CLOSE

Autoplay

Poster thumbnails

Show captions

Madison Chagnon has missed no training or match in her career for the Burlington / Colchester women’s hockey team.

Yet that perfect four-year attendance record – 87 games in total and hundreds of training sessions – almost had an early flaw in his first month as SeaLaker. Chagnon had to get his accolades during the Thanksgiving break. The appointment would probably have pushed deep into practice time at Leddy Park.

Chagnon’s coaches did not expect her to show up. But the orthodontist, a family friend, wasted no time, and Chagnon succeeded shortly after the practice began.

“I didn’t miss it. I’ve been there for 40 minutes and it counts,” said Chagnon. “I don’t like to miss training.”

With an unrivaled work ethic, combined with astute skills and intrepid intensity on the ice, Chagnon was not only a model participant for his coaches. Chagnon turned into a scoring assassin on skates.

“When we got her in the first year, you could tell she was not an average hockey player – she is special,” said Jamie Rozzi, SeaLaker co-coach. “She is special because hockey is more than a game for her. It is a way of life. She lives and breathes. If the Zamboni was done five minutes earlier, she is still first on the ice.

“When you coach her, she is easy to coach, she loves the game so much.”

And to end his high school career, Chagnon won one more title: The Burlington Free Press’s Miss Hockey for the 2019-2020 season.

Given to the state’s best player each year, Chagnon was named this year’s winner after accumulating 44 goals and 30 assists for a Burlington / Colchester team that averaged nearly six goals per game, recorded a program record 20 wins and reached its first Division I Title Match

Madison Chagnon of Burlington / Colchester, on the right, shoots goalkeeper Kaywood Thayer at Harwood during a Division I women's hockey semi-final at Leddy Park on Friday March 6, 2020.Purchase a photo

Madison Chagnon of Burlington / Colchester, on the right, shoots goalkeeper Kaywood Thayer at Harwood during a Division I women’s hockey semi-final at Leddy Park on Friday March 6, 2020. (Photo: AUSTIN DANFORTH / FREE PRESS)

Chagnon has totaled 102 goals and 77 assists in four years.

“She really deserves Miss Hockey,” said Rozzi. “She really wanted to be Miss Hockey, she worked a lot and focused on that. She became a better teammate, she matured.”

B / C co-coach Molly DiMasi said, “She was definitely a powerhouse. She never stopped going and she was always determined to get as good as she could be.”

More: Burlington / Colchester, seeded, joins Harwood to reach the D-I final

More: Vermont coaches male and female hockey teams in all 2020 leagues

More: D-I Women’s Hockey Championship: Essex Solves Burlington / Colchester For New Crown

Hardened by her days as a young wrestler and growing up with three older brothers who were also hockey players, Chagnon flashed everything she mastered and all that made her dangerous in a breathtaking streak during the match. DI championship at Gutterson Fieldhouse on March 9.

With Essex in numerical advantage and already having a margin of 1-0 in the first period, Chagnon made his choice. Picking up the puck in his defensive zone, Chagnon ran down the spacious ice at Gutterson, his goal fixed on an equal count.

Chagnon protected the puck to his right, shook an Essex defender on his left shoulder and then held his edge to back up at the last moment to make a five-hole shot to beat the Essex goalkeeper.

“(Chagnon) has the capacity to want something to happen and who plays in the final, it was clear that he would not be refused to go to the net and score that goal,” said Matt Brush, Middlebury coach , spectator that evening. . “Come to think of it, many of his goals were exactly like that – it took an individual effort for the game to happen.”

All those years of not missing a single workout – and the extra time improving every facet of his game – have brought one more moment in a SeaLaker jersey.

“I always tried to improve. If I wanted to be faster, I would train the next day and work on it. If I wanted to learn how to protect myself better, I would go to train the next day and work there. above, “said Chagnon. “Doing these things helped me score this goal.”

Although the SeaLakers lost to Essex in a 4-2 decision, Chagnon said the lessons and hard work gained from the practice had taken her and her teammates to another level.

“It’s so important to me not to miss anything. I have so much respect for my coaches, they take the time to be there for me and the team,” said Chagnon, to the Rice Prep program at autumn. “I believe we should use every bit of practice to get better and succeed more.”

Chagnon also aroused the respect and admiration of opposing coaches like Brush.

“Whenever we were going to play against (Chagnon), I always looked forward to seeing her and asked her to calm us down,” said Brush, who also coached Chagnon to the Vermont Shamrocks selection team. “But when she scored against us, she skated near the bench and gave me a smile and a wink.”

Chagnon produced a five-point night with four goals on his last trip to Middlebury on December 17.

“Yes, she picked us up,” said Brush.

Become a member of Vermont Varsity Insider Facebook group at .

Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @ aabrami5.

MISS HOCKEYS

Madison Chagnon of Burlington / Colchester (4) passes the puck to Kaylee Moody of Essex (18) during the women's hockey championship game between the Essex Hornets and the Burlington / Colchester SeaLakers at Gutterson Field House on Monday evening 9 March 2020 in Burlington, Vermont.

Madison Chagnon of Burlington / Colchester (4) passes the puck to Kaylee Moody of Essex (18) during the women’s hockey championship game between the Essex Hornets and the Burlington / Colchester SeaLakers at Gutterson Field House on Monday evening 9 March 2020 in Burlington, Vermont. (Photo: BRIAN JENKINS / for the free press)

2020: Madison Chagnon, Burlington / Colchester

2019: Olivia Miller-Johnson, Essex

2018: Meghan Hamilton, Rutland

2017: Jess Scott, Spaulding

2016: Aggie Bisselle, Burr and Burton

2015: Kathleen Young, Essex

2014: Victoria Gibson, Essex

2013: Shanley Howrigan, BFA-St. Albans

2012: Hayley Arnold, Spaulding

2011: Sophia Steinhoff, CVU

2010: Julie Pearl, Essex

2009: Julie Pearl, Essex

2008: Caitlin Manahan, BFA-St. Albans

2007: Maggie DiMasi, Burlington

2006: Chelsea Furlani, Colchester

2005: Sophie Leclerc, Spaulding

2004: Alessandra LaFiandra, Middlebury

2003: Ellen Sargent, BFA-St. Albans

2002: Kristine Dodd, BFA-St. Albans