The Alberta Pandas ice hockey team represents the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

in the

Canada West Universities Athletic Association Canada West (formally the Canada West Universities Athletic Association or CWUAA) is a regional membership association for universities in Western Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs ...

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

. The team was led by head coach Howie Draper from 1997 (the year the team joined U Sports) until 2023, when Draper left to become head coach of

PWHL New York The New York Sirens are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home gam ...

. The current head coach is Darren Bilawchuk. The program has won the most Canada West conference championships with 15 and the most U Sports national championships with eight. On January 25, 2011, it was announced that the 1999–2000 University of Alberta Pandas hockey team would be inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.

History

In the era of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the University of Alberta formed men's ice hockey and women's ice hockey teams. The women's team played many community based teams. The University of Alberta played the Edmonton Monarchs in the Monarchs first ever game in 1918. The city of Edmonton would organize women's ice hockey into three divisions in 1930: junior, intermediate and senior. The Edmonton Monarchs and the University of Alberta were the only teams that comprised the senior division.Women on Ice: The Early Years of Women's Hockey in Western Canada, Wayne Norton, p.140, Ronsdale Press, 2009, In that same year, the University of Alberta would challenge the Edmonton Monarchs for the Alpine Cup. The Monarchs prevailed by a 1–0 score. By 1934, the University of Alberta was demoted to the intermediate division. In 1937, the University of Alberta competed for the Alpine Cup, contested at the Banff Winter Carnival. The club lost to the Calgary Avenue Grills team.

U Sports

On March 14, 2004, the Pandas won their third consecutive

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

and their fourth in five years. The Pandas became the first team to win three consecutive championships which remains unmatched as of 2020. The win came courtesy of a 2–0 tally over the

Ottawa Gee-Gees The Ottawa Gee-Gees () are the athletic teams that represent the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario. The Gee-Gees won the national football championship, the Vanier Cup, in 1975 and 2000, while also appearing in the game in the 1970, 1980 ...

. For the season, the Pandas went 20–0–0 in Canada West play, 7–0 in the postseason, and a 35–0–0 overall mark. U Sports Player of the Year Danielle Bourgeois scored both goals in the game as Alberta outshot Ottawa 45–14 overall. The game-winning goal was assisted by Canadian national team member Delaney Collins. With the triumph, the Pandas ran their undefeated streak against U Sports opponents to 81 games. During the streak, their last loss to a U Sports team was on October 13, 2001. On March 14, 2010, the Pandas won the

Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's ice hockey championship The U Sports Women's Ice Hockey Championship, is a Canadian university ice hockey tournament conducted by U Sports, and determines the women's national champion. The tournament involves the champions from each of Canada's four regional sports con ...

which was their seventh title in the 13 years since the tournament's inception. In the gold-medal game, they defeated the

McGill Martlets The McGill Redbirds (formerly the McGill Redmen) and McGill Martlets are the varsity athletic teams that represent McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History In 1868, the first recorded game of rugby in North America occurred in M ...

by a score of 2–0. While the program did not have as much of a dominant national run in the next decade, the team managed to claim their eighth national championship in 2017 after once again defeating the Martlets in double overtime by a score of 2–1. It was also the first time that the Pandas had won the National championship while not winning their conference championship in the same year. Due to the

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and financial reasons, the

announced that the Pandas would not participate in the 2020–21 season, if one were to be held. Former Pandas Hockey defender, Taylor Kezama, a 2017 U Sports National Champion, and a 2019 Canada West champion, was one of 18 former U Sports student-athletes announced among the inaugural participants of the U SPORTS Female Apprenticeship Coach Program.

Year by year

Awards and honours

U Sports honours

*Brodrick Trophy (U Sports Most Valuable Player): Lori Shupak (2002), Danielle Bourgeois (2004, 2005), Lindsay McAlpine (2007), Tarin Podloski (2009), Alex Poznikoff (2019) *U Sports Rookie of the Year: Danielle Bourgeois (2000), Madison Willan (2020) *Marion Hillard Award (Student-Athlete Community Service): Taryn Barry (2007), Janelle Froehler (2016) *Fox 40 U Sports Coach of the Year award: Howie Draper (2002, 2004, 2009, 2019) *Kirsten Chamberlin, U Sports Athlete of the Month, February 2020

U Sports Tournament honours

*U Sports Championship Most Valuable Player: Danielle Bourgeois (2002, 2004), Tarin Podloski (2006), Lindsay McAlpine (2007), Stephanie Ramsay (2010), Lindsey Post (2017)

All-Canadian selections

*Danielle Bourgeois, 2003 CIS First Team All-Canadian * Judy Diduck, 2003 CIS Second Team All-Canadian *Lori Shupak, 2003 CIS Second Team All-Canadian *Danielle Bourgeois, 2004 CIS First Team All-Canadian * Delaney Collins, 2004 CIS First Team All-Canadian * Judy Diduck, 2004 CIS First Team All-Canadian *Kristen Hagg, 2006 CIS First Team All-Canadian *Tarin Podloski, 2006 CIS Second-Team All-Canadian *Lindsay McAlpine, 2007 CIS First Team All-Canadian *Tarin Podloski, 2007 CIS Second Team All-Canadian *Rayanee Reeve, 2007 CIS Second Team All-Canadian *Nicole Pratt, 2010 All-CIS Second Team selection *Tarin Podloski, 2010 All-CIS Second Team selection

All-Rookie Team selections

*Jessica Kampjes: 2012–13 USports All-Rookie Team

Canada West honors

Canada West All-Stars

*Autumn MacDougall, Forward, 2017–18 Canada West First-Team *Alex Poznikoff, Forward, 2017–18 Canada West First-Team *Cayle Dillon, Defense, 2017–18 Canada West Second-Team *Taylor Kezama, Defense, 2017–18 Canada West Second-Team *Madison Willan, Forward, 2022–23 Canada West Second-Team

Canada West All-Rookie

*Abby Krzyzaniak, Defense, 2017–18 Canada West All-Rookie

Team MVP

University honours

*Kristen Haag: 2021 inductee – University of Alberta Sports Wall of Fame

International

Winter Universiade

*Andrea Boras 2009 Winter Universiade, 2011 Winter Universiade (gold medal) *Leah Copeland : 2009 Winter Universiade *Jennifer Newton : 2009 Winter Universiade *Stephanie Ramsay : 2009 Winter Universiade *Rayanne Reeve : 2009 Winter Universiade *Tess Houston : 2015 Winter Universiade *Jessica Kampjes : 2015 Winter Universiade *Alex Poznikoff, Forward, :

2017 Winter Universiade Winter Universiade 2017, the XXVIII Winter Universiade, was a multi-sport winter event which took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan from 29 January to 8 February 2017. On 29 November 2011, International University Sports Federation, FISU announced that ...

* Madison Willan, Forward, :

2023 Winter Universiade The Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games, commonly known as Lake Placid 2023, was a collegiate Multi-sport event, multi-sport winter sports held between January 12 to January 22, 2023 and had Lake Placid, New York, Lake Placid, New York, ...

(gold medal)

Olympians

Pandas in pro hockey

Pandas selected in the CWHL Draft

The following were selected in the 2010 CWHL Draft.

References

External links

* {{U Sports women's ice hockey Ice hockey teams in Edmonton U Sports women's ice hockey teams Women's ice hockey teams in Alberta Ice hockey teams in Alberta