The Calgary Inferno (previously known as Team Alberta, nickname "Honeybadgers", during the 2011–12 season) was a women's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team that joined the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league ...

(CWHL) for the 2011–12 season. The team played its home games at Joan Snyder Rink (Arena B) at

WinSport Canada The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA), operating as WinSport, is a non-profit organization based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada whose mandate is to provide training and development to Canada's Olympic athletes, and to maintain the facili ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. After two seasons without an official name, in 2013 the team picked a moniker drawing from Calgary's

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

franchise, the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

, with whom they had a partnership. For the 2013-14 it was announced that all Inferno home-games will be streamed live by PCSN.tv. In 2019, the CWHL ceased operations, as well as all teams that it directly operated including the Inferno.

History

The

(CWHL) announced on April 19, 2011, that it would merge with the

Western Women's Hockey League The Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) was a women's hockey league in Canada. The league was established in 2004, and consisted of teams in Canada (some former National Women's Hockey League teams) and one from the United States. The league offic ...

(WWHL) for the 2011–12 season. The merger featured one team based in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and

as a combination of the former WWHL franchises the

Edmonton Chimos The Edmonton Chimos were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL). The team played its home games at River Cree Twin Arenas in Edmonton, Canada. The Owner was Arlan Maschmayer. History The Chimos ...

and

Strathmore Rockies The Strathmore Rockies were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL). The team played its home games in Strathmore Family Center Arena, in Strathmore, Alberta, Canada. History Their first season in the WWH ...

. The team would play their games in various locations around Alberta. Strathmore Rockies founder, Samantha Holmes-Domagala, joined the sponsorship division of the CWHL to look after the requirements of the expansion team. On July 21, 2011, philanthropist Joan Snyder donated $2 million to

with the goal of ensuring priority rink access to female hockey players at all levels and help expand the CWHL with the creation of Team Alberta. Part of the donation covered the new addition to the Athletic and Ice Complex at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary and serve as the future home to

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

. It also included four hockey rinks, one of which was called the Joan Snyder Rink. Team Alberta would benefit with the allocation of free practice time, a dressing room exclusive to the club. The Joan Snyder Rink give priority to women's hockey bookings, but it also served as the Team Alberta's home rink. The first general manager was Samantha Holmes, while the first head coach was Jason Schmidt. On July 21, 2011, the franchise participated in its first CWHL Draft. With the third overall pick in the

2011 CWHL Draft The 2011 CWHL Draft was held on July 21, 2011 in Mississauga. The Montreal Stars had the first pick overall and selected Meghan Agosta from Mercyhurst College. Top 50 picks Draft picks by team Alberta Boston Brampton Burlington Mo ...

, Team Alberta selected

Meaghan Mikkelson Meaghan Mikkelson (born January 4, 1985) is a Canadian ice hockey player and a member of the Canadian national ice hockey team, currently affiliated with the Calgary chapter of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). Mikke ...

. With the first pick overall in the

2012 CWHL Draft The 2012 CWHL Draft was held on July 14, 2012 in Mississauga. Team Alberta held the first overall pick for the first time in franchise history. The club selected Hillary Pattenden with the first pick overall. Registration Prospective players m ...

, the team selected Hillary Pattenden. On October 28, 2011, Team Alberta played its first game in the CWHL versus the

Burlington Barracudas The Burlington Barracudas were a professional women's ice hockey team based in Burlington, Ontario. They were one of the founding teams of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) from its inaugural season in 2007 until 2012. The Barracudas� ...

. Laura Dostaler scored the first goal in Team Alberta history in a 4–2 victory. Other goals were scored by Meghan Hunter, Jenna Cunningham and Courtney Sawchuk. On September 23, 2013, after two years without an official name, the team was announced as the Calgary Inferno at the

' arena,

Scotiabank Saddledome Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...

, prior to a pre-season game between the Flames and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. On March 13, 2016, the Calgary Inferno defeated Les Canadiennes de Montreal in an 8–3 final to capture its first Clarkson Cup. Contested at Ottawa's

Canadian Tire Centre Canadian Tire Centre (french: links=no, Centre Canadian Tire) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the western suburb of Stittsville. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Cen ...

, the first Clarkson Cup final held in an NHL arena, Blayre Turnbull, Brianne Jenner, Jessica Campbell and Rebecca Johnston each scored twice. Goaltender

Delayne Brian Delayne Brian (born July 24, 1990) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player with the Calgary Inferno of the CWHL. Brian helped the Inferno capture the 2016 Clarkson Cup championship, where she was recognized as Playoff MVP. Playing career NCAA F ...

was recognized as the Most Valuable Player of the Clarkson Cup playoffs. On February 2, 2014, Danielle Stone broke two scoring records in Calgary Inferno franchise history. She began by topping Samantha Hunt's franchise record for most points in one season of 14 in a 2–1 shootout win against the Montreal Stars. In the same game, she set a new record for most points in one season by an Inferno rookie. In that same game, Jessica Wong logged a goal, providing her with seven points in the first five games of her CWHL career, a new franchise record for the Inferno. At the

3rd CWHL All-Star Game The 3rd Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game took place on February 12, 2017, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event featured three 20-minute periods, and 34 players were named as participants Jess Jones and Jillian Sa ...

in 2017,

Jillian Saulnier Jillian Pauline Saulnier (born March 7, 1992) grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She was the first female ice hockey player to represent Nova Scotia at the IIHF Women’s World Championship in 2015. She is a two-timOlympianfoTeam Canada w ...

and

Jess Jones Jessica "Jess" Jones (born August 30, 1990) is a Canadian ice hockey player, affiliated with the Toronto chapter of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). Jones was a member of the Canadian national under-18 team that comp ...

both scored a hat trick, becoming the first competitors in CWHL All-Star Game history to achieve the feat.

Season-by-season

Calgary Inferno Facing off against Montreal 25 November 2018

Current roster

Updated August 8, 2018.

Coaching staff

*Kristen Hagg: general manager *Shannon Miller: head coach

Former staff

* Bob Bedier, assistant coach *

Tim Bothwell Timothy John Bothwell (born May 6, 1955, in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a retired professional ice hockey defenseman who played 502 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, and Hartford Whalers ...

: head coach, 2012–14 *Erin Duggan: assistant coach, 2011–12 *

Kevin Haller Kevin Wade Haller (born December 5, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with seven teams between 1990 and 2002. He won the Stanley Cup in 1993 while with the Mon ...

: head coach, 2014–15; assistant coach, 2012–14 * Samantha Holmes-Domagala & Matt Appelt: general manager, 2011–12 *

Gina Kingsbury Gina Kingsbury (born November 26, 1981) is a Canadian former women's professional ice hockey player. She graduated from St. Lawrence University with a degree in psychology, and ranks second all-time in scoring among St. Lawrence Skating Saints w ...

: assistant coach *Jason Schmidt: coach, 2011–12 *Jeff Stevenson: general manager

Scoring leaders

Year-by-year

All-time

Awards and honours

, 2014 CWHL Goaltender of the Year *

, 2016 Clarkson Cup Most Valuable Player *Jessica Campbell, 2014–15 CWHL Leader, Game Winning Goals (5) *Rebecca Johnston, 2015

Angela James Bowl The Angela James Bowl was a women's ice hockey trophy introduced in 2007-08 to recognize the top points scorer in the newly formed Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). The trophy was donated in order to help preserve the statistical history of th ...

winner *Elana Lovell, 2016 CWHL Rookie of the Year

2011 draft picks

In preparation of its first season, the Team Alberta CWHL selected several players during a special draft of the league held on July 21, 2011, in Mississauga, Ontario. Reference

References

External links

Calgary Inferno
{{Alberta Sports Ice hockey clubs established in 2011 Women's ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey teams in Alberta Canadian Women's Hockey League teams 2011 establishments in Alberta Women in Alberta