Many women went forgotten in hockey history. Here are four who helped shape the game today, who deserve recognition on this international women's day.
Many women went forgotten in hockey history. Here are four who helped shape the game today, who deserve recognition on this international women's day.
Women's hockey has been around since the 1800s. At that time, it was mostly those involved with royal families who had access to skating and hockey as women. People like Isobel Stanley, who was the first woman ever photographed playing hockey in 1891. Since then, women have been pursuing avenues to play the sport they love in the face of sexism and discrimination, and continue to blaze those trails today.
Many women, including these four, were often overlooked in the development of the game to where it is today.
On International Women's Day 2024, here are four women deserving of recognition as true builders in the sport:
Marguerite Norris
When her father, James E. Norris passed away in 1952, Marguerite Norris became the first woman to serve as an executive in the NHL taking over as president of the Detroit Red Wings. She advocated for arenas to be more woman-friendly, and despite being excluded from the NHL's Board of Governors, it's said she worked out a system of hand signals with Jack Adams to have her say. Norris led the Detroit Red Wings to one of their greatest stretches in history winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1954 and 1955, becoming the first woman to have her name inscribed on the Stanley Cup. Sadly in 1955, her family pushed her out of the role, which many, including the great Gordie Howe believe doomed the franchise's future. Following Norris' 1954 an 1955 Stanley Cups and her ousting from the organization, the Detroit Red Wings would not win another title until 1997.
Fran Rider
It would be impossible to find another woman, or person in general, who has built more in hockey than Fran Rider. The fact that Rider remains outside of the Hockey Hall of Fame is a travesty. She was instrumental in the founding and formation of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association and launching Canada's first ever sanctioned national championship tournament in 1982. Rider was also the driving force behind the movement to see women's hockey included in the Olympic Games. As a precursor to that, Rider began forming international relationships in the mid-1980s, which led to an international division at the 1985 Brampton Canadettes tournament. Two years later, Rider planned and ran the 1987 World Women's Hockey Tournament. When the IIHF refused to sanction a women's World Championship, Rider ran a tournament herself featuring teams from across the globe. Three years later, she was there again helping to organize the inaugural IIHF World Championship in 1990 in Ottawa. In 1998 Rider saw her work pay off. After more than a decade of advocating, women's hockey made its debut at the Nagano Olympics. Rider continues to build the sport today as the OWHA's president, bringing the Worlds back to Ontario in 2023, and being a constant face in the sport of women's hockey.
Hilda Ranscombe
During the 1930s, at a time when many may forget that women's hockey was incredibly popular and growing, Hilda Ranscombe was considered the best player in the world. She was the leader of the Preston Rivulettes, the most dominant team on the planet, as their most dominant player. Women across Canada competed at the time for the Dominion Championship, and Ranscombe led the Rivulettes to four Dominion titles, and 10 Ontario championships between 1931 and 1940. Had it not been for a lack of financial support for women's hockey, the Rivulettes would have certainly won more Dominion titles, as they were unable to travel, defaulting three times in that span. Ranscombe and women were forced from the game during World War II, but her legacy as the greatest player in the world prior to women's hockey's rebirth in the late 1960s remains.
Cindy Curley
Hockey in the United States would not be where it is today without Cindy Curley. If there was no Cindy Curley, there may have been no Cammi Granato. If there was no Cindy Curley, there may not have been much of a US national program for some time. She was that instrumental as a role model in the 1980s and 1990s showing women in America the level on which they could compete. As part of the the inaugural 1990 World Championships, her 23 points in five games remains the single-tournament record. Later, from 1995-2006, Curley joined the USA Hockey Board of Directors and then was on the US Olympic Athlete Advisory Committee for three seasons following that span. While Granato and players like Angela Ruggiero often are spoken about first when it comes to hockey in the United States, it was Curley who paved their path.