The Central Ontario Women's Hockey League (COWHL) is a defunct hockey league in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. During the 1998-99 season, the COWHL was renamed the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and h ...

as the teams from the former league began to compete against teams from Quebec.

Teams

Guelph Eagles Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Welli ...

Hamilton Golden Hawks Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

* London Devilettes *

Mississauga Chiefs The Mississauga Chiefs were a professional women's ice hockey team that played in the Canadian National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) and the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). They played in Mississauga, Ontario at the Hershey Centre and the ...

* Newtonbrook Panthers * Peterborough Skyway *

Peterborough Pirates The Peterborough Pirates were an English ice hockey team. It was established in 1982, as the senior adult semi-professional team of the newly formed Peterborough Ice Hockey Club. ''The Pirates'', based at the East of England Ice Rink, Peterbor ...

* Junior Aeros * Scarborough Firefighters *

Scarborough Sting The Scarborough Sting was a professional women's ice hockey team in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). The team played its home games in Mid Scarborough & Malvern Arena at Scarborough, in Ontario. History The Scarborough Sting was fou ...

* North York Aeros *

Toronto Red Wings Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

Final Standing year by year

1992-93

1993-94

1994-95

Non-available

1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

For this last season, there was only three teams in the COWHL. The three teams played each other five times at home and five times on the road. In addition, they will play exhibition games against the Ottawa Senior AAA and the Brockvill Senior AAA teams.

Players

*Geraldine Heaney began playing for the

Toronto Aeros The Toronto Aeros, often called Beatrice Aeros after their primary sponsor, the North York Aeros, and the Mississauga Aeros were a semi-professional women's ice hockey team that played in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario. The team played its home ...

at the age of 13, winning six provincial championships. *For the first 17 years of her participation in the COWHL,

Cathy Phillips Cathy Phillips (born August 7, 1960) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player and coach. A seventeen-season goaltender in the Central Ontario Women's Hockey League (COWHL), she also played with the Canadian women's national ice hockey team. Phi ...

played for two different teams: Burlington and Hamilton. She was voted Top Goaltender 14 times and Most Valuable Player twice during her years of play in the COWHL.

International

IIHF women's worlds

*Mirjam Baechler, Newtonbrook Panthers (Team Switzerland 1992-1997) *Amanda Benoit, North York Aeros (Team Canada 1996) *

Cassie Campbell Cassie Dawin Campbell-Pascall (born November 22, 1973) is a former Canadian ice hockey player and a current broadcaster for Sportsnet and ESPN. Born in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Campbell grew up in Brampton, Ontario, playing for the Brampton Canad ...

, North York Aeros (Team Canada 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997) *

Lori Dupuis Lori Dupuis (born November 14, 1972) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player. Playing career Dupuis was born and raised just outside Cornwall, Ontario. She is a former member of the Cornwall Wolverines of the OWHA. She started with the Wolverine ...

, Newtonbrook Panthers (Team Canada 1995, 1996, 1997) *Kelly Dyer, North York Aeros (Team USA 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995) *Marianne Grnak, North York Aeros (Team Canada 1994, 1995, 1996) *Geraldine Heaney, North York Aeros (Team Canada 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997) *

Jayna Hefford Jayna Hefford (born May 14, 1977) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player and current chairperson of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association. During her career, she won multiple medals at the Winter Olympics and IIHF World Women's C ...

, Mississauga Chiefs (Team Canada 1997) *Andria Hunter, Newtonbrook Panthers (Team Canada 1992, 1994) *

Angela James Angela Diane James (born December 22, 1964) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played at the highest levels of senior hockey between 1980 and 2000. She was a member of numerous teams in the Central Ontario Women's Hockey League (COW ...

, Newtonbrook Panthers (Team Canada 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997) *Sari Krooks, North York Aeros (Team Finland 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996) *Sue Merz, Newtonbrook Panthers (Team USA 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997) *

Karen Nystrom Karen Nystrom (born June 17, 1969) was a member of the 1998 Canadian National women's team that participated in ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Playing career Prior to joining the Canadian National women's team for the 1992 Women's Worl ...

, Newtonbrook Panthers (Team Canada 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997) *Margot Page, Mississauga Chiefs (Team Canada 1990, 1992, 1994) *Marion Pepels, London Devilettes (Team Netherlands 1990-1996) * Cheryl Pounder, North York Aeros (Team Canada 1994, 1996) *Nathalie Rivard, Mississauga Chiefs (Team Canada 1992) *

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

, Newtonbrook Panthers (Team Canada 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997) *Jeanine Sobek, Newtonbrook Panthers (Team USA 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996) *

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 ...

, Scarborough Firefighters (1990 to 1994), Toronto Red Wings (1994 to 1996), and the Newtonbrook Panthers (1996 to 1997) (Team Canada 1990, 1996, 1997)

Olympians

The following players from the COWHL represented Canada in ice hockey at the Winter Olympic games.

Awards and honors

*Angela James, Most Valuable Player, COWHL, 1991 *

, Won COWHL scoring title in 1991-92 (runner-up in 1990-91, 1992–93 and 1996-97) * Karen Nystrom, COWHL All-Star Team every year from 1989 to 1997 * Karen Nystrom, OWHA champion with Scarborough Firefighters, 1991

Esso Nationals

Over the years, teams from the COWHL represented the province of Ontario in the Canadian National Women's Hockey championships (also known as the Esso Nationals). The winner of the gold medal was also awarded the

Abby Hoffman Cup The first instances of organized women's ice hockey in Canada date back to the 1890s when it was played at the university level. The Women's Hockey Association claims that the city of Ottawa, Ontario hosted the first game in 1891. In 1920, Lad ...

. *

Beatrice Aeros The Toronto Aeros, often called Beatrice Aeros after their primary sponsor, the North York Aeros, and the Mississauga Aeros were a semi-professional women's ice hockey team that played in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario. The team played its home ...

, Silver medal, 1996 * Beatrice Aeros, Bronze Medal, 1999.Who's Who in Canadian Sport, Volume 4, p.430, Bob Ferguson, Fitzhenry and Whiteside Ltd., Markham, ON and Allston, MA,

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Central Ontario Women's Hockey League : 1992-93

Women's ice hockey leagues in Canada Defunct ice hockey leagues in Ontario National Women's Hockey League (1999–2007)