A Short History of the Hot Flash....
When there were only 3 women skating at Iceland, the hockey director, Rick Ramaley gave Carla Monnich an email he had received from a women's hockey team in Greensboro NC inviting us to come play them.  Three players, no goalie. Right. This was in 2002.
Eventually we got a few more players, Shelly Gunton , Samantha Merrifield, and Judi Labreque, among a couple others. (Of the original 3, Vickie had moved and Carla and Shelley Ionescu (who was the one that suggested the name 'Hot Flash) were left.)
Still, no goalie.
When the Columbia Inferno came to town, many people, adults and kids, who had never seen a hockey game got bit by the bug. The numbers of women who wanted to play hockey suddenly swelled and Judi, Sam, Shelly, and Carla set about organizing the team.
We played our first game on Feb. 21, 2004 against the Lady Rays at the Coliseum, where the Inferno played. Laura Mills played net. After Laura dropped out, Judi put on the pads.
Since then, our ranks have grown to enough players for 2 teams. A roster was formed from the best of the players to send a team to our first tournament in Charlotte, NC in Dec. 2004 with Autumn Wiley in net, and Shelly Gunton wearing the 'C'.
Women's hockey is thriving in the South!



home