Albertine Lapensée

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Albertine Lapensée
Albertine Lapensée
Lapensée in 1917
Born (1898-08-10)August 10, 1898
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
Died Unknown
Position Forward
Played for Cornwall Victorias (ELHL)
Playing career 1916–1918

Albertine Lapensée (August 10, 1898 – unknown) was a

First World War
.

Lapensée was reputed to have scored over 150 goals and led her team to be unbeaten throughout 1916 and 1917, when records indicate that they won 45 of their 46 games. However, after demanding a share of the profits from the games, Lapensée disappeared from the sport in 1918, still aged under 20. There were a number of rumours: that she had died in the

1918 flu pandemic, that she had travelled to New York to undergo a sex-change, or that she had always been a draft dodging
man, though none provided any credible evidence. A 1940 profile of her father refuted all those claims, detailing her as living as a woman in New York.

Early life and hockey career

Albertine Lapensée.

Albertine Lapensée was born on August 10, 1898, in

First World War, the exodus of men to the fighting resulted in the decline of amateur hockey leagues. This meant that hockey arenas were losing revenue, and to counter this, the owners of the Jubilee Arena in Montreal organised a four-team women's hockey league in 1915, the Eastern Ladies' Hockey League. Lapensée joined the Cornwall Nationals, quickly renamed the Cornwall Victorias, who joined the league a year later.[1] On her debut in January 1916, she scored five goals in a 6–0 win for the Victorias,[2] while a week later she scored six as her team won 8–0.[3] In another game, she scored 15 goals,[4][5] to help Cornwall to a 21–0 victory.[1] Her exploits helped to promote the ladies' sport; the Jubilee Arena was selling out its 3,000 seats for games, while the Cornwall Victorias were being asked to sign contracts with other teams to play in their arenas – as long as Lapensée was playing.[3] In the press, she was nicknamed the "Miracle Maid" by the English-language press, and "l'etoile des etoiles" ("the star of stars") by the French-language press.[1]

Such was her domination of the sport that there were persistent rumours that she was actually a man.

Cornwall Standard Freeholder claimed that "we'll never know if Albertine was actually an Albert", suggesting the possibility that Lapensée was actually a draft dodger named Albert.[3]

Newspaper records suggest that between 1916 and 1917, the Cornwall Victorias went unbeaten for 46 games; winning 45 and tying 1. During that period, they outscored their opponents 228–29, of which Lapensée scored 150, averaging more than three goals per game.[1] Lapensée's ability and strength led to some odd occurrences in games she was involved in. In one, the Montreal Westerns played a 17-year-old, Ada Lalonde, who was being touted as "a hockey prodigy" and a talent to rival Lapensée. Lalonde turned out to be a young man that Montreal's owner had convinced to take part to try and outshine Lapensée.[7] In another game, the Westerners goaltender, a Miss Hardman, was so scared of Lapensée's powerful shot that she wore a baseball catcher's mask.[8] Lapensée realised how much money the league was making for the arenas, and how significant her role was in her team's success, and she demanded a share of the profits. These claims, leaked to the press, led the Montreal Star to dub her a prima donna. The team owners refused, and Lapensée retired from the league in 1918.[8]

Later life

After quitting the ELHL, which itself faded into obscurity and folded after the war, Lapensée disappeared from the limelight. A variety of rumours circulated; there were some reports that she had died during the

sex reassignment operations did not take place until after the Second World War.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Yaccato, Bruce (March 4, 2015). "Albertine Lapensée". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  2. ^ a b McKinley 2006, p. 78.
  3. ^ a b c d McIntosh, Claude (April 19, 2011). "GUEST SHOT: We'll never know if Albertine was actually an Albert". Cornwall Standard Freeholder. Archived from the original on 2018-05-26. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Hall 2009, p. 92.
  5. ^ Dion, Jean (March 4, 2017). "Albertine Lapensée, déesse éphémère du hockey". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Yaccato, Bruce (March 4, 2015). ""All the Rage": Women's Hockey in Central Canada 1915–1920". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c McKinley 2006, p. 79.
  8. ^
    Montreal Gazette
    . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  9. PMID 17373398
    .

Bibliography

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