The campaign to get Hazel McCallion inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for 2018
Images via https://twitter.com/HazelHallofFame
Through the power of the good ol' internet, a Twitter account has been created petitioning to have Mississauga's iconic Hazel McCallion inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as their first female builder as part of the class of 2018.
With just over 30 days to accomplish their goal (see what we did there?) the account already has 513 followers and over 100 re-tweets.
Says Fran Rider, one of the founders of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association and was among the 2017 class named to the Order of Hockey in Canada:
“Hazel gave women’s hockey credibility. Without her, we wouldn’t have gotten here. She not only put her name to [women’s hockey], she... would attend any women’s hockey event and ask, ‘What else can I do to help?’ The women’s hockey community calls her our mayor.”
Hazel was a star in the Gaspé Coast League in Quebec in the 1930's. She moved to Montreal in the 1940s & played centre for the Kik Cola team in the three-team Montreal women’s league for two seasons (1940-41 & 1941-42).
Kik Cola paid her $5 per game, making her the first-ever professional female hockey player.
The Twitter account, Hazel Hall of Fame has a lot of pictures, quotes and tidbits of history involving McCallion and women's hockey and is asking for the public's support by re-tweeting their pinned tweet to serve as a petition to have McCallion inducted.
Results will be delivered to the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee on May 7, 2018.
Keep an eye on their account as new posts are made and perhaps we'll see "Hurricane" Hazel be inducted as part of the class of 2018.