Tag: Julie Chu

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Having a sister on your side

Audrey-Anne Allard
Marie-Joëlle Allard was voted captain by her teammates this season after Tracy-Ann Lavigne graduated. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

Marie-Joëlle and Audrey-Anne Allard push each other to be better everyday

There’s a saying in hockey that your teammates become your family. But for two players on the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team, that’s already the case.

Sisters Marie-Joëlle and Audrey-Anne Allard have been playing hockey together since CEGEP, when they played for the Titans du Cégep Limoilou in Quebec City.

“We’ve been playing with each other for a while, so it’s not that different at the university level,” Marie-Joëlle said. “But it’s nice to have someone you’re close with.”

“It’s fun to have someone on the team that you can have confidence in,” Audrey-Anne added.

Both Marie-Joëlle, a fifth-year player, and Audrey-Anne, a third-year, play defence. Even though Marie-Joëlle plays on the right side and Audrey-Anne on the left, they don’t play on the same pairing.

“We don’t have the same style of play,” Audrey-Anne said. “She’s more offensive, and I’m more defensive.”

The Allard sisters are from Victoriaville, where their parents and younger brother still live. Nonetheless, their parents and grandparents come to Concordia to watch their games. Marie-Joëlle said having both sisters on the team keeps their family on edge during games.

Audrey-Anne (pictured) and Marie-Joelle both play defence but don’t play on the same pairing for the Concordia Stingers. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

“My mom says, ‘I always have one girl on the ice, so I’m always stressed,’” Audrey-Anne added with a laugh.

The sisters have been living in an apartment together ever since Audrey-Anne came to Concordia in 2015. Marie-Joëlle is 25 and Audrey-Anne is 23, but they’re only 15 months apart.

“We are sisters, but we are also two good friends,” Audrey-Anne said. Even though they live together in Montreal during the school year and in Victoriaville during the summer, Audrey-Anne said it isn’t a challenge to be with each other all the time. “It’s just easier. We are always pushing each other [to be better],” she said.

Marie-Joëlle added: “For sure sometimes we have our little moments where we need to be alone, but we get along pretty good.”

Head coach Julie Chu said Marie-Joëlle and Audrey-Anne are great teammates, and she sees how the sisters encourage each other on the ice.

“It’s great when you have two sisters that are able to play hockey at the elite level,” Chu said. “It’s a really special thing. It’s a testament to how hard they work, and how hard they push each other to be better.”

The Allard sisters are helping turn the Stingers into a winning team on the ice. When Marie-Joëlle first joined the Stingers for the 2013-14 season, they went 5-15-0. By the time Audrey-Anne started playing for the team, the Stingers were winning more often, and even went to the national championship last year.

Even though the team finished with a 10-9-1 record last season, they upset the second-place Université de Montréal Carabins in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) semi-final. They won the best-of-three series with 6-2 and 3-2 wins, with both Marie-Joëlle and Audrey-Anne picking up an assist in game one. The sisters agreed that winning the playoff series, which was the first time the Stingers won a playoff series since 2005, was the best moment they shared together at Concordia.

“The energy [on the team] was so high,” Marie-Joëlle said.

“When we won, we were just excited and we wanted to just give [each other] a big hug,” Audrey-Anne added. “We were proud of each other.”

The Allard sisters want to continue that winning pedigree with the Stingers this season. Audrey-Anne said she thinks they can win the national championship this season, but Marie-Joëlle said the team needs to have a one-game-at-a-time mentality in order to win. But she added that it’s great to see how much the team has improved since she started.

“It’s amazing to see the girls getting better every single week,” Marie-Joëlle said. “It’s something I’m proud of, because I was there at the beginning when the girls weren’t really great. So it’s been a big change, but an impressive one. On and off the ice has been amazing, and I just want to keep building on that.”

Audrey-Anne gets exhilarated just by watching her teammates play. “When I’m on the bench, I get so excited to see my teammates doing plays that last year they couldn’t do,” she said.

Marie-Joëlle was voted team captain by her teammates this season after Tracy-Ann Lavigne graduated last season.

“Anyone has the ability to be a leader, but MJ has shown in her five years how she’s been able to be an impact player on our team, and her teammates honoured her in that way,” coach Chu said.

Marie-Joëlle said being named captain doesn’t change the way she interacts with her teammates or how she plays on the ice.

“To have a letter on your jersey or not, it means the same thing—you’re part of the team,” she said. “Just having the C this year means I have to be a good example for my teammates. It’s good to have a little recognition from your teammates, but it doesn’t change anything.”

Audrey-Anne said she is proud of her big sister. “It just proves that she sets a good example and has good leadership for us.”

Photos by Brianna Thicke

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Only hard work will take Stingers back to nationals

Head coach Julie Chu expects players to give their best effort all season

A season after playing at the national championships, the head coach of the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team, Julie Chu, knows only one thing can get them back there.

“We know the only reason we got [to nationals] was from hard work,” Chu said. “Nothing changes this year in our preparation. We’re going to expect our players to come in and give effort to be the best everyday.”

Last year, the Stingers finished in third place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) with a 10-9-1 record during the regular season. They upset second-place Université de Montréal Carabins in the semi-final, which qualified them for the national championship. In the RSEQ final, the Stingers lost to the first-place McGill Martlets.

At nationals in March, the Stingers made it all the way to the bronze-medal game where they lost to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, with a score of 2-0. The Stingers finished the season as the fourth-best team in U Sports.

On Oct. 11, U Sports listed the Stingers fourth in their pre-season rankings. But for Chu, until Concordia steps onto the ice, they haven’t proven anything.

The Concordia Stingers celebrate a playoff series win against the UdeM Carabins during the 2016-17 season. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.

“It’s always nice to be ranked and be considered a top team, but we haven’t played a regular season game yet, so for me in all honesty, it doesn’t mean a lot,” Chu said.

The Stingers have been preparing for the start of their regular season since training camp began in August. The Stingers started their pre-season in September, with three wins in three home games against the Brock Badgers, the York Lions and the Queen’s Gaels.

“It’s always great to contribute offensively, but what was fun for [those three games] was that there were a lot of different people who contributed,” Chu said. “It wasn’t two or three people who were scoring the majority of the goals. It was spread out amongst the players.”

Rookie forward Vyckie Gélinas was one of the players who scored, with a goal against Queen’s. Chu said Gélinas is part of a group of first-year players on the team ready to contribute goals and offensive production. First-year forward Lidia Fillion also picked up an assist in that game, and she is a player Chu expects will make an impact both offensively and defensively with the Stingers this season.

“Fillion is doing a good job of shifting into playing at [the university] level, and she’ll continue to adjust to the speed of the game,” Chu said. “But she’s a tremendously smart player, so she knows how to play with and without the puck.”

Regardless of who the captain and assistant captains are, Chu said she wants all her players to be leaders. She also doesn’t want leadership to be limited to her forwards and defencemen.

“Even though Katherine Purchase is a goaltender for us, she has a big voice on our team. She has a great presence and will be a tremendous leader as well,” Chu said.

The coach added that the team’s ultimate goal this season is to win a national championship. But Chu said players have to focus on the small things first, like being great student-athletes and working hard for the team.

“We have to be willing to work hard everyday, set the tone and execute when it counts the most.”

The Stingers opened their season away against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Oct. 15 with a 3-1 loss. Their next game is Oct. 21 at home against the McGill Martlets.

Main photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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The fight for equal pay

The U.S. women’s hockey team has been treated unfairly by USA hockey. Photo courtesy of the CWHL.

Stingers women’s hockey coach Julie Chu comments on the new salary agreement

The United States women’s national hockey team struck a four-year compensation agreement with USA Hockey last week, according to TSN. After reportedly receiving as little as $6,000 for a six-month Olympic period, and nothing during non-Olympic years, the women’s national team will now earn up to $71,000 per player per non-Olympic year, according to TSN. This figure could reach six digits if they win a gold medal at the Olympics.

The team had been in a contract dispute for over 15 months. They announced two weeks ago that they would boycott the World Championship, held in Plymouth, Mi, if they did not come to a salary agreement.

Three days before USA was set to face off against Canada on March 31, the women’s national hockey team and USA Hockey finally came to an agreement.

The head coach of the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team, Julie Chu, who played over 150 games for the U.S. national team before stepping away from the international game following the 2014 Olympics, couldn’t be happier.

“When they eventually signed, because it was a long process, I was relieved that it was done,” Chu said. “I’m proud of them, and it’s about time that they put this push on to create change.”

This deal is historic for women’s hockey, and for women’s sports in general. Chu said female athletes will no longer have to settle with what they get. Instead, they will be able to fight for what they deserve.

“[This shows] how powerful their voices can be, how girls could stand up for what they believe in,” Chu said.

International women’s hockey is relatively new, with the first International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Hockey Championship played in 1990. The tournament took place almost every two years for its first decade, but has been a yearly fixture during non-Olympic years since 2004. Women’s hockey only made its debut at the Olympics in 1998.

The U.S. women’s hockey team is extremely successful on the international stage. They have won seven of their World Hockey Championships in the past nine tournaments, and brought home one gold, three silvers and a bronze from the Olympics. The men’s side, on the other hand, has three gold medals—from the 1933 World Hockey Championship, and the 1960 and 1980 Olympics.

One concern was that for the women to be paid more, the men would have to have their salaries cut. This ultimately led to a delay in an agreement. But for Chu, paying the women a reasonable amount doesn’t mean anyone has to lose any money.

“Giving more to the women’s program doesn’t mean you have to steal or take away from the men’s side,” she said.

These negotiations may not have been completed without the help of social media. Once the women’s team announced their plans to boycott the World Championship, they received an outpour of support from all corners of the continent.

In Washington, 16 U.S. Senators sent a letter to USA Hockey, writing, “These elite athletes indeed deserve fairness and respect, and we hope you will be a leader on this issue as women continue to push for equality in athletics.”

Even male hockey players stood in solidarity with the women. NHL player agent Allan Walsh tweeted that American NHL players would also boycott the World Hockey Championship in May if a deal had not been made.

Most importantly, players who could have replaced the boycotting national team players also took to social media to say they would not play at the World Championship. Frank Seravalli of TSN reported only six players from outside the national team said they would play.

“If some of those players said they were going to play, I don’t think USA Hockey would have worried as much to fielding a team,” Chu added, saying this put pressure on USA Hockey. “When you have this momentum and this vision, then USA Hockey has to take their negotiations seriously.”

Despite the large support, their was also some heavy criticism. Many took to social media to disagree with the women’s efforts for fair pay, saying the players should be proud to wear their national sweater and not worry about money.

For Chu and every other player, wearing the red, white and blue is an experience of a lifetime. The negotiations show how far these women are willing to go to get what they want, and that there is blatant sexism within USA Hockey.

“You don’t know how proud those girls are,” Chu said. “Standing up for something and feeling that you need a structure to allow you to wear that jersey and be the best representative and the best player in it, that’s what they’re fighting for.”

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Turning it around at the end of the season

The Stingers made it to their first conference final since 2005 this season. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Fresh off winning RSEQ Coach of the Year, Julie Chu talks about her team’s season

After winning only three of the team’s first 10 games, the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team was able to turn their season around and win seven of their last 10 games, cementing themselves as a real contender in their division.

“I think the biggest part is focusing on one day at a time,” Stingers head coach Julie Chu said. “In the fall, when you’re not winning, you can get off track really easily. But we have a great team dynamic that allows us to continue to work hard even when things get tough.”

In a division with powerhouses such as the Université de Montréal Carabins and the McGill Martlets, winning can be tough. There are five teams in the division which means in a 20 game season, you see each team five times.

In the beginning of the season, the team struggled to beat teams like the Carabins and the Martlets. However, after a few adjustments going into the last stretch of the season, the Stingers were able to pull off some big wins.

The biggest of those wins occurred just a week ago when the Stingers swept the Carabins in the first round of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division playoffs. Having won the U SPORTS championship the year before, the Carabins were heavily favoured. However, the Stingers pulled off the upset, thanks to their hard work and attention to detail.

“We do a lot of video sessions as a team to breakdown the areas that we want to improve on and also look at what we do well,” Chu said. “Players are welcome every week to look at videos individually, and it’s been a huge tool for us to teach players what they have to do in order to make good decisions on the ice.”

The team’s ability to beat the Carabins is also a testament to their trust in the system Chu has put into place. Despite a rough first half of the year, Chu said her team stayed the course and was able to execute in the latter half of the season.

Julie Chu won RSEQ Coach of the Year after a 10-9-1 season. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

With strong performances from everyone on the team—not just its star players—Chu said the team showed plenty of character.

“It was great to see our players step up in the series,” Chu said. “There were a lot of shutdown plays from our defence, and everyone fills a role. Some roles get more recognition than others because they require a goal or a save, but it doesn’t mean one role is more important than the other.

The win against the Carabins gave the team a spot in the RSEQ final against the McGill Martlets. In that series, the team eventually lost in two games, but worked hard through the series.

The team’s trip to the conference finals was their first since 2005. Their game-one win against the Carabins was their first playoff win since 2006. Making the conference final also cemented the team’s spot at nationals this year, which hosts eight teams featuring the two best from each conference.

“One of our goals was finishing top two in the RSEQ because we knew that would bring us to nationals,” Chu said. “One of the biggest challenges is that, with all the milestones we achieved, it feels like a mini-championship in itself. But with nationals three weeks away, we can’t think about that now—we have to look at what’s in front of us.”

Before the team’s playoff series against the Carabins, Chu was named RSEQ Coach of the Year. While the honour is an individual one, Chu said it’s her team and the rest of her coaching staff that have helped turn the team into what they are today.

“We have an incredible coaching staff here and this award is a testament to them, so I can’t take the credit,” Chu said. “My name might be on the certificate but it’s really about all of our coaches and, ultimately, our team going out and executing. You can have great coaches who run great practices and systems but you need a team that’s going to buy in, and if the team hadn’t, we wouldn’t be talking about this.”

No matter what happens at nationals, the Stingers have had one of their best seasons in the last decade and, with a strong staff behind them, the future is bright.

As Chu reiterated, the whole season has truly been a team effort.

“I know, for me, the people I am surrounded by are absolutely tremendous and a huge reason why our team has gotten so many recognitions this year,” said Chu.

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Continuing the war cry of Les Lawton

The Stingers played well against the Carabins last season, who are the defending national champions. Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard.

Concordia Stingers women’s hockey head coach Julie Chu talks about developing the team for this season

Last season, former Concordia Stingers women’s hockey head coach Les Lawton gave his team a motto to play by. The motto was simple: “Everything is earned.” When Lawton fell ill, and current head coach Julie Chu replaced him, she kept that motto going.

“[The motto] was something that was initially going to be for last season, but it’s at the heart of what we believe in as we continue to move forward,” Chu said. “Lawton is still a great mentor for myself and our entire team. We always ask him for advice and he’s still involved in our program.”

Chu, who replaced Lawton last August, has high expectations for her team this season.

Last year, the team finished the season with a record of 6-12-2, placing fourth out of five teams in the Réseau de sports étudiant de Québec division—something that Chu hopes to improve on this year.

“For our team, we’re looking to make it to our playoffs, win the RSEQ and get to Nationals,” Chu said. “We have a lot of work to do to get to that point. We have to make sure that every day at practice we step on the ice prepared to work and get better—even if it’s just a little bit each day.”

In order to succeed this year, the Stingers will have to beat teams like the Université de Montréal Carabins, who won the RSEQ division and the National Championship last year. For Chu, the Carabins are a threat, but the whole division poses a large challenge as well.

“Our conference in general is a strong one,” Chu said. “We need to allow ourselves to go through growing pains—that will kick us off in October to be successful against any team we play against, whether it’s Carleton or the Carabins.”

This past weekend, the Stingers played three exhibition games in three nights against the University of Toronto, the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo. The Stingers defeated Toronto 2-1, beat Guelph 2-1 and lost to Waterloo 2-1.

The team will also be playing exhibition games against Clarkson University on Sept. 23, Union University on Sept. 24 and a big match-up against Les Canadiennes de Montréal on Sept. 30.

For Chu, these games are a great opportunity to see what the team needs to improve on.

“Do we want to go to every game we go to and win? Yes— we’re competitors. But the bigger picture is that we want to make sure we’re learning and growing,” Chu said. “We do a ton of video analysis, so we understand where we go wrong and where we can improve.”

Chu added that the exhibition games are also a great time to test individual players’ strengths and weaknesses, while also gauging who should get starting positions once the season starts.

“Once we get into the season, nothing is guaranteed,” Chu said. “It’s about who earns what playing time, and what position and role each player earns. It’s about how people are performing and executing, and what roles and styles fit best.”

Chu said, to earn a significant role on the team, players have to be able to learn from their mistakes and come together to work as a team

“Always giving a full effort and being great teammates is a non-negotiable,” Chu said.

The Stingers will play their first game of the regular season at home against the University of Ottawa Gee Gees on Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

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