Calgary Inferno star Kaitlin Willoughby shows off the Clarkson Cup and the many names of Canada's best that are engraved upon it. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

A.P.A. Cup winner

P.A. hockey star brings trophy home

May 12, 2019 | 8:44 AM

Prince Albert Raiders fans hope to see the WHL championship trophy hoisted tonight at the Art Hauser Centre but another of the city’s hockey stars has been showing off some big silverware.

Kaitlin Willoughby brought the Clarkson Cup home this weekend on a private family visit for Mother’s Day after lifting the Canadian Women’s Hockey League trophy with her Calgary Inferno in March.

And she has certainly been thinking about her male counterparts.

“Friday night I watched the Raider game with my family and we had a drink out of the cup so that was a nice memory,” she told paNOW before heading back to Calgary where she’s based. She said the Inferno players stay in touch by text and can ‘book out’ the cup to take on home trips or to use for visits to schools and the like.

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..the league we’re going to play in [needs to be ] sustainable [so] the players will get what they deserve _{– Kaitlin Willoughby}

However, while she’s proud of her cup-winning success, it is bitter-sweet given the surprise demise of the women’s league just days after the Inferno hoisted the trophy.

“I have no idea what’ll happen to the cup,” Willoughby said.” It’s pretty cool we were the last team to win it, and maybe it’ll go to the Hockey Hall of Fame and something new will be curated for our new league.”

Precisely what that new league might look like, and what will happen with Canadian women’s hockey on a national level is still up in the air.

Willoughby said as many as 200 of her colleagues had formed a player’s association and talks were happening on a regular basis with their lawyers on the best way forward to secure a viable future. She said talks involved U.S. players in the Women’s National Hockey League as well.

“We decided that if we want women’s hockey to be where we think it should be and for future generations then it might mean sitting out this next year,” she said. “[That means] not playing for any league until we know the league we’re going to play in will be sustainable and the players will get what they deserve.”

In the interim, she was hopeful sponsors could be secured to keep major teams training in major centres like Calgary, Toronto and Montreal so players could stay sharp and competitive.

As for Willoughby’s professional future, the 24-year-old has wrapped up her six years of study in Saskatoon to become a registered nurse and will write the licensing exam in the weeks ahead.

But the right wing hopes a big part of her life will remain on the ice at the highest level so she can inspire others.

“My hope is future generations of little girls can watch on TV and say ‘I want to be that when I grow up’, that’s the big message we want to get out; that’s why we’re doing this,” she said.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow