Samantha Holmes (born June 23, 1977) played for the Canadian national women's ice hockey team from 2000 to 2005. She is also the founder of the Strathmore Rockies ice hockey team.

Early life

As a child, Samantha Holmes-Domagala attended the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

. Upon her arrival, she was disappointed to learn that there would not be a women’s hockey tournament. After the games, she became involved in activism, beginning a letter writing campaign to get women involved in ice hockey. She wrote to her local newspaper,

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

mayor

Hazel McCallion Hazel Mary Muriel McCallion (; February 14, 1921 – January 29, 2023) was a Canadian politician who served as the fifth mayor of Mississauga. First elected in November 1978, McCallion was mayor for 36 years until her retirement in 2014, makin ...

, Canadian Prime Minister

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

, and IOC President

Juan Antonio Samaranch Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch ( Catalan: ''Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló'', ; 17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh ...

Playing career

As a member of the Team Ontario contingent for the 1995 Canada Winter Games, her teammates included

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 ...

and Sommer West. Holmes played NCAA hockey for the University of

New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey The New Hampshire Wildcats represent the University of New Hampshire. They have won five ECAC championships between 1986 and 1996. When the Wildcats joined Hockey East, they won four Hockey East titles from 2006 to 2009. The Wildcats have more wi ...

program. On January 19, 2000, the Wildcats played an exhibition game against the United States national women's team. Although the Wildcats lost 8–2, Holmes scored both goals for the Wildcats. During the 2000-01 NWHL season, she competed for the

Brampton Thunder The Markham Thunder was a professional women's ice hockey team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). From 1998 through 2017, the franchise was known as the Brampton Thunder and Brampton Canadettes-Thunder before relocating from Brampton, O ...

. She moved to Calgary in June 2002 and played hockey for the Calgary Oval X-Treme. She competed in two international tournaments for her country, but never participated in the Olympics. Holmes played for the X-Treme when they competed in the 2003 Esso Women's National Hockey Championship (held on March 16, 2003). Holmes scored two goals to secure a 6–3 win for the X-Treme and the Abby Hoffman Cup. After she left the Oval X-Treme, she formed her own team. Her team was the Strathmore Rockies and they joined the Western Women's Hockey League. The idea stemmed from the fact that there were many elite hockey players in Calgary, but not all of them had the opportunity to play for the Oval X-Treme. Holmes also handled the day-to-day tasks of running the Strathmore team. Part of her accomplishments included player scouting, sponsorship and marketing campaigns to operate the team. She is also captain of the Rockies and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.

Retirement

Holmes runs local skills clinics in Calgary for young women's players. In April 2011, Holmes joined the sponsorship division of the CWHL and manage the Alberta expansion team for the 2011-12 CWHL season. In July 2012, she gave birth to a daughter.

Career stats

Hockey Canada

CWHL

Awards and honours

*1999-2000 New England Hockey Writers Association Women's Division I All-Star Team selection

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes-Domagala, Samantha 1977 births Brampton Thunder players Calgary Oval X-Treme players Canadian women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey people from Alberta Living people New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Mississauga Strathmore Rockies players