada, which participates at the FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships, an event by the Comité International de Roller In-Line Hockey (CIRILH), an organization and disciplin ...

, winning a gold medal at the 2004

FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships The Inline Hockey World Championship is an annual inline hockey tournament organized by World Skate. Prior to the creation of World Skate in September 2017, the championship was administrated by the Comité International Roller In-Line Hockey ( ...

, some of her teammates on the roster included fellow Hockey Canada alumnae

Meghan Agosta Meghan Christina Agosta (born February 12, 1987) is a Canadian women's ice hockey forward, who last played for the Montreal Stars of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Agosta plays for the Canada women's national ice hockey team and is a gold ...

, Amanda Benoit-Wark,

Isabelle Chartrand Isabelle Chartrand (born April 20, 1978) is a Canadian retired ice hockey defenceman. As a member of the Canadian national ice hockey team, she won Olympic gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics and a gold medal at the 2001 IIHF Women's World Champion ...

Cherie Piper Cherie Piper (born June 29, 1981) is a Canadian former ice hockey player residing in Markham, Ontario. She was a member of the Canadian national women's hockey team and played for the Brampton Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWH ...

and Amy Turek.

Awards and honours

*Top Goaltender, 2006 Esso Women's National Hockey Championship Pool A: Charline Labonte *Top Goaltender, 2009 world championships *2011-12 RSEQ FIRST ALL-STAR TEAM: Charline Labonté *2015 CWHL Goaltender of the Year Award

Career stats

CWHL

Personal life

In June 2014, Labonte publicly came out as a lesbian. Attended the Cami Granato invitational in 2023.

References

External links

* * * * *
Player profile on hockey Canada

Charline Labonté: McGill's golden goalie
in McGill reporter, February 21, 2008.
Charline Labonté, le dernier rempart
in Cyberpresse, March 10, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Labonte, Charline 1982 births Living people Acadie–Bathurst Titan players Canadian women's ice hockey goaltenders Canadian women's national inline hockey team players Clarkson Cup champions Ice hockey people from Quebec Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Lesbian sportswomen LGBT ice hockey players Canadian LGBT sportspeople McGill Martlets ice hockey players Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Montreal Axion players Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey Sportspeople from Longueuil Les Canadiennes de Montreal players 21st-century Canadian LGBT people