History was made on March 13 as the Calgary Inferno hoisted the Clarkson Cup for the first time. But Calgary’s victory was not the only milestone achieved at the close of this year’s Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) season. The game — played for the first time in an NHL arena — drew a record 4,082 fans.
And, oh yes, Hayley Wickenheiser had done it again.
As the first non-goalie woman to ever play full-time professional hockey, Wickenheiser has won the most gold medals of any Canadian Olympian.
With the CWHL championship, Wickenheiser has now won at every professional level of women’s hockey and she is but one of a crop of amazing women who make this an exciting time for their sport.
Their dedication is even more admirable considering the battle they have had to endure.
Organized women’s hockey has been played in Canada since 1890 but it took a century after the first lines of players hit the ice for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to sanction a women’s hockey tournament. Shockingly, it took the Olympics until 1998 to include the sport in the Winter Games. Although women had to wait almost 75 years after men’s hockey was included in the Games, today, women’s hockey is one of the most anticipated events in the Winter Olympics.
Canada’s history with women’s hockey has had other low points. In 1956, the Ontario Supreme Court banned girls from playing in boys’ leagues.
Nine-year-old Abigail Hoffman was an aspiring athlete who loved playing hockey. In the absence of a girls’ league, Abigail resorted to pretending to be a boy, cutting her hair short and registering to play as “Ab.”
Hoffman wasn’t intentionally pushing the existing social barriers placed on girls; she just wanted to play hockey — defence, to be exact.
She excelled in the game and was named an all-star but when her gender was discovered, the league immediately banned her. Her family filed a lawsuit but the courts ruled in favour of the league, barring Abigail from playing competitive hockey.
The world of women’s hockey has definitely come a long way since Abigail’s time but professional female hockey players are still not afforded the same (or even similar) opportunities as their male counterparts.
Like Wickenheiser and many other unsung female hockey stars, CWHL athletes play for the love of the game. While NHL players are getting annual paycheques in the millions, top-notch women hockey players are not being paid a cent — not even those who have earned five Olympic medals, a feat unmatched by any male hockey player.
Talks of implementing salaries are underway in the CWHL. This is a smart and long-overdue move; although these women are playing for the true love of the game, without some compensation, the pool of athletes will decline and the sport may suffer.
Of course, recognition through compensation is only one avenue. The sport of women’s hockey also deserves to see more sponsorship, more TV airtime and more media coverage.
As fans, we can participate in this exciting momentum for the game of women’s hockey by simply showing up or tuning in. At my home, my daughters and I look forward annually to the Beanpot Classic and Frozen Four championship — U.S. college events — as much as the NHL playoffs.
They might recognize big names like Crosby and Toews but my daughters are really more interested in amazing women like Wickenheiser, Marie-Philip Poulin, Hilary Knight and Michelle Picard.
In fact, my three year-old has watched so much female hockey that the first time she saw a televised NHL game, she exclaimed, “Daddy, look! Men are playing hockey!” To her, men were playing a girls’ game.
Next week, the IIHF Women’s World Championship will be held in Kamloops and my daughters and I will be there cheering on some of the best athletes as they exhibit excellence on ice.
Women’s hockey is a fast, exciting and skillful game that is gaining momentum and making history. It’s time to pay attention.
--Adel Gamar is a Coquitlam resident and hockey dad of five daughters who play for the Tri-Cities Predators. He’s also a former UNESCO education specialist and current policy fellow at the Harvard Law School.
@AdelGamar
