The Calgary Inferno (previously known as Team Alberta, nickname "Honeybadgers", during the 2011–12 season) was a women's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team that joined the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; ) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's Senior ice hockey, senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league expanded into Alberta (2011) and ...

(CWHL) for the 2011–12 season. The team played its home games at Joan Snyder Rink (Arena B) at WinSport Canada in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. After two seasons without an official name, in 2013 the team picked a moniker drawing from Calgary's

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

franchise, the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

, with whom they had a partnership. For the 2013-14 season, it was announced that all Inferno home-games would be streamed live by PCSN.tv. In 2019, the CWHL ceased operations, as well as all teams that it directly operatedincluding the Inferno.

History

The

(CWHL) announced on April 19, 2011, that it would merge with the

Western Women's Hockey League The Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) was a women's hockey league in Canada. The league was established in 2004, and consisted of teams in Canada (some former National Women's Hockey League teams) and one from the United States. The league offi ...

(WWHL) for the 2011–12 season. The merger featured one team based in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and

as a combination of the former WWHL franchises the

Edmonton Chimos The Edmonton Chimos were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL). Founded in 1973, the team closed out its 38-year existence playing its home games at Enoch Cree Nation#Economy, River Cree Twin Arenas in ...

and Strathmore Rockies. The team would play their games in various locations around Alberta. Strathmore Rockies founder,

Samantha Holmes-Domagala 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 ...

, joined the sponsorship division of the CWHL to look after the requirements of the expansion team. On July 21, 2011, philanthropist Joan Snyder donated $2 million to WinSport Canada with the goal of ensuring priority rink access to female hockey players at all levels and help expand the CWHL with the creation of Team Alberta. Part of the donation covered the new addition to the Athletic and Ice Complex at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary and serve as the future home to

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

. It also included four hockey rinks, one of which was called the Joan Snyder Rink. Team Alberta would benefit with the allocation of free practice time, a dressing room exclusive to the club. The Joan Snyder Rink give priority to women's hockey bookings, but it also served as the Team Alberta's home rink. The first general manager was

Samantha Holmes 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 t ...

, while the first head coach was Jason Schmidt. On July 21, 2011, the franchise participated in its first CWHL Draft. With the third overall pick in the

2011 CWHL Draft The 2011 CWHL Draft was held on July 21, 2011 in Mississauga. The Montreal Stars had the first pick overall and selected Meghan Agosta from Mercyhurst College. Top 50 picks Draft picks by team Alberta Boston Brampton Burlington Mo ...

, Team Alberta selected

Meaghan Mikkelson Meaghan Mikkelson (born January 4, 1985) is a Canadian ice hockey player, broadcaster, and former member of the Canada women's national ice hockey team, Canadian national ice hockey team. She is currently affiliated with the Calgary chapter of ...

. With the first pick overall in the 2012 CWHL Draft, the team selected Hillary Pattenden. On October 28, 2011, Team Alberta played its first game in the CWHL versus the

Burlington Barracudas The Burlington Barracudas were a professional women's ice hockey team based in Burlington, Ontario. They were one of the founding teams of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) from its inaugural season in 2007 until 2012. The Barracudas� ...

. Laura Dostaler scored the first goal in Team Alberta history in a 4–2 victory. Other goals were scored by Meghan Hunter, Jenna Cunningham and Courtney Sawchuk. On September 23, 2013, after two years without an official name, the team was announced as the Calgary Inferno at the

' arena,

Scotiabank Saddledome Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...

, prior to a pre-season game between the Flames and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

. On March 13, 2016, the Calgary Inferno defeated

Les Canadiennes de Montreal LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental S ...

in an 8–3 final to capture its first Clarkson Cup. Contested at Ottawa's

Canadian Tire Centre Canadian Tire Centre () is a multi-purpose arena in the suburb of Kanata in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Centre () from 1996 to 2006 and Scotiabank Place () from 2006 to 2013. ...

, the first Clarkson Cup final held in an NHL arena, Blayre Turnbull, Brianne Jenner, Jessica Campbell and Rebecca Johnston each scored twice. Goaltender Delayne Brian was recognized as the Most Valuable Player of the Clarkson Cup playoffs. On February 2, 2014, Danielle Stone broke two scoring records in Calgary Inferno franchise history. She began by topping Samantha Hunt's franchise record for most points in one season of 14 in a 2–1 shootout win against the Montreal Stars. In the same game, she set a new record for most points in one season by an Inferno rookie. In that same game,

Jessica Wong Jessica Wong (born March 29, 1991), also known by the Chinese name Wang Yuting (), is a Canadian ice hockey player, a defenceman. She most recently played with the Chinese national ice hockey team and in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) wi ...

logged a goal, providing her with seven points in the first five games of her CWHL career, a new franchise record for the Inferno. At the

3rd CWHL All-Star Game The 3rd Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game took place on February 12, 2017, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event featured three 20-minute periods, and 34 players were named as participants Jess Jones and Jillian Sau ...

in 2017,

Jillian Saulnier Jillian Pauline Saulnier (born March 7, 1992) is a Canadian ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward for the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She is a two-time Olympian for Canada, winning a gold medal in 2022 and a ...

and

Jess Jones Jessica Jones (born August 30, 1990) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Jones was a member of the Canadian national under-18 team that competed at the first IIHF Women's U18 World Championships in 2008 and she played for PWHL ...

both scored a hat trick, becoming the first competitors in CWHL All-Star Game history to achieve the feat.

Season-by-season

Calgary Inferno Facing off against Montreal 25 November 2018

Current roster

Updated August 8, 2018.

Coaching staff

*Kristen Hagg: general manager *Shannon Miller: head coach

Former staff

* Bob Bedier, assistant coach * Tim Bothwell: head coach, 2012–14 *Erin Duggan: assistant coach, 2011–12 *

Kevin Haller Kevin Wade Haller (born December 5, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with seven teams between 1990 and 2002. He won the Stanley Cup in 1993 while with the Mont ...

: head coach, 2014–15; assistant coach, 2012–14 *

& Matt Appelt: general manager, 2011–12 *

Gina Kingsbury Gina Kingsbury (born November 26, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current general manager for the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Playing career Besides hockey, Kingsbury participa ...

: assistant coach *Jason Schmidt: coach, 2011–12 *Jeff Stevenson: general manager

Scoring leaders

Year-by-year

All-time

Awards and honours

* Delayne Brian, 2014 CWHL Goaltender of the Year * Delayne Brian,

2016 Clarkson Cup The 2016 Clarkson Cup was a women's ice hockey championship that was contested at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, the first contested on NHL ice, to determine the champion of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Held on March 13, 2016, the ...

Most Valuable Player *Jessica Campbell, 2014–15 CWHL Leader, Game Winning Goals (5) *Rebecca Johnston, 2015

Angela James Bowl The Angela James Bowl was a women's ice hockey trophy introduced in 2007-08 to recognize the top points scorer in the newly formed Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). The trophy was donated in order to help preserve the statistical history of t ...

winner *Elana Lovell, 2016 CWHL Rookie of the Year

2011 draft picks

In preparation of its first season, the Team Alberta CWHL selected several players during a special draft of the league held on July 21, 2011, in Mississauga, Ontario. Reference

References

External links

Calgary Inferno
{{Alberta Sports Defunct women's ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey teams in Calgary Canadian Women's Hockey League teams 2011 establishments in Alberta Women's sports in Calgary 2019 disestablishments in Alberta Ice hockey clubs established in 2011 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2019 Women's ice hockey teams in Alberta