By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Calgary Inferno excited to continue growing female game with CWHL matchup in Red Deer

Dec 13, 2018 | 10:10 AM

Some of the country’s best women’s hockey players are going to be in Red Deer this weekend for a fun-filled day featuring the female game.

On Saturday, Hockey Alberta presents Female Hockey Day at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

Throughout the day, there will be off-ice development and Try Hockey sessions, and a speaker series. The evening’s main event features a regular season matchup between the CWHL’s Calgary Inferno (12-1-0-0-1) and Toronto Furies (6-7-0-0-0), with puck drop at 7 p.m. There will be an autograph session to follow.

Inferno blueliner Kelly Murray, whose sister Eden is a forward on the team, says the chance to play a CWHL game in Red Deer for the first time is really cool having grown up in Medicine Hat.

“It was really exciting a couple weeks ago at WickFest because there was a Medicine Hat girls hockey team in the tournament,” recounts Murray. “Eden and I stopped by before their game on Sunday and chatted with the girls for a few minutes in the locker room, and we touched on how amazing it was for us to be able to see something that wouldn’t have been available to us 10 years ago.”

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In their youth, the Murray sisters, who are about 19 months apart in age, played on both girls and boys hockey teams, something Kelly credits for their success.

“The boys hockey thing, that was how you got your hockey fix when we were younger,” says the elder Murray, now 24. “To see an entire day dedicated towards girls hockey, growing the game and displaying to these young girls a team of role models right in the same province as them — the majority of the girls on our team having played NCAA Division 1, CIS, the top levels of university hockey, and multiple Olympians – is great.”

Murray adds that for anyone wondering, the female game isn’t boring.

“A lot of people who are used to the men’s game maybe expect a slower sort of game when they come watch us play, but in all reality it’s exciting hockey, it’s fast, and very skilled,” she says.

“It’s super special seeing how much hockey has grown, especially female hockey within Alberta and in places like Red Deer and Medicine Hat. Women’s hockey is a great game and to see young girls get into it, it’s one of the best things they can do for themselves as a young woman, in my opinion.”

For more details on what’s happening this Saturday at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre, to register for sessions or buy tickets to the game, visit HockeyAlberta.ca.