The past and present of women’s hockey in Alberta
By Leigh Patrick and Elliotte Buracas, May 21 2026—
The PWHL Takeover Tour’s stop at the Scotiabank Saddledome is a powerful testament to the evolution of women’s hockey.
For years, the sport in Western Canada was confined to community rinks despite a clear appetite for more. The resilience of the athletes was tested in 2019 when the Calgary Inferno saw their league collapse only a week after winning the Clarkson Cup.
Rather than folding, the players organized the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) to advocate for a sustainable, professional North American league—an effort that ultimately led to the creation of the PWHL.
Moving from local arenas into major venues like the Saddledome proves that combining elite talent with high-profile markets creates an undeniable product with long-term staying power.
Understanding the significance of this tour requires looking at Alberta’s hockey roots. The Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) operated from 2007 to 2019. The province’s first entry, Team Alberta, eventually became the Calgary Inferno through a merger of two Western Women’s Hockey League (WWHL) teams.
Before joining the WWHL, those clubs were members of the National Women’s Hockey League. The Inferno logo remains a fixture at the Scotiabank Saddledome, adopted by several local girls’ teams after the CWHL folded. While pro women’s hockey in Alberta appeared to stall in 2019, the sport has continued to thrive. With the rise of the PWHL and the province’s deep history, the return of a permanent Alberta franchise appears inevitable.
The Calgary stop of the Takeover Tour marked a homecoming for several players, including Toronto Sceptres defender Jess Kondas and Ottawa Charge forward Sarah Wozniewicz. For the local products, playing at the Scotiabank Saddledome fulfilled a childhood dream.
While they grew up watching the Calgary Flames in the iconic arena, a women’s pro team had never played a full season there.
Previous clubs faced significant capacity constraints; the Calgary Oval X-Treme played at the Olympic Oval and the Calgary Inferno at the Joan Snyder Arena, both of which offer limited seating.
The tour allows the league to gauge fan interest and assess whether major-market venues are available for a permanent franchise. Calgary fans responded to the challenge by drawing 16,150 spectators to the Saddledome — the highest attendance for a Canadian neutral-site game in the 2025-2026 PWHL season, and second-highest across all games.
Wozniewicz stood on the blue line for the starting lineup April 1. When the announcer introduced the Cochrane, Alta., native, the Scotiabank Saddledome erupted.
“Playing in the city you grew up in is something you dream of,” Wozniewicz said during an open practice.
For many young fans in the crowd, it was a first glimpse of pro women’s club hockey. While Calgary hosted the 2021 IIHF women’s world championship, the tournament was held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Charge head coach and Calgary native Carla MacLeod noted the impact of the moment.
“It was a real treat for me to hear that cheer for Sarah here, and I know that she’s impacting the next generation,” MacLeod said.
MacLeod previously spent three seasons with the Calgary Oval X-Treme, part of a generation that played in underfunded leagues, paving the way for the PWHL. Toronto Sceptres defender Jess Kondas, another Calgary product, said she never imagined playing in an arena as big as the Saddledome.
“There was the silly dream of the NHL,” Kondas said. “But to this extent, no. […] I didn’t know much about the girls’ game until I went to high school.”
Kondas graduated from the Edge School, a Calgary sports-based academy where she was coached by MacLeod. Now on opposite benches at the sport’s highest level, the pair shares a history that highlights the evolving pathway for women in sport.
Kondas said MacLeod taught her there was a path after high school. While boys have long looked to the NHL, girls’ options have often been limited to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or unstable, low-paying, or foreign pro leagues. The PWHL aims to provide a more consistent and accessible future.
As the future of women’s hockey made its debut at the Scotiabank Saddledome, two former members of the Calgary Inferno met head-to-head.
Ottawa Charge captain Brianne Jenner and Toronto Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull were teammates on the final Inferno roster that won the Clarkson Cup in 2019.
The pair represents a “middle generation” of athletes who bridged the gap between eras. They played in a league that only began paying players in 2017—with salaries ranging from $2,000 to $10,000—before joining the PWHL, which offers consistent pay and a $37,000 league minimum.
These veterans now compete alongside a younger generation that has entered a fully professional environment from the start, supported by coaches and executives who built the current league’s framework in the early 2000s and 2010s.
The future of women’s hockey is unfolding rapidly as viewership continues to grow. The sport’s rise in popularity is driven largely by the PWHL, though Charge coach Carla MacLeod notes the elite talent has always been there.
The league provides athletes the opportunity to play at a high level and earn a living close to home. For many Alberta-born players, the Takeover Tour represents more than just a homecoming; it offers the possibility of one day playing for a permanent team in the province. With the league’s momentum building, the addition of an Alberta franchise appears to be a matter of when, not if.