Toronto Furies

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.

Toronto Furies
CityToronto, Ontario
LeagueCanadian Women's Hockey League
Founded2011
Folded2019
Home arenaMastercard Centre
ColoursBlue and white
   
Owner(s)CWHL
General managerSami Jo Small
Head coachCourtney Kessel
CaptainNatalie Spooner
Websitetoronto.thecwhl.com
Franchise history
2010–2011Toronto CWHL
2011–2019Toronto Furies
Championships
Playoff championships1 (2013–14)

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.

Sami Jo Small

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
Year GP W L OTL SOL GF GA Pts Finish Playoffs
2010–1126813058398214thLost 2011 Clarkson Cup championship game, 0–5 vs. Montreal Stars
2011–12279132375105264thEliminated in 2012 Clarkson Cup round-robin
2012–13241013106072214thEliminated in 2013 Clarkson Cup round-robin
2013–14231010127061234thWon 2014 Clarkson Cup championship game, 1–0 (OT) vs. Boston Blades
2014–1524813125188194thLost 2015 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 0–2 vs. Boston Blades
2015–1624616115987144thLost 2016 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 0–2 vs. Les Canadiennes
2016–1724911315258224thLost 2016 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 1–2 vs. Calgary Inferno
2017–1828917115699206thDid not qualify
2018–19281414006477284thLost 2019 Clarkson Cup semifinals, 1–2 vs. Calgary Inferno

Coaches

Scoring leaders

Year-by-year
SeasonLeader (F)GPGAPtsLeader (D)GPGAPtsPPGSHGGWG
2010–11[17]Jennifer Botterill25143044Britni Smith2982129Tessa Bonhomme (4)Three tied with 1Tessa Bonhomme (3)
2011–12[18]Mallory Deluce2012921Tessa Bonhomme2441216Kori Cheverie (6)Three tied with 1Mallory Deluce (4)
2012–13[19]Rebecca Johnston2481725Tessa Bonhomme24459Six tied with 1Natalie Spooner (3)Natalie Spooner (3)
2013–14[20]Carolyne Prevost23111223Michelle Bonello2221012Carolyne Prevost & Alyssa Baldin (4)Carolyne Prevost (1)Katie Wilson (3)
2014–15[21]Jenelle Kohanchuk2171017Megan Bozek223710Carolyne Prevost (4)NoneCarolyne Prevost (3)
2015–16[22]Natalie Spooner22171330Michelle Bonello24088Natalie Spooner (5)Natalie Spooner (2)Kori Cheverie (2)
2016–17[23]Natalie Spooner2013720Renata Fast 22 4 5 9Julie Allen &

Michela Cava (3)

 Natalie Spooner (2) Natalie Spooner (4)
2017–18[24] Carolyne Prevost 28 10 12 22 Katie Gaskin 21 0 8 8 Emily Fulton (5) Carolyne Prevost (2) Emily Fulton (3)

Draft picks
  • These are the first selections for every respective draft that Toronto participated in.
Draft yearPlayerPickCollege
2010Tessa Bonhomme1st OverallOhio State Buckeyes
2011Jesse Scanzano[25]5th OverallMercyhurst Lakers
2012Rebecca Johnston2nd OverallCornell Big Red
2013Katie Wilson2nd OverallMinnesota Duluth Bulldogs
2014Megan Bozek2nd OverallMinnesota Golden Gophers
2015Emily Fulton2nd OverallCornell Big Red
2016Renata Fast2nd OverallClarkson University
2017 Kristyn Capizzano 2nd Overall Boston College
2018 Sarah Nurse 2nd Overall University of Wisconsin

Awards and honours

See also

References
  1. "Final Public Communication" (PDF). CWHL. 2 July 2019.
  2. "Elite Women's Hockey Action Starts". CWHL.ca. October 21, 2010. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010.
  3. "NEWS - The "NEW" Canadian Women's Hockey League" (Press release). Ottawa Senators. June 7, 2010. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  4. "Aeros History". TorontoAeros.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  5. "What it's all about..." CWHL.com. February 25, 2011. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011.
  6. "Women's Elite Hockey "First Ever" Draft". CWHL.ca. August 12, 2010. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010.
  7. "Toronto 2010–11 draft". Archived from the original on April 5, 2011.
  8. "Canadian TV Guide - Your guide to Canadian TV News, TV Reviews, TV Listings and so much more". Canadian TV Guide. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-06. Retrieved 2014-05-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-06. Retrieved 2014-05-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2016-06-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press (11 June 2018). "Sami Jo Small named GM of CWHL's Toronto Furies". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  13. Press Release (31 July 2018). "Kessel New Head Coach, Dufton New Advisor". Toronto Furies. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  14. Press Release (1 August 2018). "Toronto Adds Free Agent Goaltender Elaine Chuli". Toronto Furies. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  15. Furies, Toronto (2019-03-31). "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". @TorontoCWHL. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  16. ""We'll Always Do What's Best for the Game" - A Message from the NWHL". OurSports Central. May 30, 2019.
  17. "CWHL: Boston Blades | Pointstreak Stats". Cwhlboston_hockey.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  18. "CWHL: Boston Blades | Pointstreak Stats". Cwhlboston_hockey.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  21. "Toronto Furies". toronto.thecwhl.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  22. "Toronto Furies". toronto.thecwhl.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  23. "Toronto Furies". toronto.thecwhl.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  24. "Toronto Furies". toronto.thecwhl.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  26. "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. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
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