The first women's hockey game in the province of Alberta dates back to 1897, and since then, prominent teams from Edmonton and Calgary have dominated headlines. But a third Alberta city, Red Deer, has been a hotbed for women's hockey since 1904.
The first recorded women’s hockey in Alberta took place in Medicine Hat in 1897. A few years later, in the winter of 1904-1905, the first women’s hockey game was organized in Red Deer.
While women's hockey was played consistently in Red Deer from that season on, it wasn't until 1926 that Red Deer formed their most dominant women's team, and one of the most dominant teams in Canada over the next decade, the Red Deer Amazons.
In 1928 and 1929, the Amazons hit their stride making it to the final of the Northern Alberta Intermediate championships, falling to the Edmonton Rangers, better known as the Bennett Rangers.
During the spring of 1930, the Red Deer Amazons finally took top spot. They beat teams from Innisfill and Lacombe. As the Edmonton Journal wrote on March 12 of 1930, "Red Deer's amazon puckchasers are steadily sweeping the victories in..."
Eventually, as the Calgary Herald stated in mid-April, "Red Deer can at least boast of a ladies' championship in hockey, as word has been received here, that the Red Deer "Amazons," ladies hockey team, have been declared northern Alberta intermediate ladies' hockey champions." It was Red Deer's first major title, taking home the Twin City Cup.
Returning to the ice in 1930-1931, the Red Deer Amazons for the first time travelled to the Banff Winter Carnival to compete for the Alpine Cup alongside the Vancouver Amazons, Edmonton Rustlers, Drumheller Colleens, and Banff. That season however, the Amazons would relinquish their Northern Alberta title to the burgeoning Edmonton Rustlers.
In the 1931-1932 season, Red Deer won their title back beating the Edmonton Capitals 1-0 in a game the Edmonton Journal described as "a rugged sudden-death game." Marjory Marshall was "air-tight" in net and "pulled a number of fine saves when hard pressed" as the Red Deer Advocate wrote about the Amazons' goalie. In overtime it was the efforts of Adelyn Stephenson who drove the puck to the net before Helen Hayhoe put it home for the victory. Stephenson was quickly becoming one of the most dominant players in the nation. The win put the Red Deer Amazons in an unfamiliar position, ready to face the Drumheller Colleens for the Coffey Memorial Cup, awarded to the Alberta provincial champions. It was the first time in history the trophy was slated to be awarded. On March 11, 1932, the Amazons fell 3-0 to the Colleens. As The Calgary-Albertan wrote, "It was a grand game, by far the fastest ladies' hockey game seen in Drumheller between two evenly matched teams, who showed oceans of speed, clever combination and ability to locate the net" resulting in Drumheller capturing the first Coffey Memorial Cup.
For the 1932-1933 season, things looked to be changing for the Amazons as they beat Drumheller 2-1 in an early season exhibition match. Facing the Edmonton Rustlers, who moved up from Junior to Intermediate for this season in the Northern Alberta final, Red Deer wasted no time beating Edmonton 4-0 in the opening game of the series. Adelyne Stephenson and Evie Nicholls were the standout players for Red Deer throughout the season, and in the second game of the Northern Alberta finals, the teams tied 1-1 with Stephenson scoring the lone goal giving Red Deer the championship and Twin City Cup. It also set up a rematch against the same Drumheller Colleens team who easily defeated the Red Deer Amazons the year prior.
This time however, things would be different. "Flashing a superior brand of ladies' hockey, Red Deer Amazons uncorked a burst of speed here on Friday night to wrest the Coffey Memorial trophy, emblematic of ladies' intermediate championship of Alberta, from Shorty Howlett's Colleens by shutting them out 4-0 in a well mixed battle" newspapers read following the game. Red Deer had captured their first provincial title powered by Adelyne Stephenson, a "flashy left-winger" deemed "the star of the evening" who netted a hat trick in the 4-0 win. Babe Thompson recorded the shutout in net and would become the backbone of the Amazons in the coming seasons.
According to the Red Deer Advocate on March 22, 1933, "Playing the best hockey of the season, the Amazons enjoyed a comfortable margin in all departments in the game at Drumheller. They skated fast, backchecked hard and with combination attacks, stickhandling and good netminding, showed the crowd some fine hockey."
For the next two seasons, the Red Deer Amazons were a powerhouse. They won back-to-back Alpine Cups at the Banff Winter Carnival, and continued their reign as provincial champions.
At the 1934 Banff tournament, Adelyne Stephenson again drove Red Deer's offense scoring twice, including the winner in triple overtime to lift the Amazons to a 2-1 win over one of the most experienced teams in the sport, the Edmonton Monarchs to win the Banff Winter Carnival's top hockey prize, the Alpine Cup.
As The Calgary Albertan said of the game, "Monarchs had the advantage in weight and experience, but Red Deer's representatives had not only the speed but hockey sense plus the ability to do the right thing at the right time. Their combination work was excellent. (Babe) Thompson in goal for the Amazons made many brilliant saves. Adelyne Stephenson amazed the fans with her accurate bullet-like shots and nifty stickhandling."
The Amazons capped their 1934 season by again beating the Edmonton Monarchs this time for the Alberta Intermediate Ladies' Hockey Championship. It was Red Deer's second straight title. Adelyne Stephenson had a hat trick, while Evie Nicholls scored the other in Red Deer's 4-2 win.
Back at the Banff Winter Carnival in 1935, Red Deer opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over the home Banff team. In the final, Red Deer shutout Canmore 5-0. The Amazons' star Adelyne Stephenson also showed off her skating skills to the Banff crowd. She entered the 880-yard speed skating competition at the event, but did so wearing hockey skates rather than speed skates worn by the other competitors. Despite her disadvantage in equipment, Stephenson won silver.
Heading into the 1935 provincial championship game that season, looking to three-peat as the top intermediate women's team in Alberta, the Red Deer Amazons had to face the Edmonton Orioles. Like she had done time and again, Stephenson scored a hat trick in the game, leading Red Deer to a 4-0 win and another Coffey Memorial Cup.
At the end of the 1935 season, Red Deer lost their first game in years, falling 2-1 to the back-to-back Dominion champion Edmonton Rustlers. It ended a 17 game winning streak for the Amazons. At nearly the same time, the Preston Rivulettes and Winnipeg Eatons were playing for the Dominion title in Ontario. During the 1930s, participation in national competition was often dictated by what team could foot the bill to travel. The Rustlers won their second Dominion title by default when the Preston Rivulettes could not make the trip West. Earlier in the 1935 season, the Amazons had shutout the Winnipeg Eatons 3-0, and some believed the Rustlers and Amazons were the two top teams in Canada at the time.
As Harry Scott wrote for The Calgary Albertan on March 23, 1935 about the year end exhibition between the Rustlers and Amazons, "A peculiar part of this contest is that it will be an exhibition, whereas next week Preston Rivulettes and Winnipeg Eatons will be meeting in Galt, Ont., to decide the Canadian championship. Neither Preston nor Eatons would stand a chance against the Alberta teams."
In a three year span, the Red Deer Amazons racked up three Alberta provincial titles, and two Alpine Cup victories as the Banff Winter Carnival champions. It was a dominant stretch, for one of the top teams playing the sport during the 1930s.
The Amazons continued to play through the decade, but as the impact of World War II grew in Canada, the team's competition dwindled before playing their last game in 1941.
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