NAME: Danielle Bourgeois
UNIVERSITY: Alberta
CATEGORY: Student-Athlete
SPORT: Women’s Hockey
YEARS ACTIVE: 2000-2005
HIGHLIGHTS:
5x CW all-star and All-Canadian (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
Two-time CIS Player of the Year (2004, 2005)
Four-time national champion (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Five-time Canada West champion (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
Two-time U of A Female Athlete of the Year (2004, 2005)
BIOGRAPHY:
When picturing the epitome of a Pandas hockey player, one immediately thinks of Danielle Bourgeois.
From her first moments on the ice with the University of Alberta women’s hockey team in 1999, through her work as an assistant coach with the Pandas, and later as a highly successful Edmonton lawyer, Bourgeois has been a passionate, devoted, and consummate leader and professional.
Bourgeois helped the Pandas win their first national championship in 2000 and capture three straight CIS gold medals from 2002 to 2004. The Pandas won Canada West championships in all five of her seasons.
Throughout her tenure with the Pandas, Bourgeois established herself as one of the best women’s hockey players in Canadian University history, as a five-time All-Canadian and five-time Canada West All-Star. She was named Canada West and CIAU Rookie of the Year in 2000 and received consecutive CIS Player of the Year awards in 2004 and 2005. Bourgeois finished her career as the all-time Canadian university scoring leader, with 106 goals and 212 points in 85 conference games.
The Pandas’ captain from 2003 to 2005, Bourgeois was twice awarded the Bakewell Trophy as the University of Alberta’s Female Athlete of the Year (2004 and 2005) and earned four straight team MVP and three team leadership awards. In 2017, she became the first member of the Pandas hockey program to be inducted into the University of Alberta’s Sports Wall of Fame.
Bourgeois earned Academic All-Canadian status three times (2003, 2004, 2005), and was a CIS Top Eight Academic All-Canadian in her final two seasons. She was also heavily involved with the University Athletics Board, the student-athlete run community-service program.
From 2007 to 2011, she was an assistant coach with the Pandas, including their national championship season in 2010. Bourgeois currently serves as assistant coach with the MacEwan University Griffins women’s hockey team.
After six years as an associate following her graduation from Law School in 2009, Bourgeois became a partner at Field Law in Edmonton.