| Team Name: | Alberta Pandas |
| Team Link: | |
| University: | University of Alberta |
| Conference: | Canada West Universities Athletic Association |
| Conference Short: | Canada West |
| Location: | Edmonton, Alberta |
| Coach: | Darren Bilawchuk |
| Coach Year: | 1st |
| Coach Wins: | 31 |
| Coach Losses: | 11 |
| Coach Ties: | 0 |
| Arena: | Clare Drake Arena |
| Capacity: | 3000 |
| Color1: | Green |
| Color2: | Gold |
| Color3: | White |
| Hex1: | 154733 |
| Hex2: | FEC524 |
| Hex3: | ffffff |
| Usportschampion: | 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017 |
| Conference Tournament: | 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2019, 2020 |
The Alberta Pandas ice hockey team represents the University of Alberta in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association of U Sports. The team was led by head coach Howie Draper from 1997 (the year the team joined U Sports) until 2023, when Draper left to become head coach of PWHL New York. The current head coach is Darren Bilawchuk. The program has won the most Canada West conference championships with 14 and the most U Sports national championships with eight.[1]
On January 25, 2011, it was announced that the 1999–2000 University of Alberta Pandas hockey team would be inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.[2]
In the era of the First World War, the University of Alberta formed men's ice hockey and women's ice hockey teams. The women's team played many community based teams.The University of Alberta played the Edmonton Monarchs in the Monarchs first ever game in 1918.[3] The city of Edmonton would organize women's ice hockey into three divisions in 1930: junior, intermediate and senior. The Edmonton Monarchs and the University of Alberta were the only teams that comprised the senior division.[4] In that same year, the University of Alberta would challenge the Edmonton Monarchs for the Alpine Cup. The Monarchs prevailed by a 1–0 score. By 1934, the University of Alberta was demoted to the intermediate division.In 1937, the University of Alberta competed for the Alpine Cup, contested at the Banff Winter Carnival. The club lost to the Calgary Avenue Grills team.[4]
On March 14, 2004, the Pandas won their third consecutive National Championship and their fourth in five years. The Pandas became the first team to win three consecutive championships which remains unmatched as of 2020.[5] The win came courtesy of a 2–0 tally over the Ottawa Gee-Gees. For the season, the Pandas went 20–0–0 in Canada West play, 7–0 in the postseason, and a 35–0–0 overall mark.[6] U Sports Player of the Year Danielle Bourgeois scored both goals in the game[7] as Alberta outshot Ottawa 45–14 overall. The game-winning goal was assisted by Canadian national team member Delaney Collins. With the triumph, the Pandas ran their undefeated streak against U Sports opponents to 81 games. During the streak, their last loss to a U Sports team was on October 13, 2001.[7]
On March 14, 2010, the Pandas won the Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's ice hockey championship which was their seventh title in the 13 years since the tournament's inception. In the gold-medal game, they defeated the McGill Martlets by a score of 2–0.[8] While the program did not have as much of a dominant national run in the next decade, the team managed to claim their eighth national championship in 2017 after once again defeating the Martlets in double overtime by a score of 2–1.[9] It was also the first time that the Pandas had won the National championship while not winning their conference championship in the same year.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and financial reasons, the University of Alberta announced that the Pandas would not participate in the 2020–21 season, if one were to be held.[10] Former Pandas Hockey defender, Taylor Kezama, a 2017 U Sports National Champion, and a 2019 Canada West champion, was one of 18 former U Sports student-athletes announced among the inaugural participants of the U SPORTS Female Apprenticeship Coach Program.[11]
| National Tournament champions | Conference Champions |
| Season | Coach | Conf. Record | Overall | Postseason | |
| 1997–98 | Howie Draper | None | 3–1–0 | Fifth, CIAU tournament | |
| 1998–99 | Howie Draper | 4–1–1 | 20–8–3 | Second, CIAU tournament | |
| 1999-00 | Howie Draper | 15–1–1 | 26–3–1 | CIAU tournament champions | |
| 2000–01 | Howie Draper | 13–1–2 | 20–6–2 | Did not qualify | |
| 2001–02 | Howie Draper | 16–0–0 | 33–1–0 | CIS tournament champions | |
| 2002–03 | Howie Draper | 19–0–1 | 34–0–1 | CIS tournament champions | |
| 2003–04 | Howie Draper | 20–0–0 | 35–0–0 | CIS tournament champions | |
| 2004–05 | Howie Draper | 20–0–0 | 28–1–0 | Second, CIS tournament | |
| 2005–06 | Howie Draper | 16–1–3 | 27–3–3 | CIS tournament champions | |
| 2006–07 | Howie Draper | 21–3 | 33–4–1 | CIS tournament champions | |
| 2007–08 | Howie Draper | 21–2–1 | 29–5–1 | Fourth, CIS tournament | |
| 2008–09 | Howie Draper | 22–2 | 26–5 | Did not qualify | |
| 2009–10 | Howie Draper | 23–1–0 | 33–1 | CIS tournament champions | |
| 2010–11 | Howie Draper | 17–7 | 25–14 | Fifth, CIS tournament | |
| 2011–12 | Howie Draper | 14–10 | 23–16 | Fifth, CIS tournament | |
| 2012–13 | Howie Draper | 16–12 | 25–16 | Did not qualify | |
| 2013–14 | Howie Draper | 20–8 | 23–11 | Did not qualify | |
| 2014–15 | Howie Draper | 20–8 | 28–14 | Eighth, CIS tournament | |
| 2015–16 | Howie Draper | 16–12 | 21–14 | Did not qualify | |
| 2016–17 | Howie Draper | 21–7 | 36–9 | U Sports tournament champions | |
| 2017–18 | Howie Draper | 19–9 | 27–12 | Did not qualify | |
| 2018–19 | Howie Draper | 23–5 | 33–7 | Fourth, U Sports tournament | |
| 2019–20 | Howie Draper | 20–8 | 28–10 | Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.[12] | |
| 2020–21 | Cancelled due financial reasons caused by the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| 2021–22 | Howie Draper | 13–7 | 22–11 | Did not qualify | |
| 2022–23 | Howie Draper | 21–7 | 28–12 | Did not qualify | |
| 2023–24 | Darren Bilawchuk (interim) | 21–7 | 30–10 | Did not qualify | |
| Season | MVP | |
| 1997–98 | Krysty Lorenz | |
| 1998–99 | Lori Shupak | |
| 1999-00 2000–01 | Stacey McCullough | |
| 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 | Danielle Bourgeois | |
| 2005–06 | Kristen Hagg | |
| 2006–07 | Lindsay McAlpine | |
| 2007–08 | Jennifer Newton | |
| 2008–09 | Tarin Podloski | |
| 2009–10 | Dana Vinge |
| Player | Event | Result | |
| Judy Diduck [23] | Silver |
| = CWHL All-Star | = NWHL All-Star | = Clarkson Cup Champion | = Isobel Cup Champion |
| Player | Position | Team(s) | League(s) | Years | Titles |
| Megan Eady | Melbourne Ice SDE | AWIHL SDHL | |||
| Michala Jefferies | Goaltender | Sydney Sirens | AWIHL | 1 | |
| Forward | Buffalo Beauts | ||||
| Goaltender | Calgary Inferno SDE HF | CWHL SDHL | 4 | ||
The following were selected in the 2010 CWHL Draft.[24]
| Player | Position | Team | Selection |
| Delaney Collins | Defense |
| |