Emmanuelle Blais

Emmanuelle Blais
Born	(1987-11-07) November 7, 1987 LaSalle, QC, CAN
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Weight	128 lb (58 kg; 9 st 2 lb)
Position	Forward
Shoots	Right
CWHL team	Montreal Stars
National team	Canada
Playing career	2006–present

Emmanuelle Blais

Medal record
Representing  Canada
MLP Nations Cup
	2010 Germany	2010 Tournament
	2009 Germany	2009 Tournament

Emmanuelle Blais (born November 7, 1987 in LaSalle, Quebec), is a Canadian ice hockey player. She is a member of Montreal Stars in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL).

Member of the Canadian U22 team from 2006 to 2010 / Canadian Women's National Team / NCAA All-American (2010) / Clarkson Cup Champion (2010–11), nicknamed Manue or (Croquette in French) (because she's small), she started playing at the age of 5 and was on the first girls' team (Montreal Maroon Espoir) to play in the Espoir category. She completed a bachelor's degree with a major in communications and a minor in psychology at University of Minnesota Duluth.

Playing career

Emmanuelle Blais began her amateur hockey in the region of Montreal in Quebec. She started playing hockey at the age of 5, and was the first girl ever to play in the Espoir category (Montreal Maroon Espoir). She was selected for the national under-22 camp, and she played for the Canadian National U-22 Team (2006 to 2010). Also since 2010, she's been a member of the Montreal Stars (CWHL). In her first season in the CWHL, Blais finished as the 6th leading scorer,^[1] with 32 points (11 goals and 21 assists) in 29 games. During the Clarkson Cup Championship, she contributed 5 points in 4 games to the Stars' resounding victory.

NCAA

In the 2009-10 season, Blais led the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs with 65 points (32 goals and 33 assists) in 39 games, helping the team win the NCAA Division I championship title, a title she also earned in 2008. She left the program with 145 career points (73 goals and 72 assists). She ranks eighth in all-time scoring. In its April 29, 2010, Sports Illustrated listed Emmanuelle Blais as one of its "Faces In The Crowd". Part of the recognition is attributed to Blais earning the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player award on March 21.^[2]

Blais was also a 2009-10 RBK First Team All-American. Her 1.59 points per game was the fifth highest total in the country. Her 32 goals led the NCAA, and she had a career high of 65 points. On April 12, Blais was a co-winner of the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Outstanding Female Senior Athlete Award. The award was shared by four winners: the others being Jheri Booker (basketball), Clare Dahmen (soccer) and Kristin Danielson (softball).^[3] In summer 2010, she was invited with the team to meet President Obama at the White House.

Hockey Canada

Blais competed for Team Quebec at the 2005 Under-18 National hockey challenge. Some of her teammates on Team Quebec included future Olympic gold medalist Catherine Ward, future Clarkson Cup champion Stephanie Denino, future Canadian National Team member Jesse Scanzano, and future NCAA player Karell Emard.^[4]

She is a former member of the Canadian U-22 hockey team. In March 2011, she was invited to the Canadian national women's ice hockey team selection camp to determine the final roster for the 2011 IIHF Women's World Championships,^[5] from April 2 to 5 2011 at the Toronto MasterCard Centre ^[6][7] In the second game of the 2011 IIHF Eight Nations Tournament, Blais scored her first ever goal for the senior Canadian National Women's team as Canada defeated Russia by a 14-1 score.^[8]

CWHL

Blais was part of two Clarkson Cup champions in 2011 and 2012 with the Montreal Stars. As a rookie during the 2010-11 season, Blais tied Annie Guay for fourth overall in team scoring.^[9]

Blais would score a goal in her CWHL debut, an October 23, 2010 match against the Burlington Barracudas. Blais would score in the second period with Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux gaining the assist. Said goal was scored on Christina Kessler.^[10] Of note, her best performance of the season occurred on January 8, 2011 vs. Burlington. She would finish the game with two goals and three assists, registering at least one point in each period.^[11]

The first game-winning goal of her CWHL career took place on December 17, 2011 vs. Team Alberta as she scored the game’s first goal in an 8-0 final. Assists were credited to Catherine Ward and Breton-Lebreux as said goal was scored against Lundy Day. Fittingly, Blais would also score the last goal of the game.^[12]

On March 8, 2014, a game against the Boston Blades saw Blais log the 100th point in her CWHL career. Of note, she is the third Montreal Stars player to reach the milestone during the season. It marks the first time in CWHL history that three players from the same franchise reached the century mark in the same season.^[13] Blais was selected to participate in the 1st Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game. Held at Toronto's Air Canada Centre on December 13, 2014, Blais played for head coach Digit Murphy on Team Red.

On December 31, 2015, Blais and the Canadiennes participated in an outdoor women’s ice hockey game against the NWHL’s Boston Pride. Known as the 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic it was the first-ever professional women’s ice hockey outdoor game.^[14]

Career stats

NCAA

CWHL

^[15]

Hockey Canada

• January 4, 2010: In a pre-tournament game for the 2010 MLP Cup, Blais had two assists for Canada as Canada bested Germany by a 5-1 mark. Despite icing only eight forwards and moving one defender from the blue line, Canada outshot the Germans 57-10.^[16]

^[17]

Awards and honors

• 2010 Top-10 Patty Kazamier Award Finalist
• 2010 All-WCHA First Team
• 2010 Women's RBK Hockey Division I All-America First Team
• 2010 WCHA Final Face-off tournament MVP.
• 2010 WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Week of October 26)
• 2010 Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player
• 2010 Frozen Four Tournament Team

Personal life

• Blais has a nickname: Croquette (because she's small). She completed a bachelor's degree with a major in communications and a minor in psychology at University of Minnesota Duluth.
• On September 13, 2010, Blais and her Bulldogs teammates were part of a group of NCAA sporting champions that visited the White House in Washington, D.C. and listened to United States president Barack Obama congratulate them on their victory.^[18]

- In 2015 she competed in the Reebok crossFit games with her team CrossFit Plateau.

References