From 1933 To 1973, Maine's Women's Hockey History Was Rooted In Waterville

Women's hockey came and went in Maine for the first six decades of the 20th century. Typically the game was played at winter carnivals or festivals as one-off annual events, or in the spirit of fun.

The first occurrence of a women's hockey game on record in Maine took place in Waterville on February 7, 1933. The game took place at South End Arena as part of a winter carnival sponsored by the Waterville Hairdressers Association. Many leagues and games at the time were tied to business affiliations, much like the telephone leagues in Montreal. This game featured women working as "manicurists" in the town.

"Dropping the comb and brush for the evening, the fair damsels - and there's a bevy of them - will don regulation hockey uniform and go at it for three periods, everything according to Amateur rules, hair pulling and face scratching barred," the Waterville (Maine) Morning Sentinel wrote the day of the game. "...and then comes the feature, the hockey scramble between two teams selected from the city's leading manicurists."

After the game, the carnival was deemed a "great success" by papers. It also, according to the Waterville (Maine) Morning Sentinel's February 8, 1933 paper, marked a moment in hockey history in the state.

"In the feature event, the audience saw the first all ladies' hockey game ever staged in this state and in New England," the paper wrote.

The game featured two teams dubbed "Pal's Club" and "All-American," and uniquely, media coverage of the event made specific mention of standout players.

"Skating with the agility of a star, Grace Letourneau scored six goals in the girls' game, putting her team, the Pals, way ahead against an All American organization of manicurists," wrote the Sentinel.

"Lillian Poulin, who is a star forward with Winslow High's basketeers, held her mates, the All-Americans, in the fight throughout but did not have the support to even the fray."

While women's hockey took a long hiatus in the state of Maine following that event, it would return in full force, again in Waterville, during the early 1970s at Colby College, where the Colby College Mules would become an early powerhouse, and a pioneering program in America.

Forty years following the first women's hockey game in the state, Colby College hosted the first intercollegiate hockey game in state history on February 17, 1973 against the Brown University Pandas.

The Colby College Mules would take a narrow 3-2 win. "A thrilling emotion-packed game, the contest wasn't decided until, with 1:27 left, sophomore Sue Conant tucked home a rebound..." The Colby Echo, the school's student-run newspaper wrote in their February 22 issue.

The paper described solid goaltending from Ronda Luce, and the response of the crowd following the first intercollegiate goal in program history, scored by first line center Lyn Estes.

"The thunderous ovation which followed this goal was like nothing heard in Alfond Arena yet this year," The Colby Echo wrote. Estes would score Colby's second goal as well, and assisted on Conant's winner.

"When the final buzzer sounded, the approval of the crowd was equal to that accorded to Stanley Cup champions," the paper wrote, also stating that the dedication of the crowd and players showed "there is a definite place on campus for a girls' hockey team."

That prediction proved true as the team continued to evolve into a national force, including an undefeated season in 1976-1977 paced by program legend Lee Johnson. Colby played in NCAA Division I hockey for two decades producing national stars such as Laura Halldorson, Meaghan Sittler, Reagan Carey, Barb Gordon, and Courtney Kennedy. The team left Division I to move to NCAA DIII competition following the 1997-1998 season.

The 1997-1998 marked a separate first in women's hockey history in Maine, as the University of Maine Black Bears iced their first team.

In the following decades women's hockey has continued to grow in Maine, but the sport in the Pine Tree State has its roots in Waterville.

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