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The CWHL Clarkson Cup Final is Sunday and you should totally watch it

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Sunday afternoon the Caps are taking on the Flyers at 12:30 pm. That game will surely have massive playoff implications, as the Caps are clinging to first in the Metro and the Flyers are five points out of the final wildcard spot.

But there’s another game with even bigger implications Sunday at noon. The Canadian Women’s Hockey League Clarkson Cup Final between Les Canadiennes and the Calgary Inferno is going down.

You should watch it. Here’s why and how you can do so.

  • The game starts at noon and will be streamed on SportsNet and TVA Sports, where it will be broadcast in both English and French. For those of us in the States, NHL Network will carry the broadcast.

  • This game is a rematch of the 2016 AND 2017 final. Calgary won in 2016 and Montreal won in 2017, so whoever gets the win Sunday gets the leg up in the all-time championship matchup. This season, Calgary’s taken four of the six matchups.
  • This game boasts 17 Olympians between the two teams. That is not a typo.
  • For on ice performance, let’s start with the Inferno. They’re the no. 1 seed after going 24-3 on the year, winning the Chairman’s Trophy for best regular season record.

    Alex Rigsby, as a rookie, posted 14 wins, a .916 save percentage, and won the CWHL’s award for best goalie.

    Kacey Bellamy led all Inferno defenders in points and was on the ice for only 10 even strength goals against. Captain Rebecca Johnston had 39 points and was third in the league. They also have Brianna Decker, who most fans probably remember for demonstrating the All-Star passing competition and beating winner Leon Draisaitl’s time.

    After outrage that the NHL wouldn’t pay her the $25k for technically winning, CCM stepped up to #PayDecker.

    • But for the Inferno, Decker has provided depth scoring, tied for third on the team in points with 27. And as the skills competition showed, Decker’s got some silky mitts.

  • Les Canadiennes are stacked too. They’re the second best team in the league with a 21-6 record, and boast the two highest scoring players in the league with captain Marie-Philip Poulin and Ann-Sophie Bettez. Poulin took home tons of hardware, including league MVP, the Jayna Hefford Award as best player voted by her peers and the Angela James Bowl for most points with 50. But it’s unclear if she’ll play due to a lower-body injury, and she sat out the semifinal round because of it.

    Bettez’s performance in the CWHL helped her finally crack Canada’s National Team roster, first in the rivalry series, and now for the IIHF World Championships in Finland. Goalie Emerance Maschmeyer led the league in wins (15), and had the best GAA (1.45) and save percentage (0.935).

    Erin Ambrose led Les Canadiennes defensively, and ain’t a slouch on offense either with 24 points, the best for all CWHL defenders. She took home defender of the year for this season’s performance.

    Jill Saulnier and Melodie Daoust have also provided depth scoring, notching 29 and 20 points respectively. This is all before noting that Hilary Knight transferred from the NWHL to Les Canadiennes last season for their playoff run, then stayed this year. Knight ranks seventh on the team in points, but has been known for clutch goals on the international stage, like this one in the 2017 IIHF World Championships to give USA gold over Canada.

  • Now for some off-ice info. First of all, most of the players have absolutely adorable puppers and cats, and the Ice Garden has their own bracket for March. Knight’s dogs Winnie and Bane are the first overall seed and I mean. How could they not be?

    View this post on Instagram

    On the clock.

    A post shared by Winston (@winnietheton) on

    Although Zoe Hickel’s Nai Cha is also a very very cute pupper.

    Over Christmas, Poulin and Knight visited the Montreal’s Children’s Hospital and teamed up with Bauer to give out gifts. They were challenged to do so by Freddie Andersen and Auston Matthews, and then challenged Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to do the same.

    After the NHL All-Star game where they demonstrated aspects of the competition, Brianna Decker and Rebecca Johnston were signed to endorsement deals with Adidas.

    Kacey Bellamy is a published author. After the 2018 Olympics, she published a book of poems about success and failure off the ice. It’s available on Amazon.

This game comes a week after the NWHL’s Isobel Cup Final between the Minnesota Whitecaps and Buffalo Beauts. The game went to overtime and the expansion Whitecaps took home the trophy.

Are you in?

Headline photo: @theCWHL

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