Time OUT
Blades and Glory By Althea Blackburn-Evans
When the 1960-61 Blues women’s hockey team boarded a Star scorer Linda Maki (Pella) led the charge, one of the first Toronto-bound train after a tournament in Kingston, Ontario, to have her skates signed by The Rocket. Pella recalls that the they were in store for a thrilling surprise. Originating in steely Richard didn’t crack a smile while he obliged. Perhaps Montreal, that train also held members of the Montreal he was lamenting his recent retirement or simply thinking, Canadians. The conductor ushered the giddy young women ‘What are women doing playing hockey?’ two by two into the breakfast cart to meet the NHL greats, among them Maurice “The Rocket” Richard and Frank But his stoicism didn’t deflate the girls’ enthusiasm. The Blues Mahovlich. went on to become a terrific inspiration in intercollegiate sport, reviving women’s hockey at the varsity level and capturing the intercollegiate invitational hockey tournament the following season. Today’s Blues women are in the presence of another hockey legend: head coach and three-time Olympian Vicky Sunohara. In March Sunohara and her team proudly welcomed standout student-athletes from across the country, as host of the CIS women’s hockey championships.
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PHOTO/ LUKE PAUW