Toronto Furies Explained

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Team:Toronto Furies
Logosize:200px
City:Toronto, Ontario
League:Canadian Women's Hockey League
Founded:2011
Folded:2019
Arena:Mastercard Centre
Colours:Blue and white
Owner:CWHL
Gm:Sami Jo Small
Coach:Courtney Kessel
Captain:Natalie Spooner
Championships:1 (2013–14)
Name1:Toronto CWHL
Dates1:2010–2011
Name2:Toronto Furies
Dates2:2011–2019

The Toronto Furies were a professional women's ice hockey team that played in Toronto, Ontario, as members of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. The Toronto Furies played their home games at the Mastercard Centre in Toronto. The team was established in 2010 as an expansion team called Toronto CWHL during a league-wide restructuring. The team adopted the name "Furies" after the 2011 Clarkson Cup.

The club won the 2014 Clarkson Cup championship in 1–0 overtime victory over the Boston Blades.

In 2019, the CWHL ceased operations, as well as all teams that it directly owned including the Furies.[1]

History

Prior to the 2010–11 season, the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) underwent a structural reorganization. The CWHL considered the restructure a relaunch of the league.[2] Among the changes included the Mississauga Chiefs, Ottawa Senators and Vaughan Flames teams ceasing operations,[3] adding a new team in Toronto. The relaunch also branded the five teams after their respective locations, simply calling the new teams by their locations such as "Toronto CWHL". However, the CWHL teams that were playing in previous markets were commonly referred to as their former names, and the new Toronto team was sometimes called the Toronto Aeros after a former NWHL team that ceased operations in 2007[4] or Toronto HC.[5] The league held its first player draft on August 12, 2010, although it was only for the three Greater Toronto Area teams as the league decided that since they do not pay a salary, it would be unfair to force players to be based outside their hometown.[6] The new Toronto team protected former Mississauga Chiefs' Jennifer Botterill and Sami Jo Small and acquired many of the former Chiefs' players in the draft.[7]

The Toronto CWHL team finished the 2010–11 regular season in fourth place and qualified for the 2011 Clarkson Cup by defeating fellow CHWL expansion team and third place finisher, the Boston Blades two games to none in playoff. The team then defeated the Brampton Thunder 3–2 and the Minnesota Whitecaps 6–0 during the Clarkson Cup round-robin to advance to the championship game. Toronto then lost 5–0 to the Montreal Stars. The team adopted the Toronto Furies name after the season ended. The decision behind naming the franchise Furies was featured on an episode of History Television's program What's In a Name? aired on September 12, 2011.[8] Players voted on one of five names suggested by fans. The five names that fans suggested included: the Toronto Force, Toronto Tornadoes, Toronto Snipes, Toronto Furies and the Toronto Vamps.

Two Furies players became the fourth and fifth women to play 150 career games in 2013–14. On November 16, 2013, Kristy Zamora reached the milestone. On November 23, 2013, a 4–2 victory over Brampton provided Meagan Aarts with her 150th game.

During the 2013–14 CWHL season, there were a handful of milestones which the Furies reached. On February 9, 2014, a victory against the defending Clarkson Cup champion Boston Blades provided Furies goaltender Sami Jo Small with the 60th victory of her career. With the win, she became the first CWHL goaltender to reach the 60 wins plateau.[9] A March 8 game against the Brampton Thunder resulted in Meagan Aarts earning the 100 point in her CWHL career.[10]

The Furies defeated the Boston Blades by a 1–0 tally in overtime to claim their first Clarkson Cup title in 2014.[11] The tournament was played at Markham Centennial Centre. With the victory, Natalie Spooner became the first woman in hockey history to claim the gold medal in the Olympic Winter Games and the Clarkson Cup in the same year.

During the summer of 2016, Kori Cheverie retired from the Furies with three franchise records: points (82), games played (152) and power play goals (14). In addition, she holds the league record for most consecutive games played with 152.

On June 11, 2018, inaugural member Sami Jo Small was named general manager of the Furies.[12] Among her first moves was signing Courtney Birchard as their new head coach. In addition, Ken Dufton was named as an advisor to the team.[13] On the free agent market, Small signed goaltender Elaine Chuli[14] and forward Shiann Darkangelo to contracts in August 2018.

On March 31, 2019, the CWHL announced that the league was folding on May 1, 2019. The Furies' organization released a statement saying that it would continue to try and have a team despite the folding of the league.[15] The competing National Women's Hockey League then announced it was in negotiations for placing a team in Toronto but ultimately was not able to launch for the 2019–20 season.[16] The NWHL later awarded Toronto an expansion team for the 2020–21 season with the Toronto Six.

Season-by-season records

YearGPWLOTLSOLGFGAPtsFinishPlayoffs
26 8 13 0 5 83 98 21 4th Lost 2011 Clarkson Cup championship game, 0–5 vs. Montreal Stars
27 9 13 2 3 75 105 26 4th Eliminated in 2012 Clarkson Cup round-robin
24 10 13 1 0 60 72 21 4th Eliminated in 2013 Clarkson Cup round-robin
23 10 10 1 2 70 61 23 4th Won 2014 Clarkson Cup championship game, 1–0 (OT) vs. Boston Blades
24 8 13 1 2 51 88 19 4th Lost 2015 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 0–2 vs. Boston Blades
24 6 16 1 1 59 87 14 4th Lost 2016 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 0–2 vs. Les Canadiennes
24 9 11 3 1 52 58 22 4th Lost 2016 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 1–2 vs. Calgary Inferno
28 9 17 1 1 56 99 20 6th did not qualify
28 14 14 0 0 64 77 28 4th Lost 2019 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 1–2 vs. Calgary Inferno

Coaches

Scoring leaders

Year-by-year

Season Leader (F)GPGAPtsLeader (D)GPGAPtsPPGSHGGWG
2010–11[17] 25 14 30 44 29 8 21 29 Tessa Bonhomme (4) Three tied with 1 Tessa Bonhomme (3)
2011–12[18] Mallory Deluce20 12 9 21 Tessa Bonhomme24 4 12 16 Kori Cheverie (6) Three tied with 1 Mallory Deluce (4)
2012–13[19] 24 8 17 25 24 4 5 9 Six tied with 1 Natalie Spooner (3) Natalie Spooner (3)
2013–14[20] Carolyne Prevost23 11 12 23 Michelle Bonello22 2 10 12 Carolyne Prevost & Alyssa Baldin (4) Carolyne Prevost (1) Katie Wilson (3)
2014–15[21] Jenelle Kohanchuk21 7 10 17 22 3 7 10 Carolyne Prevost (4) None Carolyne Prevost (3)
2015–16[22] Natalie Spooner22 17 13 30 Michelle Bonello24 0 8 8 Natalie Spooner (5) Natalie Spooner (2) Kori Cheverie (2)
2016–17[23] Natalie Spooner20 13 7 20 Renata Fast22459Julie Allen &

Michela Cava (3)

Natalie Spooner (2)Natalie Spooner (4)
2017–18[24] Carolyne Prevost28101222Katie Gaskin21088Emily Fulton (5)Carolyne Prevost (2)Emily Fulton (3)

Draft picks

Draft year PlayerPickCollege
1st OverallOhio State Buckeyes
Jesse Scanzano[25] 5th OverallMercyhurst Lakers
2nd OverallCornell Big Red
Katie Wilson2nd OverallMinnesota Duluth Bulldogs
2nd Overall
2nd Overall
2nd OverallClarkson University
2017Kristyn Capizzano2nd Overall
20182nd OverallUniversity of Wisconsin

Awards and honours

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Final Public Communication . CWHL . 2 July 2019.
  2. Web site: Elite Women's Hockey Action Starts . https://web.archive.org/web/20101121085028/http://cwhl.ca/news.asp?id=12 . CWHL.ca . October 21, 2010 . November 21, 2010.
  3. NEWS - The "NEW" Canadian Women's Hockey League . https://web.archive.org/web/20180718055348/http://oswh.goalline.ca/news.php?news_id=272480&team_id=57056 . Ottawa Senators . June 7, 2010 . July 18, 2018 . August 9, 2010.
  4. Web site: Aeros History . September 28, 2018 . TorontoAeros.com.
  5. Web site: What it's all about... . https://web.archive.org/web/20111002072942/http://www.cwhl.ca/news.asp?id=70 . February 25, 2011 . October 2, 2011 . CWHL.com .
  6. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20101121083919/http://cwhl.ca/news.asp?id=1 . Women's Elite Hockey "First Ever" Draft . CWHL.ca . August 12, 2010 . November 21, 2010.
  7. Web site: Toronto 2010–11 draft . https://web.archive.org/web/20110405131717/http://boston.cwhl.ca/draft.asp?tid=11 . April 5, 2011.
  8. Web site: Canadian TV Guide - Your guide to Canadian TV News, TV Reviews, TV Listings and so much more. Canadian TV Guide. 30 October 2018.
  9. Web site: Canadian Women's Hockey League | Toronto's Sami Jo Small becomes first CWHL goaltender to reach 60 career wins | Pointstreak Sites . 2014-05-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140506014904/http://www.cwhl.ca/view/cwhl/news-644/news_133141 . 2014-05-06 . dead .
  10. Web site: Canadian Women's Hockey League | Toronto Furies sniper Meagan Aarts reaches milestone century mark against rival s Brampton Thunder | Pointstreak Sites . 2014-05-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140506011551/http://www.cwhl.ca/view/cwhl/news-644/news_144155 . 2014-05-06 . dead .
  11. Web site: Canadian Women's Hockey League | Britni Smith's overtime winner gives Toronto Furies first Clarkson Cup title | Pointstreak Sites . 2016-06-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140325011126/http://cwhl.ca/view/cwhl/news-644/news_145233 . 2014-03-25 . dead .
  12. News: Sami Jo Small named GM of CWHL's Toronto Furies. The Toronto Star. Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press. 11 June 2018 . 3 August 2018.
  13. Web site: Kessel New Head Coach, Dufton New Advisor. Toronto Furies. Press Release. 31 July 2018 . 3 August 2018.
  14. Web site: Toronto Adds Free Agent Goaltender Elaine Chuli. Toronto Furies. Press Release. 1 August 2018 . 3 August 2018.
  15. Web site: The Toronto Furies are proud of our ongoing contributions to advancing women's hockey on every level here in Toronto. Thank you to everyone who contributed to our successes and the growth we experienced over the years. Let's all #StickTogether as we look to move forward togetherpic.twitter.com/g6iWm5T8Bf. Furies. Toronto. 2019-03-31. @TorontoCWHL. en. 2019-04-01.
  16. Web site: "We'll Always Do What's Best for the Game" - A Message from the NWHL . OurSports Central . May 30, 2019.
  17. Web site: CWHL: Boston Blades | Pointstreak Stats . Cwhlboston_hockey.stats.pointstreak.com . 2017-07-06.
  18. Web site: CWHL: Boston Blades | Pointstreak Stats . Cwhlboston_hockey.stats.pointstreak.com . 2017-07-06.
  19. Web site: Canadian Women's Hockey League | Home Page . cwhl_site.stats.pointstreak.com . 17 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121026142425/http://cwhl_site.stats.pointstreak.com/teamplayerstats.html?teamid=277087&seasonid=9580 . 26 October 2012 . dead.
  20. Web site: Canadian Women's Hockey League | Home Page | Pointstreak Sites . cwhl_site.stats.pointstreak.com . 17 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141129031208/http://cwhl_site.stats.pointstreak.com/teamplayerstats.html?teamid=277087&seasonid=11441 . 29 November 2014 . dead.
  21. Web site: Toronto Furies. toronto.thecwhl.com. 2019-02-20.
  22. Web site: Toronto Furies. toronto.thecwhl.com. 2019-02-20.
  23. Web site: Toronto Furies. toronto.thecwhl.com. 2019-02-20.
  24. Web site: Toronto Furies. toronto.thecwhl.com. 2019-02-20.
  25. Web site: CWHL - Canada Women's Hockey: Leagues, Statistics, Awards, Schedules. https://web.archive.org/web/20110826205642/http://www.cwhl.ca/news.asp?id=76. 2011-08-26.
  26. Web site: Sudbury Lady Wolves and Red Deer Chiefs to meet for gold medal at 2015 Esso Cup; award winners announced : NR.052.15 . hockeycanadawest.ca . 2015-04-25 . 2016-06-22.
  27. Web site: Canadian Women's Hockey League | Home Page | Pointstreak Sites . cwhl_site.stats.pointstreak.com . 17 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140325010450/http://cwhl_site.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=2415210 . 25 March 2014 . dead.