Angela James - Honours and Legacy

Honours and Legacy

"She is a women's hockey hero who continues to inspire young players across the country. For me, she will always be the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey"

—Bob Nicholson, President and CEO of Hockey Canada

James has been called "the first superstar of modern women's hockey", and has been hailed as a pioneer who brought the women's game into the mainstream. Longtime women's hockey administrator Fran Rider stated that James brought credibility, without which the women's game would never have gained recognition as an Olympic sport.

An eight-time scoring champion and six-time most valuable player during her senior career, James has been honoured by several organizations. She was named Toronto's Youth of the Year in 1985 and was presented the city's Women in Sport Enhancement Award in 1992. Hockey Canada named her the 2005 recipient of its Female Hockey Breakthrough Award. The Flemingdon Park arena was renamed the Angela James Arena in 2009, and the Canadian Women's Hockey League presents the Angela James Bowl to its leading scorer each sseason. She has been inducted into several Halls of Fame, including the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Black Hockey and Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

Reflecting her role as a pioneer of the sport, James was one of the first three women, along with Geraldine Heaney and Cammi Granato, to be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. They were enshrined in 2008 as part of the IIHF's 100th anniversary celebrations. Canada's Sports Hall of Fame hailed James as a role model upon inducting her in 2009. One year later, she joined Granato as the first two women inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. James described being informed of her election as a day she never thought would happen, adding: "I'm really honoured to represent the female hockey players from all over the world".