This Day in Hockey History – February 21, 1921 – Border-Crossing Queens

(Photo: Vancouver Amazons via Wikimedia Commons)

Women have been playing hockey nearly as long as men, but 1921 stands as the most widely acknowledged year for their first international championship series. Between February 21 and March 11, the Vancouver Amazons, Victoria Kewpies, and Seattle Vamps participated in a border-crossing tournament in which each city took turns hosting the other two teams.

The growth of women’s hockey seemed to gain momentum in 1916, almost certainly partly due to the sheer number of men that left to serve their nations during World War I. At the beginning of the year, the famous brothers Frank and Lester Patrick began the process of forming a women’s league to align with their Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). Naturally then, they planned to have teams in Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, and Portland. Though the league never got off the mark, apparently the wives of the Seattle Metropolitans tried out a team. That year there may also have been a tournament in Cleveland, Ohio featuring Canadian and American women.

Between 1917 and 1935, Banff, Alberta hosted a women’s tournament and (as of 1921) awarded the Alpine Cup to the champion of the Banff Winter Carnival. Frank Patrick (owner of the PCHA’s Vancouver Millionaires) wanted in on the action, so he sponsored the Vancouver Amazons to compete there. The Amazons made it to the final but lost to the Calgary Regents (as they won their third straight championship). Almost immediately, Patrick organized his own tournament to crown the West Coast women’s champs. Fellow owners in the PCHA quickly established teams in Seattle and Victoria as competitors, and the three squads would play immediately following or even during the intermissions of the PCHA games.

The tournament opened at the Arena in Vancouver on February 21, 1921. According to the Vancouver Province, “The crowd, a large part of whom remained for the fray, was greatly interested in the encounter and continuously shouted its encouragement to the local speedsters.” The two ten-minute periods and a final fifteen-minute period directly followed the Vancouver Millionaires’ 5-1 victory over the Victoria Aristocrats.

Almost echoing their counterparts, the Vancouver Amazons dominated over the “Seattle Sweeties” 5-0. Left wing Kathleen Carson scored the only goal of the first period and then again in the third. Center Nan Griffiths took care of the rest. The local press complimented that Carson “showed some fine shooting ability and together with Miss Griffiths put up some pretty stick handling” and both “showed evidences of careful training in shooting.” 

The Province also compared the goalies, “Miss [Amelia] Voitkevic, in goal, was only troubled on a couple of occasions, but was ready for all emergencies. She usually stood with her arms resting on the goal crossbar. On the other end Miss Gravell, the visiting goalie, adopted the proper crouching attitude, but when the puck came near she found difficulty in placing her stick in the course of the rubber.”

All in all, the local newspapers agreed that the Seattle squad was outmatched. The Daily World noted, “The local girls were far too fast for their rivals and outplayed them throughout the game.” Per the Province, “The Seattle girls were sadly lacking in skating ability and seemingly had no idea as to the effectiveness of combination play.” The Sunremarked (somewhat chauvinistically), “Vancouver’s forwards were so superior to those from the Sound City that the visitors had little chance to show just how good they were. They looked all right, but the local Amazons had them beaten even on looks, however, that is getting away from the subject.”

The second game was hosted at Victoria’s Arena on February 25. This was billed as “their first appearances in the new International Ladies’ Hockey League, and it promises to be a game that will drive dull care away.” In anticipation, the Victoria Times remarked, “The ‘Amazons’ are all that their name implies. They are not afraid to go through anything.” However, “The local lassies are in splendid shape and their combination and shooting is exceptionally good.” The Amazons shutout the Victoria Kewpies 4-0. Because the women’s game took place during the PCHA game (which charged admission for a professional competition), all the female players were subsequently suspended by the British Columbia Amateur Athletic Union.

On March 3, Seattle hosted the Victoria Kewpies, who won 1-0 at the end of the final period. The recap merely noted, “They appear to be a faster team than the Vamps.”

Four days later, on March 7, the Kewpies traveled to Vancouver for the first time. Again, Carson and Griffiths were credited as “the most effective of the forwards.” However, this “was a hard struggle as ladies’ matches go, there being no score until well on in the last period. While the play was almost the entire time in the Kewpies’ territory, the visitors’ defense apparently had been well drilled in this department, for they appeared always in the way of the puck, and incidentally were highly successful.” Although the Amazons earned another shutout, it was only 1-0.

Seattle hosted the Amazons on March 9. Miss Betty Hinds (“a former Seattle girl”) scored during the second period as Vancouver snagged a 3-0 shutout and their fourth straight win. The Amazons were officially undefeated and had not been scored on during the entire tournament.

The final game took place March 11 at Victoria. Perhaps as the perfect ending, “last night’s game produced a lot of excitement” with each team scoring just one goal apiece towards the end of the game. Apparently, “The Seattle goalie showed a new style of tending a cage. She laid down on the ice and as the puck came to her she threw it out to wings.” However, her teammates insisted that they had scored an extra goal, and when the referee denied them, they “calmed themselves but they kept on throwing the horrid looks over at the arbitrator.”

When everything was said and done, the Vancouver Amazons were the champions with a 4-0-0 record. The Victoria Kewpies came in second at 1-2-1, and the Seattle Vamps brought up the rear with 0-3-1. Unfortunately, that would be the only season for these two teams. The Amazons, however, went on to win the next Banff Winter Carnival championship and thus the Alpine Cup. That 1922 victory would be the only one for a Vancouver team.

Additional Sources:

• “Vancouver ‘Amazons’ Win From Seattle ‘Sweeties,’” Vancouver Sun, 22 Feb. 1921, p. 4.
• “Vancouver Lassies Defeated Seattle,” Vancouver Province, 22 Feb. 1921, p. 18.
• “Local Girls Defeat Seattle,’” Vancouver Daily World, 22 Feb. 1921, p. 10.
• “Vancouver Cinches Place in Hockey Play-Off,” Seattle Star, 22 Feb. 1921, p. 10.
• “‘Kewpies’ Ready to Meet the ‘Amazons,’” Victoria Daily Times, 23 Feb. 1921, p. 10.
• “Amateur Union to Suspend All Lady Hockey Players,” Victoria Daily Times, 24 Feb. 1921, p. 10.
• “Pretty Girl Hockey Stars Are Outside Amateur Pale” and “‘Amazons’ Too Good For Local ‘Kewpies,’” Victoria Daily Times, 26 Feb. 1921, p. 10.
• “‘Amazons’ Win from Victoria ‘Kewpies,’” Vancouver Sun, 26 Feb. 1921, p. 4.
• “Victoria Kewpies Win,” Vancouver Daily World, 3 March 1921, p. 10.
• “‘Victoria Kewpies To Meet Amazons Here on Monday,” Vancouver Sun, 6 March 1921, p. 18.
• “Vancouver Amazons Wins Championship,” Vancouver Province, 8 March 1921, p. 18.  
• “Seattle Clinches Place in P.C.H.A. Playoff,” Vancouver Sun, 10 March 1921, p. 4.
• “Vancouver Amazons Secure Fourth Win,” Vancouver Daily World, 10 March 1921, p. 10.
• “‘Kewpies’ Finished Up in Second Place,” Victoria Daily Times, 12 March 1921, p. 10.
• Wayne Norton, Women on Ice: The Early Years of Women’s Hockey in Western Canada (Ronsdale Press, 2009).
• http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/pioneer+women+puck/11809360/story.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_women%27s_ice_hockey_history
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_women%27s_ice_hockey_in_the_United_States