CAPPING off her Swedish Women’s Hockey League in style last week resulted in winning a championship for Michela Cava.
The 27-year-old Thunder Bay product helped led Luleå to the title in the 10-team SWHL as her club rolled to the crown, needing just nine playoff games in total to hoist the trophy.
Cava began with a goal and an assist in a two-game sweep of AIK in quarter-final play then added a trio of tallies and a helper as Luleå took a best-of-five vs. Djurgardens in four.
Taking on her former club and second seeded Brynas in the final, she tacked on four more points, to give her 10 in total in the postseason as her side posted a three-game sweep to win it all.
Not totally unexpected, Luleå were an impressive 32-1-1-2 in regular season play, with Cava pacing the team offensively with 67 points on 29 goals and 38 assists.
Her numbers placed her third overall in league scoring and she was tops in plus-minus with a notable plus-59 ratio.
In four seasons skating in Sweden, Cava has collected 230 points in 144 outings, having scored 104 times while helping set-up 126 others.
The former Thunder Bay Queens standout also sports a stellar plus-163 mark in that time frame.
MARC IS NEAR: With a goal for the Detroit Red Wings in a road win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning Sunday afternoon, Marc Staal is drawing closer to a number of milestones in his lengthy NHL career.
The veteran 34-year-old blueliner needs just five more points to reach 200 in his time in the league.
He’s also only four markers shy of 50 and one assist away from 150.
Also getting near is the 1,000-game plateau as his Tuesday evening contest against Nashville will be his 933rd match-up in the NHL.
Only 116 defenceman have played 1,000 or more games in league history.
In terms of games played among rearguards from Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario, Staal recently moved into second spot overall in that department as he surpassed Lee Fogolin Jr., who appeared 924 games.
Only Dryden’s Chris Pronger at 1,167 has taken to the ice more times among those from the region.
Others from the area in the Top 10 in contests competed in among D-men include Bill Houlder (846); Mike McEwen (716); Larry Cahan (671); Norm Maciver (501); Lee Fogolin Sr. (427); Robert Bortuzzo (404) and Pete Goegan (383).
Points wise, Staal sits seventh overall among those from the area.
That local Top 10 consists of: Pronger (698); McEwen (404); Gary Bergman (387); Maciver (285); Houlder (250); Fogolin Jr. (238); Staal (195); Cahan (130); Dennis Owchar (115) & Goegan (86).
FLASHBACK: Back 70 years ago in 1951 the NHL played its initial All-Star Game with a team-on-team format.
The first four contests featured contests against the defending Stanley Cup champion.
However, this match-up at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto boasted three players from the Lakehead and one from the region taking part.
Defenceman Lee Fogolin Sr. and centre Gus Bodnar represented the Chicago Blackhawks while left winger Gaye Stewart and centre Don Raleigh of Kenora were part of the New York Rangers contingent.
All four were on the same team with Stewart and Raleigh both collecting assists in a 2-2 draw in a match-up that saw the All-Star game broadcast across Canada, on radio, for the first time, with the legendary Foster Hewitt providing the call.
It was the second straight contest for Fogolin and Stewart as they, along with Steve Black, were part of the Detroit Red Wings side that dumped the NHL Selects 7-1 in the 1950 game.
Edgar Laprade was on the All-Star squad in that one.