Salutations are in order this morning to the Toronto Six, who last night claimed the Isobel Cup as champions of the Premier Hockey Federation by beating the Minnesota Whitecaps 4-3 in overtime in Tempe, Arizona.
Toronto’s Czech forward Tereza Vanišová scored the winning goal early in a fast-flying extra period, beating Minnesota goaltender Amanda Leveille to secure the Cup for Geraldine Heaney’s team. It’s Toronto’s first championship and the first in the competition’s eight years of existence to go to a Canadian team.
Vanišová was named player of the game, while her teammate, centre Michela Cava, was the pick as playoff MVP.
The trophy the Six received and happily brandished is properly, of course, the Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy Cup, named in honour of the women’s hockey pioneer who, as Lord Stanley of Preston’s second-youngest child, growing up in the icy realm of Ottawa’s Rideau Hall as daughter of the governor-general, embraced Canada’s winter game in the late 19th century.
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