Whitehorse Daily Star

Burke doesn’t make Inferno roster

Angela Burke didn’t make the cut with the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, says the club’s general manager

By Chuck Tobin on October 6, 2017

Angela Burke didn’t make the cut with the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, says the club’s general manager.

Kristen Hagg said Thursday Burke, originally from Whitehorse, has been invited to participate as a member of the practice squad.

The Inferno held tryouts beginning last Friday and ending Tuesday. The roster was released today.

Hagg said 24 players are on the active roster and 22 of those are on the playing roster.

Thirty five skaters were invited to the camp but a couple didn’t show, she explained.

Burke was the Inferno’s 11th draft pick in August.

Hagg said she hadn’t met Burke until this summer but she knows she was working hard at training to take a shot at making the club.

Cracking a lineup in the professional women’s hockey league is downright tough, she said.

The GM pointed out of the seven teams in the league, just five are in North America – the other being the two Chinese expansion teams joining the league this year as Beijing prepares to host the 2022 Olympics.

Burke played her minor hockey in Whitehorse, represented the Yukon at three Arctic Winter Games and was assistant captain on the Yukon’s team during the 2007 Canada Winter Games here.

She went on to play for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.

Hagg said the CWHL is a whole other level.

“It’s just a different skill level,” she said of speed and finesse of the professional league. “There are a lot of players who played really good hockey who cannot fit into the mix.”

Canadian hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser spent a season with the Inferno.

The CWHL began in 2007.

The Calgary Inferno won its first and only league championship when it defeated the Montreal Canadiennes 8-3 in 2016 but lost a nail biter last spring to the Canadiennes in its bid for a second CWHL championship.

Since 2009, league champions have been presented the Clarkson Cup, created by and named after former Governor General Andrienne Clarkson. The Stanley Cup was named after and created by former Governor General Frederick Stanley, or Lord Stanley.

Be the first to comment

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.