By Duane Watson

If you had to name the player who led Canada to four gold medals at the World Hockey Championships in the 1990s, and scored 25 goals and 41 points in 25 international games, you might guess Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux or Mark Messier. Unfortunately, all of those answers would be incorrect.

If you were told this player was a female of African-Canadian descent, would that make the question easier? Still drawing a blank? Well, you would be forgiven if Angela James didn’t come to mind.

Despite a dominant career at every level of women’s hockey, until recently the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) hasn’t deemed it fit to recognize her contributions either. In fact, the doors of the HHOF, a Canadian institution that inducts players from across the globe, have been closed to women in general.

But, after amending its old boy’s club bylaws in 2009, this November marked the first time that women hockey players have been recognized. James was the first Canadian, alongside American Cammi Granato. “It’s been overwhelming and incredibly humbling,” James says. “I used to take groups of kids to the HHOF and they’d ask, ‘How come there isn’t a girl in here?’ I would always tell them, ‘One day.’ My puck was there for scoring the first-ever goal in the Women’s World Championships (WWC). That, for me, was the pinnacle. This is just something else altogether.”

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As a six-year-old girl, James never found it unusual that she played ball hockey with the boys, so she never stopped. Nor did she find it unusual that she was the only Black girl playing on white ice. “I’ve never associated my world with the colour of my skin,” James says. “I’ve encountered some prejudices and some racist remarks throughout my career, but nothing I’m sure that other people haven’t had to deal with.”

Her positive attitude helped to propel James to career highs such as playing in the first-ever Women’s National Championships and the first WWC for Team Canada. She says those moments were special as she felt the game changing for women. “Winning along the way certainly helped as well,” she adds. And James did win. She was MVP a number of times and her game was likened to a mix of the power and toughness of Mark Messier and the playmaking and vision of Wayne Gretzky.

Fast forward to today. James, who is retired, continues to play and coach hockey as she raises her three children with her partner. She’s also no stranger to ceremonies, having already been inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the Black Hockey and Sports Hall of Fame as well as the Ontario Colleges and Athletic Association Hall of Fame.

The Flemingdon Park Arena, in the neighbourhood where she grew up, has even been renamed Angela James Arena. Now, with her name alongside greats like Gretzky, Lemieux and Messier, perhaps James will be top of mind when it comes to women’s hockey, and hockey in general.

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