September, U of T’s Varsity Blues women’s hockey team played an exhibition game against Team China at Varsity Arena, which ended in a loss of 4-3. The two teams also staged a shootout, with two Varsity players and three Team China players scoring. One of these scorers was rookie Courtney Brind’Amour-McClure. Courtney and her sister, Alie, are identical twin forwards and first-year students, both recruited by the Blues this fall.
At the age of seven, the twins from Waterdown, Ontario, found their game: they switched from soccer to hockey, and have been on the ice together ever since. Courtney and Alie now play on the same line, left and right wing respectively. Like identical twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, their connection is an advantage. “A lot of people think we have the twin telepathy,” says Courtney. “We have a good sense of each other on the ice.”
