Your Edmonton Pylons were founded in 1997 when a league administrator unknowingly matched two groups of like-minded but unacquainted aspiring hockey players.
We held tryouts. Those who could skate found better teams to play on. Those who couldn’t stuck around for a winless season; over 24 games we were outscored 282 to 8. We finished dead last in the lowest division of the Northern Alberta Female Hockey Association.
We learned to skate, and to stop, and eventually, to score. Some years we’ve had more goalies than we’ve had goals.
Once a Pylon, always a Pylon. Pylons rarely quit, and we simply don’t make cuts. Seven founding mothers still play today. We are siblings, in-laws, best friends, coworkers. Lawyers, police officers, nurses, and veterinarians. Teammates.
Hockey has taken us to places we thought we’d never go, like Beiseker and Warburg.
And to some places we thought we’d never stay: Thorhild’s Corona Inn and Tavern. The Golden West Motor Inn in Carstairs.
The league has expanded to five divisions, and the Pylons currently hover around the middle of Division Three. We skate backwards. Some of us take slapshots, and we eat cookies after every game.
Build your self-esteem, and come out and watch us play.
Your Edmonton Pylons are an Edmonton-based women’s hockey team who love playing hockey. Even if hockey doesn’t love them back.
