Queen of the Ice - Eva Catherine Buels

Eva Catherine Buels

Section 29, Lot 43 E

Born Eva Catherine Ault on October 11, 1891 in Aultsville, Ontario, she was raised in nearby Finch before the Aults moved their family of five girls and three boys to Ottawa where they would lay down strong community roots.

Buels was among the young women who skated for the first Ottawa Alerts hockey team, which was founded in 1915 with girls from the Ottawa Ladies College and the Young Women’s Christian Association.

She became one of the game's first female stars and a fan favourite, earning the nickname “Queen of the Ice.” In March of 1922, her play was singled out in a Toronto newspaper article in which she was called “a real star,” noting that she scored at least one goal in practically every game she had played.

Sharing in her success was her younger sister Bessie who was also on the team. The Alerts were one of the most successful ladies teams in Canada, winning the Championship in their first season and earning the Eastern Canadian Championship in 1922 and the Ontario Ladies title as well as the Dominion Championship in 1923.

Buels married Ottawa athlete James Buels, who played for the Rough Riders Football Club. The couple did not have any children, and Buels did not work outside of the home, but was an active volunteer with the Minto skating club. She died in 1984 at the age of 93.