Jenna Cunningham

From a young age, Jenna was committed to excellence as an athlete - playing basketball, volleyball, soccer, rugby and hockey. She was named Female Athlete of the Year at Medicine Hat High School in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Her team won the Southern Alberta Rugby Association League Championship in 2003 and 2005, and Jenna was the leading scorer on her rugby team in 2006.

But it was hockey that really captured Jenna’s heart. Jenna has assembled a celebrated and decorated hockey career from joining Medicine Hat Minor Hockey at age five (playing on the “boys” teams), to developing a AAA Midget Female team, to playing NCAA Division 1 Hockey, and finally Women’s Professional Hockey until her retirement in 2016.

During her career in Dartmouth, Jenna was named Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Hockey Second Team for three consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010), first team All-Ivy (2009), New England Hockey Writers Div. I Women’s All-Star team (2008, 2009, 2010), ECACHL All-Academic team (2007), three-time ECAC Hockey Player of the Week (2007-2008), United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) National Player of the Week (Nov 2007), and USCHO National Offensive Player of the Week (Nov 2006).

Jenna finished her National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 career with 125 points for 16th all-time for the Dartmouth Big Green (20th all-time at time of induction) and was the 16th player in Dartmouth history to reach 60 goals and 60 assists in a career. Jenna was co-captain of her team for her senior year and was nominated for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award in 2009.

Jenna had two hockey dreams:

1. to represent Canada in the Olympics, and;
2. to play on a professional women’s hockey team.

Jenna was being tracked for the National Olympic Team during her sophomore year of College when she experienced a devastating season-ending knee injury.While she never played with the Maple Leaf on her crest, “what could have been” was enough to let her switch her focus to her second dream, which became a reality when she was recruited to the Calgary Inferno in its inaugural season in 2011.

Jenna is the first female from Medicine Hat to play in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, and her career in professional women’s hockey culminated when the Inferno won the Clarkson Cup (female equivalent to the Stanley Cup) in 2016.

Jenna is widely recognized as a builder in the sport of female hockey. After playing “boys” hockey in Medicine Hat Minor Hockey from age five until Pee Wee, Jenna begged her father and another parent to organize a girl’s Midget hockey team for Medicine Hat. With lots of hard work and recruiting, the Medicine Hat Midget AAA Female Hawks were born. This same passion was applied when Jenna become one of the original members of the Calgary Inferno professional women’s hockey team of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL). Jenna was integral to the growth of the team, negotiating contracts as a member of the Player’s board and was selected as an ambassador to represent the Inferno in meetings with the NHL’s Calgary Flames to garner support for the CWHL.

In an article in Women’s Hockey Life (October 2016), Jenna is quoted saying, “I would like to be remembered as someone who was passionate about growing the women’s game, about building a future for young girls and as someone who saw the importance of building a relationship with the community.”

As recognition for her contribution to the growth of women’s professional hockey, the helmet Jenna wore during the 2016 Clarkson Cup Championship was selected for display in the Toronto Hockey Hall of Fame.

Jenna currently lives and works as a teacher in Calgary, Alberta. She is daughter to Lyle and Donna Cunningham of Medicine Hat and has two sisters.