Overview of Women's Hockey at the Olympics

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1998 Olympics

The first Olympics tournament that featured women's hockey was 1998 in Nagano, following the creation of the formal World Championship in 1990. Canada had won the 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1997 World Championships, before falling to the US at the 1998 Olympics.

The tournament was very much a tournament of four teams. Japan was awful, posting a goal differential of -43. Finland was the only competitive team to Canada and the US, who went undefeated in the tournament except against each other.

End result was
Gold - US
Silver - Canada
Bronze - Finland


Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P	+-
1	Finland	Riika Nieminen	6	7	5	12	+14
2	Canada	Danielle Goyette	6	8	1	9	+10
3	USA	Karyn Bye	6	5	3	8	+4
4	USA	Cammi Granato	6	4	4	8	+2
5	USA	Katie King	6	4	4	8	+10
6	USA	Gretchen Ulion	6	3	5	8	+3
7	Canada	Hayley Wickenheiser	6	2	6	8	+7
8	Canada	Thérèse Brisson	6	5	2	7	+5
9	USA	Laurie Baker	6	4	3	7	+10
10	Finland	Kirsi Hänninen	6	4	3	7	+13

Scoring Summary for the two Canada-US games (since they were so far ahead of the rest of the teams) for anyone with 2+ points.

Cammie Granato - 1 G 1 A 2 P
Sandra Whyte - 1 G 2 A 3 P

Lori Dupuis - 2 G 1 A
Hayley Wickenheiser - 0 G 2 A 2 P

Danielle Goyette had 7 goals 1 assists 8 points in the 4 games against non-US teams, but only 1 goal across both US games.

No media or IIHF awards were handed out.

A selection of quotes

Calgary Herald - February 7, 1998
Doctors advised Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser, the best female hockey player in the world, that there could be a hairline fracture in her elbow.

Ottawa Citizen - February 8, 1998
Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser, 19, is recognized as one of the best, if not the best, female hockey players in the world.

Portland Press - February 12, 1998
Tueting was "really strong," coach Ben Smith said. "After the goal she gave up... she really dug in and held the fort for us."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - February 18, 1998
Goaltender is a standout as Canadian opponents keep it close all the way.

"...Team USA leading 2-1, thanks chiefly to Tueting’s grand performance."

Daily News - February 18, 1998
US goaltender saves the day

The Rock Island Argus - February 18, 1998
Tueting plays huge in goal for US.... Sarah Tueting was almost untouchable in goal

Ventura Country Star - February 18, 1998
Angela Ruggiero played an important role in her team’s victory

I've found a decent volume of comments for Canada/US games, but the coverage of Sweden/Finland/China/Japan is very minimal.

It's interesting that Wickenheiser is already getting mentioned as one of the best in the world. I had always treated 2002 as her coming out part as the world's best, but she already had a strong reputation in 1998

Sarah Tueting got lots of positive praise, and was likely the MVP of the gold medal game.



2002 Olympics

The 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City saw a much expanded tournament. The IIHF hosted a 3-game qualifying tournament and the tournament itself expanded from 6 to 8 teams. It marked the Olympics debut of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Germany.

Similar to 1998, it was a tournament dominated by Canada and the US. Canada had 25 GF and 0 GA in the 3 games in Group A. They were the only team to post a positive goal differential. Likewise, the States went undefeated in Group B going 27 G 1 GA. Finland was by far the best other team, going +1 GD.

The end result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - USA
Bronze - Sweden

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P	+-
1	Canada	Hayley Wickenheiser	5	7	3	10	+7
2	USA	Cammi Granato	5	6	4	10	+9
3	Canada	Canielle Goyette	5	3	7	10	+7
4	USA	Natalie Darwitz	5	7	1	8	+8
5	USA	Katie King	5	4	3	7	+6
6	Canada	Jayna Hefford	5	3	4	7	+7
7	USA	Jenny Potter	5	1	6	7	+6
8	USA	Tara Mounsey	5	0	7	7	+5
9	Canada	Vicky Sunohara	5	4	2	6	+7
10	Canada	Jennifer Botterill	5	3	3	6	+2
11	USA	Karyn Bye	5	3	3	6	+6
12	Finland	Katja Riipi	5	3	3	6	+4

Scoring Summary for the Canada-US game (since they were so far ahead of the rest of the teams).

USA
Tara Mounsey - 0 G 2 A 2 P
Katie King - 1 G 0 A 1 P
Karyn Bye - 1 G 0 A 1 P
Cammi Granato - 0 G 1 A 1 P
Jenniffer Potter - 0 G 1 A 1 P

Canada
Hayley Wickenheiser - 1 G 0 A 1 P
Caroline Ouellette - 1 G 0 A 1 P
Jayna Hefford - 1 G 0 A 1 P
Cherie Piper - 0 G 1 A 1 P
Danielle Goyette - 0 G 1 A 1 P
Becky Kellar - 0 G 1 A 1 P
Therese Brisson - 0 G 1 A 1 P

Hayley Wickenheiser was named the tournament MVP.

The media all-stars were
Forward: Natalie Darwitz, Cammi Granato, Hayley Wickenheiser
Defensemen: Tara Mounsey, Angela Ruggiero
Goalie: Kim St-Pierre

The IIHF all-stars were
Forward: Hayley Wickenheiser
Defensemen: Angela Ruggiero
Goaltender: Kim St-Pierre

The Atlanta Constitution - February 12, 2002
Cammi Granato - the reigning queen of the sport in the United States

The Winnipeg Sun - February 14, 2002
Hayley Wickenheiser is regarded as perhaps the best women's hockey player in the world.... None of them are close to Wickenheiser.

Alberni Valley Times - February 18, 2002
Wickenheiser, who at 23 is already a nine-year veteran of the national women's team and is the squad's career scoring leader with 160 points in 108 games.

...the five-foot-nine, 170-pound Wickenheiser, whose size, speed, strength, and skill make her the Jaromir Jagr of women's hockey.

Hayley Wickenheiser is among those considered to be the heart and soul of Canada's women's hockey team.

Red Deer Advocate - February 20, 2002
Hayley Wickenheiser, Canada's best woman hockey player of all time.

The Vancouver Sun - February 21, 2002
At the 2001 world championships, the Americans felt they outplayed Canada only to run into the brick wall of Kim St-Pierre. "Goaltending is our strength," Canadian forward Hayley Wickenheiser said. " She's kept us in a lot of games this year."

The gold medal matchup of the United States and Canada was not tough to predict. Neither has ever lost to anyone except to each other, and they waltzed into the medal round without a real scare.

The Herald-News (NJ) - February 22, 2002
Hayley Wickenheiser broke a second-period tie and Kim St-Pierre stopped 25 shots as Canada ended a 50-year gold medal drought in Olympics hockey.

Alberni Valley Times - February 22, 2002
Caroline Ouellette, Hayley Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford scored Canada's goals, and Kim St-Pierre was outstanding in the nets. "She kept us in it," Wickenheiser told CBC of St-Pierre.

[Cassie] Campbell and Wickenheiser seemed to be constantly on the ice.

Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester) - February 22, 2002
Team USA had its best two defensemen, Angela Ruggiero and AJ Mleczko, on the ice

Lots of really strong praise for Wickenheiser. Clear tournament MVP and strong reputation as best women's hockey player of all time.


2006 Olympics
The 2006 Olympics in Turin saw Italy and Switzerland make their Olympics debut. Like 1998 and 2002, the tournament was dominated by Canada and the US, with Finland a clear third. Sweden was much improved. Canada went 36 GF 1 GA in the preliminary round, while the US went 18 GF 3 GA. Canada embarrassed the host Italy 16-0.

The end result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - Sweden
Bronze - USA

Sweden upset the US in the semi-final in a shoot-out. Swedish goalie Kim Martin stopped 37 of 39 shots, and shut the door on all four American shooters in the SO.

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P	+-
1	Canada	Hayley Wickenheiser	5	5	12	17	+15
2	Canada	Cherie Piper	5	7	8	15	+15
3	Canada	Gillian Apps	5	7	7	14	+13
4	Canada	Caroline Ouellette	5	5	4	9	+12
5	Sweden	Maria Rooth	5	5	4	9	+1
6	USA	Jenny Potter	5	2	7	9	+10
7	USA	Katie King	5	6	2	8	+6
8	USA	Sarah Parsons	5	4	3	7	+9
9	Canada	Jayna Hefford	5	3	4	7	+8
10	Canada	Jennifer Botterill	5	1	6	7	+6

Wickenheiser's line lead the way, combining for 46 points in 5 games. Wickenheiser put up 2 goals 3 assists against Italy, Piper put up 1 goal 5 assists against Italy, and Apps put up 2 goals 3 assists against Italy.

Wickenheiser lead the way with 12 points in the other 4 games.

Hayley Wickenheiser was again named the tournament MVP.

The media all-stars were
Forward: Hayley Wickenheiser, Gillian Apps, Maria Rooth
Defensemen: Carla MacLeod, Angela Ruggiero
Goalie: Kim Martin

The IIHF all-stars were
Forward: Hayley Wickenheiser
Defensemen: Angela Ruggiero
Goaltender: Kim Martin

Richmond Times - Dispatch - February 17, 2006
Ask anyone the name of the best female play in ice hockey history and you'll get one of two responses.
A. "That would be Hayley Wickenheiser of Canada."
B. "Women don't play ice hockey"
Only the first answer is correct.
Wickenheiser made her first Team Canada appearance at the age of 15 in 1994. She's since become Canada's, and the world's, all-time leader in games, points, goals, and games won. She's played in five World Cup title games, winning four, and two Olympics gold-medal games.
Canadians don't regard Hamburger Hayley so much as the "girl Gretzky" but as a female version of Gordie Howe. Wickenheiser (5'9, 170) is tall and tough and will usually be found protecting teammates.
She could very possibly play in one or two more Olympics finals.

The Kansas City Star - February 18, 2006
This latest miracle on ice is as good as goalie [after Swedish upset of USA]
Martin looked unbeatable. She had led Sweden to a bronze medal at the 2002 Olympics, even though was only 15. And now, at 19, she looked utterly in control. She stopped 37 shots - several of them with her team facing two-man-down power players. In the shootout, the American shooters seemed to be overwhelmed by her will.

National Post - February 21, 2006
They are led by Wickenheiser, still the best female player in our country.

[On Swedish goalie Kim Martin] She's a great goalie, and she stood on her head in the game against the US.

The Canadians outscored their opponents 46-2 throughout the Olympic tournament. The line of Wickenheiser, Apps, and Piper was truly unstoppable.

Star Phoenix - February 21, 2006
Wickenheiser world's best - even with one hand
Even with one hand, Wickenheiser simply dominates the women's game with her size, speed and hockey sense that leave her a level above the competition.

Wickenheiser is the de facto GOAT at this point. Kim Martin leading Sweden to the new Miracle on Ice gets insane levels of praise. Angela Ruggiero is talked of as the de facto US leader, as she is named to the all-star team in back-to-back tournaments.

I'll keep posting in the OP

Click to read more...

 

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2010 Olympics

The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver saw the debut of Slovakia and Canada looking to defend their 2002 and 2006 Gold medals.

Much like 1998, 2002, and 2006, it was a tournament of Canada and the US. They were the only teams posting a positive goal differential in the round robin, with Canada going 41 GF 2 GA and the US going 31 GF 1 GA.

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - US
Bronze - Finland

Finland's bronze was their second, tieing Sweden for most medals amongst non-NA teams (2 a piece).

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P	+-
1	Canada	Meghan Agosta	5	9	6	15	+14
2	Canada	Jayna Hefford	5	5	7	12	+15
3	Switzerland	Stefanie Marty	5	9	2	11	+4
4	USA	Jenny Potter	5	6	5	11	+8
5	USA	Natalie Darwitz	5	4	7	11	+6
6	Canada	Caroline Ouellette	5	2	9	11	+12
7	Canada	Hayley Wickenheiser	5	2	9	11	+14
8	Canada	Cherie Piper	5	5	5	10	+12
9	USA	Monique Lamouereux	5	4	6	10	+7
10	USA	Kelli Stack	5	3	5	8	+4
11	Canada	Sarah Vaillancourt	5	3	5	8	+7

Canada won the gold medal game 2-0, with both goals coming from Marie-Philip Poulin, making her Olympics debut at age 18.

Meghan Agosta was named tournament MVP

The media all-stars were
Forward: Marie-Philip Poulin, Jenny Potter, Meghan Agosta
Defensemen: Molly Engstrom, Angela Ruggiero
Goalie: Shannon Szabados

The IIHF all-stars were
Forward: Meghan Agosta
Defensemen: Molly Engstrom
Goaltender: Shannon Szabados

This is the third tournament in a row Angela Ruggiero has been named to the defensemen all-star team.

The Province - February 17, 2010
Iya Gavrilova, Russia's best young women's hockey player

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - February 25, 2010
Defensemen Angela Ruggiero, the Americans' best player.

Omaha World-Herald - February 25, 2010
No player in the Olympic women's hockey tournament has scored more points, set more records or generated more gasps of awe than Meghan Agosta.

...rapidly evolving into her sport's biggest offensive star. Hayley Wickenheiser, Cammi Granato, and Angela James have all held that spot - and while Wickenheiser hasn't quite left it, these Olympics might turn out to be a torch-passing to the high-scoring wing.

"It's pretty obvious Megs is already great," said Jayna Hefford, Agosta's linemate. "She'd got more talent than anybody, and she still hasn't scratched how good she can be."

With peerless speed, a nasty shot and a bit of a mean streak, Agosta has more raw talent than just about anybody in the game.

The Vancouver Sun - February 26, 2010
After Pouln's two first-period scores, the Canadians dominated ever aspect of the biggest game in this young sport.... Their smooth, graceful goalie did the rest, with Szabados capping her first Olympics with flawless netminding in a win that sometimes seemed just as one-sided as Canada's 18-0 victory over Slovakia.

Agosta, voted the tournament MVP for her Olympic-record nine-goal performance.

The Province - February 26, 2010
All Szabados did was stop 28 of 28 shots in one of the greatest goaltending performances in the history of the women's game.

Wickenheiser has been the star of the program for 12 years.... Thursday night, it seemed a torch was passed.

Edmonton Journal - February 26, 2010
Szabados definitely the right choice

Shannon Szabados made [coach] Melody Davidson loo awfully smart Thursday [in reference to being picked as starter]

The Boston Globe - February 26, 2010
Canada took a 2-0 lead in the first period, both goals coming off the sizzling stick of lefty shooter Marie-Philip Poulin. Bad news for both the Americans and the rest of the female hockey world: Poulin will be around for a while. This tremendous young talent will not turn 19 until March 28.

2014 Olympics
The 2014 Olympics in Sochi was the first tournament since 1998 to feature no new teams. Unlike previous years, Canada and the US were placed in the same bracket, with the format changing to encourage more competition.

Canada and the US stomped everyone in their division. Canada had 8 GF 0 GA in their games against Switzerland and Finland. The US went 12 GF 1 GA in their games against Finland and Switzerland.

Canada won the US game, on the backs of 2 points (1 G 1 A) from Wickenheiser and 3 points Agosta (2 G 1A).

Canada also beat the US in the finals 3-2, though this time requiring OT. Poulin scored the tieing and game-winning goals.

Hillary Knight led the way for the Americans, getting 1 G 1 A in the two games. Alex Carpenter also joined with 1 G 1 A.

The Swiss won the Bronze, the first country besides Canada, USA, Finland, and Sweden to medal at the Olympics.

Gold: Canada
Silver: USA
Bronze: Switzerland


Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P	+-
1	Finland	Michelle Karvinen	6	5	2	7	+4
2	Sweden	Pernilla Winberg	6	3	4	7	+3
3	USA	Amanda Kessel	5	3	3	6	+8
4	USA	Hilary Knight	5	3	3	6	+1
5	USA	Kendall Coyne	5	2	4	6	+8
6	USA	Brianna Decker	5	2	4	6	+8
7	Russia	Yekatarina Smolentseva	5	2	4	6	0
8	USA	Alexandra Carpenter	5	4	1	5	-1
9	Germany	Franziska Busch	5	3	2	5	-4
10	Canada	Marie-Philip Poulin	5	3	2	5	0

Florence Schelling, Swiss goaltender, was named tournament MVP

The media all-stars were
Forward: Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Meghan Agosta
Defensemen: Jenni Hiirikoski, Megan Bozek
Goalie: Florence Schelling

The IIHF all-stars were
Forward: Michelle Karvinen
Defensemen: Jenni Hiirikoski
Goaltender: Florence Schelling

The Olympian - February 9, 2014
"It's the best result we've ever had against Canada," Swiss goalie Florence Schelling said after making 64 saves in the loss

The Idaho Statesman - February 9, 2014
Hilary Knight is one of the premier forwards in women's hockey

Edmonton Journal - February 11, 2014
Hayley Wickenheiser, 35, the best women's hockey player in history, struggled against the Finns.

She's put up 318 points in 216 games, almost 100 more points than the next best, her Sochi teammate [Jayna] Hefford, who had 223 points in 205 games.

The team's oldest player, Hefford, 36, is as strong as ever.

Rebecca Johnston, 24, the fastest and most skilled-looking attack on the squad.

Daily Citizen - February 11, 2014
The US women's hockey team faced one of the best goaltenders in the world: Switzerland's Florence Schelling. But Schelling got little help from her defense, and the line of Amanda Kessel, Kendall Coyne, and Brianna Decker powered the Americans to a 9-0 steamrolling of the Swiss.

The Kingston Whig-Standard - February 18, 2014
The performance of the Swiss, thanks is large part to the work of goaltender Florence Schelling, who made 45 saves, should help quell some of the complaining about the gap between Canada and the US and the rest of the world.

National Post - February 22, 2014
I 100% believe that Ms. Poulin is the best women's hockey player in the world.

 

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2018 Olympics

The 2018 Olympics in South Korea again saw the US and Canada in the same bracket. Korea joined as the host, going 1 GF 20 GA in 3 games. Russia was banned this Olympics, but the Olympic Athletes from Russia competed instead.

End result was
Gold - US
Silver - Canada
Bronze - Finland

Finland's bronze was their third, establishing themselves as the best European women's team.

Canada beat the US 2-1 in the round robin, with the US beating Canada 3-2 in the gold medal game in a shoot-out.

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P	+-
1	Switzerland	Alina Müller	6	7	3	10	+5
2	Switzerland	Christine Meier	6	0	8	8	+4
3	Canada	Mélodie Daoust	5	3	4	7	+7
4	Canada	Marie-Philip Poulin	5	3	3	6	+5
5	Switzerland	Lara Stalder	6	3	3	6	+3
6	Finland	Michelle Karvinen	6	3	3	6	-1
7	Sweden	Fanny Rask	6	2	4	6	+4
8	USA	Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson	5	4	1	5	+3
9	Finland	Riikka Välilä	6	4	1	5	-2
10	Canada	Rebecca Johnston	5	3	2	5	+2
11	USA	Dani Cameranesi	5	3	2	5	+1

Canadian Mélodie Daoust was named tournament MVP

The media all-stars were
Forward: Mélodie Daoust, Jocelyne Lamoureux, Alina Müller
Defensemen: Jenni Hiirikoski, Laura Fortino
Goalie: Noora Räty

The IIHF all-stars were
Forward: Alina Müller
Defensemen: Jenni Hiirikoski
Goaltender: Shannon Szabados

This is the second tournament in a row Jennie Hiirikoski has been named best defenseman. She's established herself as arguably the best European women's hockey player ever.

Without NHLers, the media coverage for the 2018 Olympics for women's hockey took a major step back in volume. Despite her ascension in the sport, literally zero English language articles about Jenni Hiirikoski. Melodie Daoust gets no press, despite winning MVP. It's worse coverage than 1998.

The Miami Herald - February 23, 2018
Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson pulling off the sickest of moves...guiding the puck past a helpless Canadian goalie who had been reduced to a pretzel.

Gigi Marvin pulled off a brilliant recovery to put the Americans ahead.

Melodie Daoust giving Canada the upper hand

Rooney and Szabados had their moments too

Boston Globe - February 24, 2019
[In reference to Hilary Knight] "Passing the torch never felt better!" Ruggiero tweeted Thursday night.

That's it. The lack of coverage shocked me. Every article about women's hockey is very slim. Ignoring basic things like roster lists, game times, scores, there's maybe only 6 articles across the entire Olympics. And lots of focus on no NHLers. And an odd amount of asking American players about Trump.



2022 Olympics
The 2022 Beijing Olympics expanded from 8 teams to 10. Czechia and Denmark both made their Olympics debut. Arguably 4 of the top 5 teams (Canada, US, Finland, Switzerland) were in the same bracket. Again, Canada and the US dominated.

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - US
Bronze - Finland

Canada beat the US 4-2 in the round robin, and 3-2 in the gold medal game. Finland won their 4th bronze.

Poulin was the star of the Canada-US games, with 1G 1 A in the round robin game and 2 G 1 A in the gold medal game. Sarah Nurse combined for 1 G 2 A in the two games. Brianne Jenner 2 G 1 A in the two games.

Amanda Kessel netted 1 G 1 A in the two games.

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P	+-
1	Canada		7	5	13	18
2	Canada		7	6	11	17
3	Canada		7	9	5	14
4	Canada		7	3	11	14
5	Canada		7	2	11	13
6	Canada		7	8	3	11
7	USA		7	6	4	10
8	Switzerland		7	4	6	10
9	Canada		7	2	8	10
10	Canada		7	5	4	9
11	Switzerland		7	5	4	9

The IIHF did not release all-star awards, but the media still did.

Brianne Jenner was named tournament MVP.

Forward: Marie-Philip Poulin, Brianne Jenner, Sarah Nurse
Defensemen: Jenni Hiirikoski, Claire Thompson
Goalie: Klára Peslarová

This is the third tournament in a row Jenni Hiirikoski was named best defenseman.

Media coverage was terrible again, but better than 2018.

Citizens' Voice - February 6, 2022
Poulin, who has drawn comparisons to Sidney Crosby

Daily Hampshire Gazette - February 15, 2022
Unlike the high-scoring Canadians, the US has struggled with finishing chances while also playing without top-line center Brianna Decker who broke her leg in a tournament-opening 5-2 win over Finland.

The Post-Crescent - February 15, 2022
Knight has tied the US women's record for most Olympic selections with four, and she will become the program's all-time games played leader in these Olympics.

Victoria Advocate - February 18, 2022
Marie-Philip Poulin reminded everyone of her Captain Clutch reputation.

Nurse set the single Olympic tournament record with 18 points.

Brianne Jenner, named tournament MVP for tying a single Olympic record with nine goals.

Hilary Knight, the Americans' only consistent threat in the tournament, scored her team-leading sixth goal.

The Vancouver Sun - February 18, 2022
Marie-Philip Poulin, who has now scored in each of her four Olympic finals.

The undisputed leader of Team Canada along this gilded path, Poulin was her opportunistic self when her 22 teammates needed her most.

Again, shocked by the lack of coverage compared to 2002-2014. Jenni Hiirikoski, despite her stellar play as best European in the sport 3 tournaments in a row, can't even manage a positive comment by media members.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Hiirikoski plays for my hometown club Luleå/MSSK and I’ve watched her play a bunch of times. I think I’ve said it before here, her play style reminds me of the little I’ve seen from Doug Harvey… She’s very calm with the puck, cerebral, anticipates the opponents well and makes a smart play. She’s not really a puck rusher, however this might be based on the more recent watches I’ve had of her game, where she’s out for what seems like 90% of the game and understandably will conserve energy.

During covid times, two years ago, it seemed Luleå’s domination of the SDHL might come to an end with Brynäs led by Swiss star Lara Stalder having the much superior RS record and Luleå having a pretty decimated roster compared to previous seasons (I remember they often posted lineups with something like three lines, but only two centres, that season). Seeing Luleå’s women’s all-star team wreak havoc on a generally weak league hasn’t really enticed me to watch much except for the last stretches of the playoffs where you at least have matchups with national team players, but finally we got a truly competitive final. Brynäs really was kind of a one-line team, but that one line was awesome. Lara Stalder in particular scored 89 points in 33 GP (the next highest scoring player in the league — Linköping’s Sydney Brodt — had 56 points in 36 GP). And tbf, Luleå only had like one and a half line that seemed playable that season: the distance in quality between the Finnish national team players and the teenagers getting a shift here and there was so vast.

Jenni Hiirikoski (alongside defensive partner Ronja Savolainen) was the difference maker in that series though, it was something else and from such a diminutive player. I don’t think they tally ice time in the SDHL, but she always seemed to be out there, always facing the play and usually with the puck on her stick. Hiirikoski was the spoon that stirred the drink.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Jenni Hiirikoski (alongside defensive partner Ronja Savolainen) was the difference maker in that series though, it was something else and from such a diminutive player. I don’t think they tally ice time in the SDHL, but she always seemed to be out there, always facing the play and usually with the puck on her stick. Hiirikoski was the spoon that stirred the drink.

How dominant does she look?

She's got the largest set of accolades for any European player and is close to Ruggiero for most as a defenseman.

Her success in the World Champuonships is very impressive too.

Footage is sparse online and (English) newspaper coverage is really minimal.

Is she the top European women's player ever?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

How dominant does she look?

She's got the largest set of accolades for any European player and is close to Ruggiero for most as a defenseman.

Her success in the World Champuonships is very impressive too.

Footage is sparse online and (English) newspaper coverage is really minimal.

Is she the top European women's player ever?

There are a bunch of extended highlight reels from different games of the championship finals throughout the years on Youtube. Sifting through a couple, I modify my statement of her not being a puck rusher: it was something I brought with me from live watching the 2022 finals, that Hiirikoski was focusing on the fundamentals and shutting down Stalder et al. There are plenty of examples of her rushing the puck, though. The 2019 gold medal winning OT goal in the WHC against the USA begins with her skating out of her own end.

In other clips you might notice her defensive partner #88 Savolainen, that she compliments Hiirikoski’s finesse with more physicality. Hitting was allowed in the SDHL starting with the 2022-23 season, but from my experience, women’s hockey’s always been more physical than people realize despite the “no hitting”.

I don’t really have time to look through the videos and pick out clips, but when I searched for “Luleå MSSK Brynäs” there were a bunch of video… actually, one user called Arnold Braunscweiger and another called Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to have posted entire Swedish tv broadcasts of women’s hockey games but cut into 5 minute videos. Hiirikoski wears #6.

I think she has a very strong argument for being the top European ever, but I’m not the one to say. Accolades seem well deserved.

 

[ES]

Finland has easily its big 3, one in each position so it's not easy to rank them together. Two others are obviously Räty and Sallinen who is the only European woman to be in HHOF.

I would say Petra Nieminen is the best Finnish female player right now but she has still a way to go to reach the accomplishments of the players mentioned above. That final still hurts and it was Nieminen who scored that OT goal which was then taken off.

As for the other European countries, I would put Kim Martin and Florence Schelling in the mix from goalies. I don't think there are not that many retired skaters in the talks about the best.

I'm looking forward though to what Nela Lopusanova can do in women's top tournaments.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Agreed Kim Martin from the 2002 bronze medal and 2006 silver medal winning Swedish teams is probably the only Swedish player I can think of who warrants consideration for a top players of all time project. As far as I remember, the difference in quality among the American and Canadian skaters as compared to pretty much every equivalent on the Swedish roster was like night and day, but Martin really stole that semifinal against Team USA. I think Maria Rooth and Erika Holst were the standout skaters on Team Sweden. They seem to have been top ten scorers in the NCAA, but at least a full step behind players like Botterill and Ruggiero.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Our top women's list will be mostly Canadians and Americans. But we will have some Europeans, they'll just mostly be Finns. It's just hard to ignore the huge gap in results where Canada and the US just dominate everyone.

Noora Raty has a strong argument for top women's goalie. She was named best goalie by either IIHF or the media at the 2018 Olympics and 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2019 World Championships. Only Canadians Kim St-Pierre and Shannon Szabados have arguments for number one as well.

Jenni Hiirikoski has a strong argument for top defenseman. Voted top by the IIHF or media at 2014, 2018, 2022 Olympics and 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 World Championships.

Riika Sallinen (nee Nieminen) is a lock on our list. So too are Michelle Karvinen and Petra Nieminen.

If we do a top 40 we could end up with 10 Europeans.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Might as well throw the other international tournaments in here too.



1987 World Women's Hockey Tournament

This is the first international women's tournament. The Ontario Women's Hockey Association hosted this, before the IIHF created their own (more organized) tournament in 1990. As such, Ontario sent a separate team than the rest of Canada.

Canada, US, Ontario, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, and the Netherlands rounded out the tournament.

As expected, Canada, Ontario, and the US dominated. The closest game to another country was Canada's 4-0 win over Sweden. After that, Ontario's 8-0 win over Sweden. 9 games were 10+ goal blowouts.

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - Ontario
Bronze - USA

No formal scoring records were kept, but I do have some newspaper references to goal scorers.


Canada's Dawn McGuire was named MVP. The awards were:

Forward: France Saint-Louis
Defensemen: Dawn McGuire
Goaltender: Cathy Philips

Edmonton Journal - April 22, 1987
Players, coaches and officials involved in the first women's world hockey tournament, being played her this week, believe they are taking the first step towards getting women's hockey accepted as an official Winter Olympic sport.

Ontario has more than 20,000 players while Japan's total enrollment is less than 350.

The IIHF recognized the tournament, but refused to sanction it as the first world championship of women's hockey. Instead, IIHF officials will await the outcome and decide whether such an event merits their approval.

The Kingston Whig-Standard - April 22, 1987
Marion Coveny opened the scoring 2:47 into the game against Switzerland and Canada never looked back. Canada peppered the Swiss goal with 59 shots, while Canadian goalie Donna Levasseur stopped 7 shots to record the shutout.

Dayna Dann with two goals, France St. Louis with one goal and three assists, Helen Lickers, Mo Van de Ven, Shirley Cameron, Colleen Kohen, Pat White and Dawn McGuire scored for Canada.

Karen Spence scored three goals for the Ontario squad, which outshot Sweden 48-11.

Canada is represented by the Hamilton Golden Hawks, the 1987 national champions. Two players have been added from Alberta and one each from Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario.

The Windsor Star - April 23, 1987
France St. Louis scored four goals and assisted on four others to power Canada to an 11-0 victory over Japan.

The Daily Herald-Tribune - April 24, 1987
Cathy Philips records the shutout against Sweden as Pat White, Kelly Weaver, Dawn McGuire and Louis Cole scored.

Dayna Dann and Shirley Cameron both had three goals and three assists against the Netherlands. Kelly Weaved also scored three goals, Louis Cole and Janet Styone added two each.

Laura Halldorson and Cindy Curley both had four goals for the Americans, who had 67 shots on the Dutch goal. Kim Wood added three.

Red Deer Advocate - April 25, 1987
[against Ontario] Canada got goals from Colleen Kohen, who also had two assists, France St. Louis, Marion Coveny, Kelly Weaver and Heather Ginzel.

The Gazette - April 27, 1987
Goals by Janet Stone, Colleen Kohen, Kelly Weaver and Shirley Cameron powered Canada to a 4-0 victory over Ontario yesterday.

 

[jigglysquishy]

1990 IIHF Women's World Championship

After the success of the independent 1987 tournament, the IIHF started a full world championship series. Of note, this is the only tournament to feature body checking.

As expected, Canada and the US dominated. Finland and Sweden were a 2/3. And everyone else got embarrassed,.

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - USA
Bronze - Finland

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P
1	USA	Cindy Curley	5	11	12	23
2	USA	Tina Cardinale	5	5	10	15
3	USA	Cammi Granato	5	9	5	14
4	Switzerland	Kim Urech	5	8	6	14
5	Canada	Angela James	5	11	2	13
6	Canada	Heather Ginzel	5	7	5	12
7	Canada	Susana Yuen	5	5	7	12
8	USA	Kelly O'Leary	5	6	5	11
9	Canada	Shirley Cameron	5	5	6	11
10	Canada	Stacy Wilson	5	3	8	11

Canada's Dawn McGuire was named MVP of the gold medal game. American goaltender Kelly Dyer was named tournament MVP.

Forward: Riikka Nieminen
Defensemen: Dawn McGuire
Goaltender: Kelly Dyer

The Ottawa Citizen - March 20, 1990
Swedish goaltender Agneta Nilsson was named Sweden's outstanding player. She deserved a hero's medal after facing 62 Canadian shots.

Canada's star was winger Angela James, who scored four times and singed several Swedes with windburn.

The Ottawa Citizen - March 22, 1990
Angela James was named Team Canada's game star Monday [against Sweden]

Star-Phoenix - March 26, 1990
Canada wins women's world hockey title

Buoyed by 8,784 flag-waving, roaring fans - believed to be the biggest crowd ever at a women's hockey game in Canada - the Canadians struggled at first and then outmuscled and outshot the Americans.

"I think women's hockey is the big winner," said Canadian coach Dave McMaster. "From here it's on to the Olympics."

"Not in our wildest dreams did any of us ever anticipate we would play in a world championship," said Shirley Cameron, who has played hockey in Edmonton for 17 years.

Definite plans aren't in place for another championship, but one may be held as early as 1992.

IIHF officials say they hope to get women's hockey in the 1994 Olympics in Norway.

Dyer, who faced 40 shots while Canadian goalie Cathy Phillips faced 15, was named the tournament's MVP.

Canadian defenseman Dawn McGuire was named the tournament's top defender.

Forward France St-Louis scored the first of her two goals in the first period.

"I think there are going to be a lot of young girls who will grow up knowing names like Suzy Yuen and Vicky Sunohara and McGuire and Angela James," said Pat Reid, the director of operations for the Canadian team.

The Ottawa Citizen - March 26, 1990
Dawn McGuire, named Canada's outstanding player in Sunday's impressive win over the US.

Finland's Riikaa Nieminen was named top forward.

Times Colonist - April 4, 1990
Just how much more countries such as Japan have to learn about women's hockey will be a hot topic as the IIHF and the IOC decide if the sport should be included in the 1994 Olympics. Promoters of women's hockey worry about everything from whether IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch likes hockey to whether the Norwegian organizing committee will accept a space-consuming sport it didn't plan on.

The Leader-Post - November 21, 1990
Canada's 5-2 victory over the United States in the gold-medal game of the 1990 world championship has fostered enormous growth in women's hockey and in particular, at the younger level. The first meeting for girls in the mini-blades program - girls under 10 years old can participate - had 26 skaters, even more than the optimistic projections of its co-ordiantor, Heidi Sprung.
"A lot of people think it's the result of the women's worlds," Sprung said of the sport's popularity. "People watched a lot of it and enjoyed it and thought it would be fun to play."

1992 IIHF Women's World Championship

There was a lot of debate when to have the next tournament after 1992 (or whether to even have one), but we did get one in 1992. This was the first tournament in Europe, with attendance plummeting away from Ontario.

The qualifying nations brought in Canada/US, the winner of the Asian qualifying tournament and the top 5 European teams).

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - USA
Bronze - Finland

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P
1	USA	Cammi Granato	5	8	2	10
2	Canada	Danielle Goyette	5	3	7	10
3	Canada	Andria Hunter	5	5	4	9
4	USA	Lisa Brown	5	2	7	9
5	USA	Shelley Looney	5	1	8	9
6	Finland	Riika Nieminen	5	6	2	8
7	Canada	France St. Louis	5	5	3	8
8	Canada	Nancy Drolet	5	4	4	8
9	USA	Jeanine Sobek	5	3	5	8
10	USA	Karyn Bye	5	3	5	8

I can't find any tournament MVP

IIHF Awards
Forward: Cammi Granato
Defensemen: Geraldine Heaney
Goaltender: Annica Ahlen

Media awards
Forwards: Riika Nieminen, Angela James, Cammi Granato
Defensemen: Geraldine Heaney, Ellen Weinberg
Goalie: Manon Rhéaume

The Ottawa Citizen - April 21, 1992

France St. Louis of Brossard, Que., and Karen Nystrom of Toronto each scored twice, and goaltender Marie-Claude Roy of Montreal recorded an easy shutout [against China]. Roy had to make only 13 saves in the tournament opener before 400 fans at Hakametsa, the 8,000-seat arena in the city of about 200,000, the centre of hockey in Finland.

Two representatives from the IOC will be here this week to watch the tournament and make the recommendation on whether to include women's hockey, perhaps as early as the 1998 Winter Games in Japan.
In 1994, the championships will be held in Lillehammer, Norway, just before the Games there, as part of the Olympic lobbying effort.

The Gazette - April 23, 1992
Cammi Granato, a standout for the United States team

The Ottawa Citizen - April 26, 1992
Winger Stacy Wilson might have been the grittiest Canadian performer, while the goalie Manon Rheaume handled uncommon pressure with unfailing grace.

The Ottawa Citizen - April 26, 1992
Minneapolis probable site for 1994 world championships
The 1994 Women's World Hockey Championships almost certainly will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The scheduled site of the championships had been Lillehammer, Norway, site of the 1994 Winter Olympics, but the Norwegians' interest in staging the tournament that year has waned.

The Lillehammer Olympic organizing committee told Norwegian hockey officials they would not support the event, saying it would put too many demands on staff and resources.

The Ottawa Citizen - April 27, 1992
Canada is No. 1 in women's hockey, but they're also No. 2 and No.3. Possible No.4, too.

That's how wide the gap is between Canada and the rest of the women's hockey world. And the gap may be widening. What else can one make of Canada's one-sided victory over the United States in the gold medal game Sunday?

Canda's best player on Sunday was Nancy Drolet of Sherbrooke, a swift, offensively-creative centre who scored three goals.

Angela James had two goals for Canada, while Danielle Goyette, Margot Verlaan, and Andria Hunter had the others.
Goalie Manon Rheaume stopped 21 shots to earn the shutout.

Defenceman Nathalie Rivard, of Cumberland, who at 20 is also part of the talented new guard, said her generation is the first in women's hockey to have a solid base of the kind of coaching or organization needed to produce champions.

St-Louis, the team captain and one of the 12 players who also played on Canada's 1990 world champions, said the team could definitely lift its game higher.

Canada placed three players on the all-star team: Rheaume, left winger James and defenceman Geraldine Heaney.
Centre Riikaa Nieminen of Finland, right winter Cammi Granato and defenceman Ellen Weinberg, both of the US, rounded out the all-stars.

The Ottawa Citizen - April 28, 1992
The future was watching when Canada beat Team USA 9-0 on Sunday to win their second straight World Women's Hockey Championship.

Fourth-place Sweden also showed improvement from 1990. At the first championship, Canada pounded the Swedes 15-1. This time around, Sweden not only gave Canada a closer game [6-1], they pushed Team USA in the semifinal and took Finland to a shootout.

Only four teams - Canada, Finland, the United States, and Sweden - are truly competitive, and Canada is well ahead of the other three.

Shout out to Ottawa Citizen sports writer John MacKinnon. He's absolutely carrying the load with reporting the championships so far. I would guess about 50% of the newspaper articles written in English about the 2 games have been by him.

Wikipedia missing most of the all-star teams. I guess I'm editing Wikipedia articles now.

 

[jigglysquishy]

1994 IIHF Women's World Championship

We finally get some stability, with the 1994 tournament replicating the format of 1992. This time, it is in Lake Placid, USA.

We get identical medal winners for the third tournament in a row.

Hayley Wickenheiser had 1 assist in 3 games as a 15-year-old.

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - USA
Bronze - Finland

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P
1	Finland	Riikka Nieminen	5	4	9	13
2	Canada	Danielle Goyette	5	9	3	12
3	USA	Karyn Bye	5	6	6	12
4	USA	Cammi Granato	5	5	7	12
5	China	Liu Hongmei	5	8	3	11
6	Finland	Tiia Reima	5	7	4	11
7	Finland	Sari Krooks	5	3	7	10
8	USA	Stephanie O'Sullivan	5	3	7	10
9	Finland	Hanna Terrijoki	5	5	4	9
10	USA	Gretchen Ulion	5	5	4	9

I can't find any tournament MVP, but Angela James was named MVP of the gold medal game.

IIHF Awards
Forward: Riikka Nieminen
Defensemen: Geraldine Heaney
Goaltender: Erin Whitten

Media awards
Forwards: Riika Nieminen, Karyn Bye, Danielle Goyette
Defensemen: Therese Brisson, Kelly O'Leary
Goalie: Manon Rhéaume

Montreal Gazette - April 10, 1994
Hayley Wickenheiser, a 15-year-old sensation - cousin of Doug Wickenheiser, picked No. 1 overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 1980 - was being introduced to her prospective teammates.

"It's a bittersweet time for us as a well because at the moment we have a 35-year-old and a 15-year-old on the same team, possibly even on the same line" [from Canadian Amateur Hockey Association manager Glynis Peters]

The first documented women's game was held on a frozen pond in Barrie, Ont., in 1982.

Interest declined in the 1940s and 1950s. But it underwent a vigorous rebirth in the '60s with provincial tournaments and so-called national championships and university play. The CAHA was instrumental in reinstating a full-fledged national championship in 1982.

An estimated 30,000 girls and women play hockey across Canada.

"Hayley might already be better than any player we've seen in the game," Lawton said. " She's really skilled, has strength and speed and is very bright." said team Canada head coach Les Lawton.

The Philadelphia Inquirer - April 17, 1994
And in 1998, women's ice hockey becomes a full-blown medal sport at the Olympics.

The Gazette - April 17, 1994
In the two previous finals, Canada beat the US. In Ottawa in 1990, the Canadians won 5-2. Two years later in Tampere, Finland, the score was a resounding 8-0. Needless to say, the Americans face possible disappointment for the third time and they're feeling the heat.

The Vancouver Sun - April 18, 1994
Danielle Goyette of St-Nazaire, Que., and Angela James of Toronto each scored twice to lead Canada to a 6-3 victory over the US in the final.

James, who was named most valuable player in the gold medal game.

Canada will play host to the next tournament, at a site yet to be determined, in 1996.

Karyn Bye, Stephanie O'Sullivan, and Cammi Granato replied for the US.

Canada had the edge in shots 28-24.

Valley News - April 18, 1994
Americans Karyn Bye and Kelly O'Leary were named to the All-Tournament team... Bye led the US in scoring with six goals and six assists in five games.... Canada placed three players on the all-tourney team: Danielle Goyette, Therese Brisson, and goalie Manon Rheaume.

The Vancouver Sun - April 27, 1994
Ontario has a well-developed system of girls' and women's hockey. The sport is spotty in BC.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Granted that I'm looking at this with the benefit of thirty years' hindsight, but what makes:

"It's a bittersweet time for us as a well because at the moment we have a 35-year-old and a 15-year-old on the same team, possibly even on the same line" [from Canadian Amateur Hockey Association manager Glynis Peters]

This bittersweet? It seems awesome that a 15yo could be good enough to make the team and contribute.

 

[kaiser matias]

Granted that I'm looking at this with the benefit of thirty years' hindsight, but what makes:

"It's a bittersweet time for us as a well because at the moment we have a 35-year-old and a 15-year-old on the same team, possibly even on the same line" [from Canadian Amateur Hockey Association manager Glynis Peters]

This bittersweet? It seems awesome that a 15yo could be good enough to make the team and contribute.

It may be a case of them happy to have Wickenheiser in the team, but also concerned that the available players was so limited they didn't have much choice? That's of course a fairly liberal reading of the situation and a total guess, as it is awesome to be an option (and Wickenheiser living up to that, and more, certainly helps).

 

[Bear of Bad News]

That's plausible - as in "we can't believe the pool is shallow enough that a 15-year-old is making the team"?

When digging in earlier, I also noticed that this Glynis Peters is someone not the most famous person with the name "Glynis Peters".

 

[Fish on The Sand]

I've long felt women's ice hockey just isn't competitive enough for the Olympics.

They should just have Can/USA play a best of 7 for gold/silver and then let the other teams play a tournament for bronze.

 

[MadLuke]

That's plausible - as in "we can't believe the pool is shallow enough that a 15-year-old is making the team"?

Women sport development curve can be a bit different, they hit their growth and puberty usually earlier than men:

https://sportforlife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/the-role-of-monitoring-growth-in-dlta.pdf

page 9

Female tennis players for example (a sport quite popular with women) can compete at high level quite young, Hingis and Seles won a grand slam at 16.

Some very competitive sport among women like gymnastic can have retirement age in the early 20s.

For a skill team sport a la hockey, were playing a lot at the highest level to build what is needed it could be a sign too, but less than with men.

 

[jigglysquishy]

1997 IIHF Women's World Championship

The tournament was initially scheduled for 1996, but got pushed back to 1997. Lots of the coverage is highlighting the Olympics are only 10 months away.

We get identical medal winners for the fourth tournament in a row.

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - USA
Bronze - Finland

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P
1	Finland	Riikka Nieminen	5	5	5	10
2	Canada	Hayley Wickenheiser	5	4	5	9
3	USA	Cammi Granato	5	5	3	8
4	Finland	Tiia Reima	5	4	4	8
5	Canada	Cassie Campbell	5	2	6	8
6	Canada	Nancy Drolet	5	4	2	6
7	USA	Shelley Looney	5	4	2	6
8	USA	Karyn Bye	5	4	2	6
9	China	Liu Hongmei	5	3	3	6
10	China	Guo Wei	5	3	3	6

I can't find any tournament MVP, but Angela James was named MVP of the gold medal game.

No IIHF this time (for whatever reason)

Media awards
Forwards: Riika Nieminen, Cammi Granato, Hayley Wickenheiser
Defensemen: Cassie Campbell, Kelly O'Leary
Goalie: Patricia Sautter

Edmonton Journal - March 31, 1997
Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser is the heart and soul of a national hockey team favored to win the world championships.

Hayley Wickenheiser's rise to national fame in women's hockey is a tale of terrific courage and part of the very fabric that makes up Canadian folklore.

Perhaps no one in women's hockey feels it better these days. Only 18 years old, Hayley Wickenheiser is referred to as "the franchise" by officials in Canadian Hockey. If this country is going to emerge triumphant... much will depend on the way the puck feels on the stick of Hayley Wickenheiser.

Hayley's comet has shone; MVP in the gold medal game, 1991 Canada Winter Games, named to the national team while still a 15-year-old bantam, gold-medal winner in the 1994 world championships and earlier this month chosen player of the game as she lead Edmonton Chimos to the national championship.

she models herself on her childhood hero, NHL star Mark Messier, though she has often been referred to as "the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey"

There is talk of a women's professional league starting up sometime after the Olympics.

The Ottawa Citizen - April 1, 1997
[Vicky Sunohara] In 1994-95, she played in the Central Ontario Women's Hockey League was named MVP.

There are no borders in international women's hockey. Striving to be the best you can be means traveling. There are Swiss, American, Finnish and Dutch national-team players skating in the Central Ontario Women's league.

A strong skater with a hard shot, Shelley Looney scored two goals to lead the US past Norway 7-0 in its tournament opener yesterday.

Stephanie O'Sullivan, Laurie Baker, Cammi Granato, Kelly O'Leary and Gretchen Ulion also scored for the US team, which outshot Norway 52-10.

Five of the eight competing countries will earn trips to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Riia Raima scored two goals and assisted on another in leading Team Finland to a 5-0 victory against Sweden in Brampton yesterday.

The Ottawa Citizen - April 6, 1997
Vicky Sunohara, who has been detached from the national women's program for the past seven years after winning a world title in 1990, was brimming with joy at the fourth world women's hockey championship.
After scoring the winning goal with 24 second remaining in the third period to give Canada a 2-1 semifinal win over Finland, the pumped up Sunohara said" "You haven't seen anything yet."

Star Phoenix - April 7, 1997
Canada continued its domination of women's hockey on Sunday night, defeating the United States 4-3 in overtime to win its fourth straight world championship.

Nancy Droelt scored her third goal of the game at 12:59 of overtime to give Canada the gold and stretch the team's record to 20-0 in the history of the women's world hockey championship.

On the winning play, Hayley Wickenheiser took a pass from Cassie Campbell and rushed around the US defence, cutting in with a backhand shot that US goalie Erin Whitten stopped buy couldn't control. Drolet pounced on the rebound from a scramble in front of the net. The flag-waving, sellout crowd of 6,247 exploded after the goal, which ended a taut, back-and-forth game.

Drolet, a native of Drummondville, Que., was named Canada's player of the game. Canada outshot the US 9-5 in overtime and 35-27 overall. Canada led 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 in the seesaw battle.

Drolet scored in the first period and 11 second into the third while Toronto's Angela James had a second-period marker.

Alana Blahoski of the US created a 1-1 tie int he second period and Stephanie O'Sullivan made it a 2-2 before the end of the middle of the frame. Katie King set the stage from the dramatic finish with the Americans' third goal.

That Wickenheiser is referred to as the Gretzky of women's hockey at 18 is pretty crazy.


Not women's hockey related, but I did find the Mario Lemieux retirement announcement

Star Phoenix - April 7, 1997
Mario Lemieux says he definitely will retire after the playoffs. The 31-year-old centre, a five-time NHL scoring champion, could go out in style by winning the Art Ross Trophy for the sixth time. He leads the league with 117 points on 49 goals and 68 assists. After hinting strongly for months that this would be his final season, Lemieux formally announced his retirement for the first time Saturday.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Women sport development curve can be a bit different, they hit their growth and puberty usually earlier than men:

https://sportforlife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/the-role-of-monitoring-growth-in-dlta.pdf

page 9

Female tennis players for example (a sport quite popular with women) can compete at high level quite young, Hingis and Seles won a grand slam at 16.

Some very competitive sport among women like gymnastic can have retirement age in the early 20s.

For a skill team sport a la hockey, were playing a lot at the highest level to build what is needed it could be a sign too, but less than with men.

Agreed - I coached college women's hockey two decades ago and the talent pool was definitely thinner than it is today.

 

[jigglysquishy]

1999 IIHF Women's World Championship

The tournamant came back to Finland for the first post-Olympics tournament. Media highlights the women's game has now "made it". The tournament expanded to included a Division B, hosting 8 teams that did not qualify for the normal tournament.

We get identical medal winners for the fifth tournament in a row.

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - USA
Bronze - Finland

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P
1	USA	Jenny Schmidgall	5	5	7	12
2	Canada	Jayna Hefford	5	5	6	11
3	Finland	Kirsi Hanninen	5	5	5	10
4	Finland	Petra Vaarakallio	5	3	7	10
5	Finland	Sari Fisk	5	4	5	9
6	USA	Karyn Bye	5	5	3	8
7	Canada	Nancy Drolet	5	4	4	8
8	USA	Cammi Granato	5	3	5	8
9	Canada	Hayley Wickenheiser	5	3	5	8
10	USA	Katie King	5	4	3	7

IIHF awards
Forward: Jenny Schmidgall
Defensemen: Kirsi Hanninen
Goalie: Sami Jo Small

Media awards
Forwards: Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, ?
Defensemen: ?,?
Goalie: Sami Jo Small

The Ottawa Citizen - March 14, 1999
Rumours surfaced in January that the NHL was going to throw its support behind a women's pro league - a WNHL, similar to the NBA-backed WNBA. NHL officials spent weeks denying the rumour.
"We're still in the game, but to go to the NHL with a solid proposal will take at least two or three years," Elizabeth Etue of Virago Sports Groups told a Toronto newspaper. " A lot of people expect something to happen after the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002."
Fran Rider, the executive director of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association, recalls the first time she heard talk of a women's pro-league. " It was about 15 years ago. It was going to be in Honolulu. I think the women were supposed to wear bikinis or something.
She'd like to see a pro league, but knows it's too soon.
In Canada, there are an estimated 30,000 girls playing hockey, nothing compared to 1 million boys.

The Ottawa Citizen - March 14, 1999
The time can come to get even for Nagano.

In semifinals yesterday, Canada defeated Sweden 4-1, and the US downed Finland 3-1. For Canada, Nancy Drolet supplied two goals and Hefford and France St-Louis added one apiece.
For the US, rookies Natalie Darwitz, 15, with two goals, and Krissy Wendell, 17, came through.
Finland lost a 1-0 squeaker to Canada on Thursday.

Finnish coach Kari Savolainen also might have done Canada a favour during his postgame news conference. "The difference between Canada and the US is that Team USA moves more," he said. "The US will win today."

Canada, 24-0, has never lost a game in the history of this event

The Province - March 15, 1999
Sami Jo Small's fabulous goaltending, great team defence, outstanding forechecking and goals by rookie Caroline Ouellette and veterans Danielle Goyette and Geraldine Heaney made it happen after Jenny Schmidgall had given the Americans a 1-0 lead.
"Canada really did a great job of battling back after that first goal," said US goalie Erin Whitten.
The game was 1-1 at the second intermission, then Canada pulled away. Goyett's power-play goal 25 seconds into the third period created a Canadian surge that could not be halted.
Jo Small and teammates Hayley Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford were selected to the tournament's all-star team. Hefford led all Canadians in scoring with nine points.
Wickenheiser, 20, won her third world title. She's the best power forward in the world and will be a big part of the team for years to come.

National Post - March 15, 1999
Cassie Campbell can't see any reason why St-Louis shouldn't be the first woman in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
"When women's hockey is mentioned, France St-Louis' name should be mentioned right after," said Campbell, who won her third world title. "To me she is the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey. She brought the tradition from team to team to team to team and she in unbelievable. "

Only having 3 of 6 all-stars is frustrating. But I've scoured newspapers and that is all I can find.



2000 IIHF Women's World Championship

We finally get to annual tournaments.

We get identical medal winners for the sixth tournament in a row.

End result was
Gold - Canada
Silver - USA
Bronze - Finland

Scoring Tables

Rank	Team	Player	GP	G	A	P
1	USA	Krissy Wendell	5	2	11	13
2	USA	Stephanie O'Sullivan	5	5	7	12
3	USA	Karyn Bye	5	8	2	10
4	USA	Alana Blahoski	5	7	2	9
5	Canada	Jayna Hefford	5	5	3	8
6	USA	Brandy Fisher	5	3	5	8
7	USA	Natalie Darwitz	5	2	6	8
8	USA	AJ Mleczko	5	1	7	8
9	Canada	Hayley Wickenheiser	5	1	7	8
10	Finland	Katja Riipi	5	7	0	7

IIHF awards
Forward: Katja Riipi
Defensemen: Angela Ruggiero
Goalie: Sami Jo Small

Media awards
Couldn't find anything

The Leader-Post - April 1, 2000
Wickenheiser, along with Cassie Campbell and Geraldine Heane, is one of the most famous players on the women's hockey team. The native of Shaunavon, Saskatchewan is Canada's all-time points leader, played in her first world championship at the age of 15 and at 19, helped lead Canada to the silver medal at the 1998 Olympics.
Wickenheiser is just two cuts away from making the [Olympic softball] team, which would make her only the second Canadian woman to participate in both a summer and winter Olympic Games since Sue Holloway, who competed in the 1976 Winter Games in cross-country skiing and int he '76 and '84 Summer Olympics in kayaking.

The Salt Lake Tribune - April 5, 2000
After his team was outshot 48-4, Russian Coach Oleg Galiamin thanked the Americans. "You are the strongest team in the world."

Team USA has outscored opponents 31-1 in two games, Canada 17-1. Alana Blahoski, who scored four goals Tuesday, denies her team is trying to get the Canadians' message

Red Deer Advocate - April 10, 2000
More than 57,000 tickets were sold to games in the eight-country tournament.
Canada improved to a phenomenal 30-0 since the event began in 1990 thanks to Jayna Hefford's two third-period goals, Drolet's OT slapshot, Hayley Wickenheiser's heroic decision to play despite partially torn ligaments in a slightly separated right shoulder, Sami Jo Small's outstanding goaltending, and a great all-round team effort.

With the Americans leading 2-0 five minutes into the third period, it appeared the streak was gone. The US outshot Canada 15-3 in the second period and got goals from Karyn Bye and Tricia Dunn.
Small made a huge save with her left land to catch a Jenny Schmidgall shot while lying on the ice after Hefford made it 2-1.
Then Hefford smacked in a rebound and it was tied.
Drolet capped the stirring comeback when she took a slapshot that struck US goalie Sara DeCost d on the left arm, bounced over her shoulder and dropped over the goal-line.

The Ottawa Citizen - April 10, 2000
Wickenheiser came out flying and was Canada's best threat in the first few shifts. But late in the first period Angela Ruggiero levelled Wickenheiser sending her face first into the wall. Ruggiero took a two-minute penalty and a ten-minute misconduct for her troubles but Wickenheiser didn't seem quite as effective thereafter.

The Kingston Whig-Standard - April 11, 2000
Jayna Hefford savouring role as national hockey hero.

Jayna Hefford's second goal of the game, tied the score 2-2 and forced overtime. Canada won the world title on a goal by Nancy Drolet seven minutes into the overtime period.

...if the Limestone hockey heroine were to compete, at age 40, in the 2018 Games, that would mark six Olympic Games. [Hefford didn't play in 2018, but did make it 5 tournaments in 2014]

The Kingston Whig-Standard - April 11, 2000
the Finns have moved into the same tier as Canada and the US. [Canada and the US only narrowly beat the Fins earlier in the tournament]. After blowing a two-goal lead in the third period against the US in the round robin and losing by a goal to Canada in the semifinal, all Finland needs is some late-game legs and confidence.
"I don't think the days of the two-team tournament are part of the schedule," said US coach Ben Smith.
Added Canada coach Mel Davidson "Finland has a great hockey team and could have been in the final game as easily as either of us."
While Finland has made inroads, a substantial gap still exists between the medal and non-medal teams. Sweden has a long way to go on team defence and discipline before it can move closer to the head of the pack. China, usually fourth or fifth, had its worst tournament and lost 4-0 to Russia in the fifth-place game.