The

Toronto Varsity Blues The Toronto Varsity Blues are the intercollegiate sports program at the University of Toronto. Its 43 athletic teams regularly participate in competitions held by Ontario University Athletics and U Sports. The Varsity Blues trace their foundin ...

women's ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) 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. Two opposing teams use ice h ...

program represents the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in the

Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; ) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, ...

conference of

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 ...

. Three-time Olympic medalist

Vicky Sunohara Vicky Sunohara (born May 18, 1970) is a Canadian ice hockey coach, former ice hockey player, and three-time Olympic medallist. She has been described as "the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey" and is recognized as a trailblazer and pioneer for the ...

has served as head coach since the 2011–12 season.

History

On December 12, 1922, the Lady Blues joined the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association (LOHA) and paid dues of eleven dollars: six dollars association fee, five dollars one time fee. The Lady Blues were the LOHA Provincial Champions in 1924. In 1925, the Lady Blues withdrew from the LOHA, taking issue with certain unsatisfactory aspects of competition and debate as to the acceptable definition of womanhood. In 1993, (although the Lady Blues won 13 of the last 15 provincial championships), a task force recommended that the University of Toronto cut the team for financial reasons. Justine Blainey, a member of the team, organized a "Save the Team" night that raised over $8,000. She personally called 100 alumni during a one-week fundraising blitz. Blainey had previously earned national recognition as she endured five different court cases before finally having her case heard by the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

in 1986 because the Metro Toronto Hockey League denied her the opportunity to play hockey for them in 1981. During the 2000–01 regular season, the Lady Blues accumulated an undefeated record with 22 wins and no losses or ties. They outscored all opponents by a 114–14 margin. In the OUA playoffs, the Lady Blues defeated Toronto rival York University by a 4–1 mark and shut out Laurier 5–0 to win the OUA championship. Heading into the 2001 National Championships, the Lady Blues were seeded Number 1 overall. The Lady Blues first game was a resounding 12–1 victory over the hosting

Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venues ...

. In the semifinal, the Lady Blues would proceed to eliminate 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 4–1 tally. The championship game was a closer affair, with the Lady Blues besting the Regina Cougars in a 4–3 triumph. It was the Lady Blues first national championship in CIS women’s hockey. Of note, the Varsity Blues managed to defeat every other top team in the nation that season. The teams that were defeated included Regina, Concordia, Alberta, McGill and Saskatchewan, as the Lady Blues finished with an overall win loss record of 35–0–0.

Notable games

*On February 25, 1997, a little-known rule denies the Blues’ their second consecutive title. The OWIAA gold medal game in Waterloo, Ontario resulted in a controversial finish. Lady Blues player

Jayna Hefford Jayna Hefford (born May 14, 1977) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player and current Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Hefford got her start in the sport of ringette but soon moved ...

scored 23 seconds into overtime in the OWIAA gold medal game against the York Yeowomen at Waterloo Memorial Arena. The Lady Blues believed they had claimed the provincial championship. :OWIAA league rules indicated that the first five-minute overtime session in a playoff game must be played in its entirety (as a regular period). It was advised that the game would continue after Hefford's goal. York University (known as the Yeowomen at the time) tied the game with 1:47 left in the first overtime. Sari Krooks broke in on the right wing and scored on

Keely Brown Keely Brown (born July 13, 1993) is a Canadian curler and former World junior curling champion. She has also been on the gold medal team at the 2008 and 2010 Alberta Winter Games and the 2014 World Junior Curling Championships. Brown started ...

. :A second overtime period began and this overtime period was classified as sudden death. York skater Shanley White took advantage of a Lady Blues clearing error. She scored on the error and York prevailed by a 3–2 mark in double overtime to claim the OWIAA gold medal. The Lady Blues loss ended the Blues' undefeated season, and gave York its first championship in 10 years. :The two played a scoreless opening period, but the Lady Blues scored ten seconds into the second period when Hefford passed to linemate

Laura Schuler Laura Lynne Schuler (born December 3, 1970) is a Canadian ice hockey coach for Minnesota Duluth of the WCHA and former player who was a member of the 1998 Canadian women's Olympic hockey team. Playing career Schuler played one sport in high s ...

, and beat goalie Debra Ferguson. York tied the game 26 seconds into the third period which led into overtime. Despite winning the silver medal, the Lady Blues ended its regular season with a 13–0–2 record. In the semifinal, the Lady Blues defeated the Guelph Gryphons by a 4–1 tally. In that game, Laura Schuler had a hat trick, while Hefford added three assists. *On February 11, 2000, the Ontario University Athletics women's ice hockey program saw its longest game take place. The

's Rhonda Mitchell scored on a 35-foot slap shot. It was the 5:07 mark of the eighth period and the Varsity Blues defeated the

York Lions women's ice hockey The York Lions women's ice hockey team represents York University in Toronto, Ontario in the sport of ice hockey in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports. The York Lions have won three OUA championships in their program history w ...

program. Although the victory allowed the U of T to advance to the OUA gold medal game, it was the longest in the history of Canadian women's hockey. The game lasted over five hours and ten minutes. York's player of the game was goaltender Debra Ferguson, who made 63 saves over 125 minutes in net.

U Sports Tournament results

In Progress

Player awards and honours

* Alison Houston, 2001 CIS Goaltending Champion (0.40 GAA) * Karen Hughes, CIS coach of the Year, 2001 * Jen Rawson, 2001 CIS Tournament MVP honors

University Awards

*2020 Toronto Varsity Blues Female Rookie of the Year: Natasha Athanasakos *2014 Toronto Varsity Blues Female Athlete of the Year: Nicole Kesteris

OUA Awards

* Karen Hughes, 2001 OUA Coach of the Year * Jen Rawson, 2001 OUA all-star * Jen Rawson, 2001 OUA Athlete of the Year * Vicky Sunohara, 2021,2022,2023 OUA Female Coach of the Year

OUA All-Stars

*Taylor Day – Forward – 2017 OUA First-Team All-Star *Cristine Chao – Defence – 2017 OUA First-Team All-Star

OUA Most Sportsmanlike

U Sports Awards

*Erica Fryer, U Sports Athlete of the Month, January 2020

Marion Hilliard Award

The Marion Hilliard Award recognizes excellence in an OUA women's hockey student-athlete in three areas: hockey, academics and community involvement. * Bridget Bates, 1999 * Jenny McRae, 2003 * Sue McCutcheon, 2005

All-Canadian honours

First Team * Urszula May, 1999 CIS First Team All-Canadian Second Team * Ali MacMillan, 1998 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Sue Anne Van Damme, 1998 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Jen Rawson, 2000 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Heather Vance, 2000 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Alison Houston, 2001 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Susie Laska, 2001 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Jen Rawson, 2001 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Alison Houston, 2003 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Kim Malcher, 2003 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Safiya Muharuma, 2004 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Kim Devereaux, 2006 CIS Second Team All-Canadian * Stephanie Lockert, 2007 CIS Second Team All-Canadian

U Sports All-Rookie

*Cristine Chao, 2015–16 U Sports All-Rookie

International

*Annie Del Guidice : 2009 Winter Universiade *Karen Hughes General Manager : 2009 Winter Universiade *Nicole Kesteris :

2015 Winter Universiade The 2015 Winter Universiade, the XXVII Winter Universiade, was a multi-sport winter event with the host ducties were shared by Granada, Spain and Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. On 14 March 2009, FISU announced that the host would be Granada because t ...

*Lauren Straatman : Ice hockey at the 2019 Winter Universiade

Lady Blues in Olympic hockey

Blues in pro hockey

The following players were selected in the

2010 CWHL Draft On August 12, the Canadian Women's Hockey League hosted the 2010 CWHL Draft. The event was held at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto at 7:00pm. The first overall selection was former Ohio State hockey player and Olympic gold medallist Tessa Bonh ...

References

External links

* {{U Sports women's ice hockey University of Toronto U Sports women's ice hockey teams Women's ice hockey teams in Toronto VarsityW Toronto Varsity Blues Ice hockey clubs established in 1922 1922 establishments in Ontario