Ann-Renée Desbiens

Ann-Renée Desbiens (born April 10, 1994) is a Canadian ice hockey player with the PWHPA and the Canadian national team.

She participated at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship and the 2018 Winter Olympics. She was the first Canadian selected at the 2016 NWHL Draft, grabbed in the first round by the Boston Pride from the University of Wisconsin.

Playing career
Desbiens tried out for the Ligue de hockey midget AAA, the highest men's junior league in Québec under the QMJHL, but was cut because the coach didn't believe there was any point in developing girls. That same year, she participated in the Shawinigan Cataractes training camp.

She made one playoff appearance for the Montréal Stars of the CWHL in 2012, as the team won the Clarkson Cup.

In 2013, she was offered a scholarship to play at the University of Wisconsin in the NCAA, despite not being fluent in English. Across 4 years with the university, she would lead the team to four Frozen Four appearances with 99 wins in 122 games, and would set a number of individual records, including highest career SV% (with .963) and lowest GAA (with 0,71).

During her senior year, on November 6, 2016, Desbiens broke Noora Räty's for most NCAA career shutout records of any gender. In a 6–0 shutout victory against the Bemidji State Beavers, Desbiens would log career shutout number 44. At the end of her senior year, Desbiens was awarded the Patty Kazmaier Award as top female college ice hockey player in the United States.

Desbiens was drafted fourth overall by Boston Pride at the 2016 NWHL Draft, but has not made an appearance for the team.

After the 2018 Olympics, Desbiens took a break from hockey during the 2018-19 season, citing exhaustion and uncertainty over professional options as reasons. In May 2019, she would return to hockey by joining the PWHPA.

In the 2019-20 season, Ann-Renée Desbiens appeared for the Fond du Lac Bears in the Great Lakes Hockey League, an elite men's amateur league. She also participated in the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, making 15 saves as the Canadian All-Stars beat the American All-Stars.

International
Desbiens was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship where she guided Canada to a silver medal. She was also selected to play for Team Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics where she again won a silver medal.

Personal Life
Desbiens has a master's degree in accounting. She has named NHL goaltender Patrick Roy as a role model, her family being supporters of the Québec Nordiques and then the Colorado Avalanche.

Awards and honours

 * WCHA Player of the Week (Recognized for games of November 4–6, 2016)
 * 2016 WCHA Player of the Year
 * WCHA Offensive Player of the Month, January 2017
 * WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of February 14, 2017)
 * 2017 Patty Kazmaier Award winner

NCAA
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