You’re invited to lace up your skates and hit the ice with the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) champion Markham Thunder. The skate with the Clarkson Cup winners takes place from 5-6:30 p.m. on April 21 at Thornhill Community Centre, the squad’s home arena, at 7755 Bayview Avenue.
There will also be a meet and greet and autograph-signing session open to all members of the public.
The Markham Thunder made history on March 25 when the team defeated the Kunlun Red Star 2-1 in overtime during the final game of the tournament. The win clinched their first Clarkson Cup in franchise history. The Thunder franchise moved to Markham from Brampton this past off-season, where they made appearances in the championship final, in 2010 and 2012.
In a historic five-year deal, the Red Star joined the league for the 2017-18 season, bringing professional women’s hockey to China in advance of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
Markham earned its place in the championship game after a semi-final upset, as the fourth and final seed in the playoffs defeated the defending champion Les Canadiennes de Montreal in two straight games during their best-of-three playoff series. The Red Star, meanwhile, outlasted the Calgary Inferno in a three-game series that ended in a triple-overtime contest.