McGill Olympian Labonté Retires
Sept 26, 2017

Charline Labonté, the four-time winner of Olympic gold, has announced her retirement from the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
The 34-year old athlete is a graduate from McGill University, and hails from Broisbriand, Quebec, and she made it public on Monday September 25th that her hockey career was drawing to a close.
The statement was made at Les Demoiselles, the restaurant and coffee shop where Labonté has had a part-time job, working underneath chef Vanessa Trahan at the Ecole des Metiers de la Restauration et du Tourisme de Montreal, a famous training ground for aspiring chefs.

Labonté Says She Got a Cue that Her Game was Over

When asked what prompted the decision, Labonté told the Canadian Press that there were a number of times over the previous season that she started wondering if she still wanted to play hockey. She spoke of practice sessions taking place at 21h00, long road trips on the bus being necessary, and extended periods of time spent away from her family all being factors in her decision.
She added that these things had never bothered her before, and now that they were starting to she took it as a cue that maybe her work as a hockey player was done. Perhaps she’ll spend some time at home enjoying the fun of the online blackjack Canada has to offer, who knows?

A Long List of Recognition for Her Play

Above and beyond the Olympic success that Labonté enjoyed, the experienced goaltender also racked up two gold and five silver medals with the Canadian team at the Women’s World Championships, and further guided the McGill Martlets to three university titles in Canada, along with silver and bronze-medal finishing places.

An Illustrious History as a Hockey Player

Labonté was an All-Canadian a total of five times with the Martlets, and she spent the years from 2006 to 2012 playing with them. Her college career saw here reach an incredible record of 160-17-3, along with 81 shutouts in a total of 180 career starts, an average 0.98 goals-against, and a save percentage of .948.
Labonté graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical and Health Education, and followed this up with a Master’s Degree in Sports Psychology. She also owns practically ever McGill goaltending record in existence, except for the most saves in a game, season, and career. Kim St. Pierre still holds these.
After graduating, Labonté joined the Montreal Stars, now known as Les Canadiennes, in the Women’s hockey League for that country, and was the CWHL goaltender of the year just two years on.

Labonté Says the Decision was Hard, but is Right

Labonté started becoming known when she became the second woman to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, with the first being Manon Rheaume. After spending time playing on boys teams in Broisbriand, she was eventually drafted by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Although she did not dream she would make the team, she ended up dressing for a total of 26 from 1999 through to 2000.
Labonté ended her announcement by saying that the Les Canadiennes had had their camp last week, and she had not attended. She said that although the decision had not been an easy one, it was the correct one for her right now.

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