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Celebrating four decades of women’s hockey  

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On Jan. 5, the Saturday of the Theresa Humes Women’s Hockey Tournament, more than 70 people managed to tear themselves away from the excitement in the arena to attend a cocktail party across the street.

It was a celebration of four decades of women’s hockey given by Advancement and Alumni Relations in the atrium of the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex.
Theresa Humes, Director of Women’s Athletics at Concordia from 1976 to 1984, was a guest of honour, and attended with her son, Bill Humes.

Rousing applause went to head coach Les Lawton for his 25 years of dedication to the sport and Concordia. Lawton made a speech thanking the university for keeping women’s hockey alive when there was no league, and “for insisting that we are called the Stingers and not the Lady Stingers or the Stingerettes.”

However, many of those present would agree with Jared Book, writing in The Concordian student newspaper, who said it was we who should thank Lawton for over 500 wins, two national championships, and “so many provincial championships they need two banners to put them on.”

Among the guests at the reception were two of the original members of the first women’s hockey team at Loyola College, the Loyola Tommies: Tomasine MacMillan and Diane Girard.

Jacques Chagnon, MNA for Westmount-Saint-Louis, was on hand, as were Cecilia Anderson, alumna and silver medalist in the 2006 Olympic Games, and Patricia (Paddie) Chiara, a Concordia Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

Nearly 30 women’s hockey alumnae, who had played a game that morning for old times’ sake, mingled with members of the current Stingers team and their parents. The good cheer more than made up for the Stingers’ defeat by McGill in the tournament’s final game by a decisive 7-0.