Hockey pioneer Cindy Curley of Stow stunned by Hall of Fame call

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Earlier this week, Cindy Curley was planting a vegetable garden at her home in Stow when her phone buzzed with an unfamiliar number.

“I thought it was a telemarketer,” Curley said. “I had the gloves on. I said, ‘I’ll just let that go.’”

Then, there was another call from the same number, then a text that said, “Cindy Curley, if this is your number, you need to pick this up.

“So I picked it up,” Curley said.

When Curley answered, she received the news that she will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2026.

“I was shocked,” Curley said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

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Curley, a Nashoba Regional graduate and a pioneer of U.S. women’s hockey who played in the inaugural International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's World Championship, joins Boston Bruins legend Patrice Bergeron, Carey Price, Pekka Rinne, Keith Tkachuk and executive Brian Burke in the star-studded induction class. The induction ceremony is Nov. 9 in Toronto.

“I’m still speechless,” Curley said. “This is hard to fathom.”

Curley lives just down the street from where she grew up, on Lake Boon, where her dad, Gene, taught her to skate and put a hockey stick in her hand when she was 5.

Curley played on boys’ teams and girls’ teams, including the Assabet Valley program, which she led to a national championship as a high school senior in 1981.

At Providence College, Curley helped lead the Friars to their first two ECAC Championship titles in 1984 and 1985. She ranks third all-time at PC with 225 career points.

The great Cammi Granato (PC Class of 1993) is the only other Providence women’s hockey alum in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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After college, Curley represented the United States on the international stage at four Women’s World Championships in 1987 (unofficial event), 1990, 1992 and 1994, and helped the U.S. to three silver medals. Curley served as captain of the U.S. national women’s team from 1989-1996.

“I always say that women’s hockey and I grew up together,” Curley said. “When I started, I played on the pond, and you threw your sticks in the middle and tried to memorize who was good and pull their stick out (to make teams). Then I started playing and found out, ‘Wow! I can get a scholarship and go play in college.’ After college, it was, ‘Oh, wow. What’s next?’ There really wasn’t much except to go back and play Senior A.

“Then in 1987 Canada and the United States put together first Women’s World Championships,” Curley said “and you wore the USA jersey, which was just amazing, and you played with the best of the best. In 1990, they made it a permanent world event and at that point it was hard to imagine what could be next.”

Curley retired from playing competitively in 1995, three years before women’s hockey became an Olympic sport.

“Sadly,” Curley said, “because that team was just spectacular.”

For 40 years, Curley worked at Orchard Hills Athletic Club in Lancaster. She began there as an accountant – making her mom, Elinor, very happy that she was putting her college degree to use – and eventually owning the club. She and her business partner sold Orchard Hills two years ago.

In her retirement, the 62-year-old Curley continues to work out regularly at Orchard Hills and play hockey with the “Stick Chicks” in Groton on Friday afternoons.

“It’s co-ed now,” Curley said with a laugh, “so I’m not sure that name fits anymore.”

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Curley, who was a forward, still gets around the ice pretty well.

“It doesn’t quite look like it used to,” she said, “but it’s a fun bunch of people. It’s the camaraderie, the friendships, the laughs. It’s such a great lifetime sport.”

Curley’s father played for the Hudson Rusty Blades into his 80s.

Curley is a member of several U.S. Hockey committees.

For Curley, watching the U.S. win Olympic gold at this year’s Winter Olympics, seeing the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) take off, and witnessing the growth of girls’ and women’s hockey is rewarding and inspiring.

Female participation in U.S. hockey surpassed 100,000 registered players this year according to USA Hockey.

“It’s mind boggling,” Curley said.

“When I was done,” Curley said, “to see this become an Olympic sport was amazing. To see Cammi Granato, still the greatest player ever, lead that team to its first gold medal and then see Kendall Coyne Schofield push through the PWHL was just fabulous to see. To hear my young neighbors, boys, talk about the women’s pro league is so gratifying. It’s great that women have the ability to make a living playing hockey.”

Curley is a member of the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame, the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

“I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to play,” Curley said. “(Election to the Hockey Hall of Fame) is unimaginable to me. It’s a testament to so many people that played hockey when I did, who played for the love of the game and couldn’t envision what has all unfolded with these great players that have pushed women’s hockey so much farther. They are the real heroes, the people who gained more opportunities for women.

“I love watching the Bruins, don’t get me wrong,” Curley said, “and Bobby Orr was my hero because there weren’t really any women to look up to then, but now it’s great there are so many great women’s players that you can add to the list.”

–Contact Jennifer Toland at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Hockey pioneer Cindy Curley of Stow stunned by Hall of Fame call

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