Top Women’s Hockey Stories (20 to 16)

Once the New Year’s Eve ball drops on Times Square at midnight, the 21^st century will be twenty-five years old. In recognition of the past quarter-century, we continue our list of the 25 most significant women’s hockey stories over that period. These events have captivated hockey fans from around the globe, and inspired women, and especially young girls, for generations to come.

20. Marie-Philip Poulin scores 2021 OT winner

The 2021 Women’s World Championship was held in a pandemic-mandated ‘bubble’ in Calgary after being cancelled entirely the previous year. With no fans in the stands at WinSport Arena, Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored in overtime to propel her country to a 3-2 win and its first gold medal at the tournament in nine years. The goal was noteworthy for its dramatic flair; Poulin’s shot ringing off the crossbar, but play being allowed to continue despite ‘Captain Clutch’ frantically pointing at the net to signal a goal. Seconds later, video review confirmed that the puck indeed landed behind the goal line after coming down off the crossbar. Forward Blayre Turnbull sustained a leg injury in the celebratory dogpile, accepting her gold medal while being wheeled onto the ice on a stretcher.

19. Minnesota Frost win back-to-back Walter Cups

Led by the likes of Taylor Heise, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley, the Minnesota Frost won the PWHL championship in each of the first two seasons of the league. The 2024 Walter Cup final saw the Frost prevail over the Boston Fleet; Heise being named the inaugural winner of the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award. The following year, Minnesota defeated the Ottawa Charge in a hard-fought final series, each of the four games decided by a 2-1 overtime score.

18. Canada wins 2022 Olympic gold in Beijing

Looking to avenge their loss from four years earlier, Canada vaulted to a 3-0 lead in the gold medal game against Team USA and didn’t look back. A late American goal made the final score 3-2, but the one-goal differential was not reflective of Canada’s dominance. Sarah Nurse set records for assists (13) and points (18) in one Olympics, and became the first Black woman to win an Olympic hockey gold medal. Once again, Marie-Philip Poulin, a.k.a. ‘Captain Clutch’, netted the game-winning goal in the Olympic final, incredibly her third time accomplishing the feat.

17. Jessica Campbell hired by Seattle Kraken

In October 2024, Campbell broke through the proverbial glass ceiling, becoming the first woman to ever work full-time behind the bench of an NHL team, joining the Kraken as an assistant coach. She had spent the previous two years working on the coaching staff of the team’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley. The Saskatchewan native had served as an assistant coach for Germany at the 2022 World Championship, and also worked as a skills development coach, training NHL players such as Brent Seabrook and Mathew Barzal.

16. Team USA wins its first Women’s Worlds gold in 2005

For fourteen years, Canada dominated the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championship, winning each of the first eight editions of the tournament. The streak ended in Linkoping, Sweden when the United States finally ended its North American rival’s stranglehold, prevailing 1-0 in a gold medal shootout. Angela Ruggiero tallied the winning goal for her country and goalie Chanda Gunn earned the victory between the pipes. Amazingly, Canada had to settle for silver, despite not allowing a goal in active play throughout the entire tournament.