Marie-Philip Poulin, Emerance Maschmeyer lead Les Canadiennes CWHL award nominees

The last time that Marie-Philip Poulin and Emerance Maschmeyer went to head-to-head was also at a Clarkson Cup weekend, in 2017 when Les Canadiennes defeated the Calgary Inferno. The two will face off again on Friday for the Jayna Hefford Trophy for MVP as voted-on by the players.

Poulin and Maschmeyer were both nominated twice, Poulin for Most Valuable Player (as voted by the CWHL coaches and GMs) and Maschmeyer for Goaltender of the Year.

Calgary’s Brianne Jenner is the third nominee for the Jayna Hefford Trophy.

Montreal’s Erin Ambrose was a nominee for Defender of the Year. Les Canadiennes were second among CWHL teams with five nominees. The Calgary Inferno led the way with six nominations.

Poulin will also win the Angela James Bowl as the league’s leading scorer. She had 26 goals and 27 assists in 26 games and became the fourth Canadiennes player to reach 50 points. It is the third time she has won the award, also winning in 2016 and 2017. She won MVP those years as well. She didn’t play in 2018 because of the PyeongChang Olympics.

Maschmeyer led all goaltenders in starts, wins, goals against average, and save percentage. She had a 15-4-1 record with a 1.45 GAA and a .935 save percentage. She had four regular season shutouts and two more in the playoffs. She is the first goaltender to be nominated for the Jayna Hefford Trophy. It is her second nomination for Goaltender of the Year.

Ambrose led all CWHL defenders with six goals and 18 assists in 26 games in what was her best season to date. It is her first CWHL nomination.

The elephant in the room, however, is that Ambrose and Poulin missed the majority of their semi-final series against the Markham Thunder and their status for the Clarkson Cup on Sunday is still uncertain.

Full Award nominees can be found here. Tickets for the Awards Show and Clarkson Cup in Toronto can be bought here.