The University of Toronto women’s hockey program is rich in history and tradition. The Varsity Blues first iced a team in 1921 when a student-athlete named Marion Hilliard put together a team to play against McGill University. The women’s team won the first ever intercollegiate championship and would go on to win 11 more before the league was disbanded in 1933 due to the Depression. Hilliard’s activism left a lasting effect on women’s hockey in general and specifically at the University of Toronto, where the program has thrived.
In the late 1960s league play was re-established among Ontario universities and the Varsity Blues have been a dominant force in the province and the country ever since. Starting in 1971-72 the Varsity Blues have captured 17 conference championships, more than any other team in the Ontario, and U of T was the team of the 1990s, winning six OUA championships and placing first in the OUA every season.
In 1997, women’s hockey became a CIS sport and the Varsity Blues finished an unbeaten 35-0 season in 2000-01 winning the national title with a 4-3 victory over the Regina Cougars.
Since the first International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) sanctioned Women’s World Championship was held in Ottawa in 1990, U of T has enjoyed a strong relationship with Canada’s national team ever since. Eight Varsity Blues players have gone on to play for the national team: Lori Dupuis, Heather Ginzel, Jayna Hefford, Andrea Hunter, Leslie Reddon, Nathalie Rivard, Laura Schuler, and Vicky Sunohara. Dupuis, Hefford, Reddon, Schuler, and Sunohara also joined the Canadian Olympic team. In addition to the senior national team, the Varsity Blues have had five players on the Under 22 National Team. Susie Laska, Kim Malcher, Safiya Muharuma, Lisa Robertson, and Jill Savin have all worn the red and white for Canada while also wearing the blue and white of the Varsity Blues.
U of T’s coaching staff has also been well represented nationally as both former head coaches Karen Hughes and Dave McMaster have been with Canada’s national team. Hughes, the Varsity Blues head coach from 1993-11, was an assistant coach with Canada’s gold medal winning national women’s team at the World Championships from 1998-2001. She represented Canada as an assistant coach in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. In addition, Hughes was head coach of the U-22 National Team in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and was head coach of the Senior National Team when they captured gold at the 2004 World Championships.
