Six Concordia hockey players representing Canada at FISU Games

Women’s and men’s teams hope to win gold after dominant performances at 2023 Games

SportsEmily Douris-Blondin — Published January 14, 2025 3 minutes

Six municipalities will host 11 sports over the course of 11 days of competition between Jan. 13 and Jan. 23 in Italy’s Piedmont region. 

The FISU World University Games is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the FISU. The winter and summer editions of the games are staged every two years in a different city. The event is the largest international multi-sport event for student-athletes.

The Concordia University women’s hockey players selected to participate this year are forwards Émilie Lussier and Émilie Lavoie, defender Alexandra-Anne Boyer, and goaltender Jordyn Verbeek.

“I was honoured to be selected,” Verbeek said. “It’s a goal that I’ve had to represent the country for a very long time. I learned about the FISU games when I was about 12 or 13 and ever since I’ve had a seed planted in my head that it was an event I wanted to be a part of.”

The Concordia men’s hockey players selected to participate this year are defenceman Simon Lavigne and forward Mathieu Bizier.

“I was very happy and honoured to get a chance to represent my country and wear the maple leaf on my chest in a big event like that,” Bizier said. “I feel pretty excited to play. It will be a fun event for me and for the guys on the team.”

There are over 2,500 student-athletes from over 50 countries who participate in the games every year. It is also broadcast to more than 100 countries, reaching over 300 million viewers.

“I feel good going into the Games,” Lavoie said. “I think we have a great team out there and that we will be able to succeed all together.”

The winter sports involved in this year's games include alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle and freeski, ski mountaineering, ski orienteering, snowboarding, and ice hockey.

The first men’s ice hockey tournament at the games took place in 1962 in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland, and featured Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Sweden and Switzerland. In 2009, the women’s ice hockey tournament was added, where Canada, China, Finland, Slovakia, Japan and Great Britain competed in Harbin, China.

“I look forward to a lot of things, but for sure to represent my country and university and bring back a gold medal,” said Lavoie, who was named one of Team Canada’s alternate captains. “Meeting a bunch of new people, playing my best every game and being the best version of myself every day in Italy will also be great.”

Canada has the most medals won in ice hockey at the games with 24. The men’s team has five gold, three silver and nine bronze. The women’s team has always finished on the podium with four gold and three silver. 

Both teams aim to add to Canada’s medal collection. The men’s team looks to get their sixth gold medal at the tournament, while the women’s team looks to get their fifth.

“This experience is something I will remember forever, and with this team, I think we have the ability to have a lot of success so I just can’t wait to get started,” Verbeek said.

Both teams won their first games on Jan. 11. The men’s team defeated South Korea 11-0. Bizier scored two goals and Lavigne scored one. The women’s team defeated Chinese Taipei 16-0. Lussier had two goals and one assist, and Lavoie had one goal and one assist.

Both teams play their next game on Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. EST. The men's team will play Kazakhstan, while the women's team will take on Slovakia.

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 7, published January 14, 2025.