Top Women’s Hockey Stories (5 to 1)

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 women’s hockey events have captivated fans from around the globe, and inspired women, and especially young girls, for generations to come.

5. Sochi goal post helps propel Canada to 2014 Olympic gold

The Americans should have won gold in Sochi. With the Canadian net empty in favour of an extra attacker, Kelli Stack of the United States iced the puck out of her zone as an official interfered with Catherine Ward, preventing the Canada defender from holding the blue line. And the puck slid the length of the rink towards the vacated goal and, hit…the…outside…of the post. The twist of fortune tilted the ice in favour of the Canadians. Marie-Philip Poulin went on to score not only the tying goal, but the power play overtime winner. Cue the risqué Internet memes: “Never before has two inches made 21 women so happy.” Har har.

4. Angela James and Cammi Granato become first women to enter HHOF

For decades, the hallowed institution failed to live up to its moniker as the ‘Hockey’ Hall of Fame, instead effectively serving as the ‘NHL’ Hall of Fame. Famed Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak, who forged his legendary career with the Central Red Army, was the first non-NHL player to be inducted, and not until 1989. Fast forward two decades, and the outdated gender bias was finally removed in 2010. James and Granato – who starred internationally for Canada and the United States respectively – earned their rightful place among hockey’s legends, paving the way for twelve other women players, and one builder, to follow as of 2025.

3. Canada wins Olympic gold in Salt Lake City

Heading into the 2002 Winter Games, the Canadians were huge underdogs, having lost eight straight pre-Olympic outings to the rival Americans. It was one thing to contest the gold medal match in front of a pro red, white and blue crowd at the E Center in West Valley City, but a different matter entirely to have a U.S. referee call eight consecutive penalties against Canada. Undeterred, Canada’s coach Daniele Sauvageau maintained her composure, and her team responded in kind, skating to a 3-2 win. In a post-game interview on national TV, Hayley Wickenheiser accused the Americans of stepping on a Canadian flag in their dressing room, a charge flatly denied by the U.S. team. “If Cammi Granato says it never happened, I have no choice but to believe her,” Jayna Hefford – who netted the game-winner – has said on multiple occasions.

2. Team USA stages 2017 boycott

In March 2017, mere weeks before the start of the Women’s World Hockey Championship in Plymouth, MI, a group of Team USA players including Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight and the Lamoureux twins Monique and Jocelyne staged a boycott of the tournament, seeking not necessarily equal financial compensation as their national male counterparts, but allocation of equal resources, including marketing and development programs. USA Hockey did eventually relent, granting many of the women’s team’s requests, including the same travel and insurance provisions as provided for the men, plus an equal share of an annual prize pool. For good measure, the United States won the tournament on home soil, Knight scoring in overtime in the gold medal game to defeat Canada.

1. PWHL is formed

Throughout all the Olympics and World Championships, women’s hockey supporters: players, fans, executives and coaches alike, had been deprived of the so-called “one league;” a circuit where the best women in the world could be paid a living wage to play hockey. Following the growing pains of the bickering between the CWHL and NWHL, compounded by the formation of the PWHPA that left the PHF devoid of the game’s top players, finally the Professional Women’s Hockey League was formed. Spearheaded by tennis legend Billie Jean King and her wife Ilana Kloss, and backed financially by Mark Walter, the PWHL held its inaugural draft in September 2023, staging its first game on New Year’s Day 2024 before a sellout crowd at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Currently the league is composed of eight teams; four in each of Canada and the United States, with plans to add as many as four expansion clubs within the next year. Interest in women’s hockey continues to grow exponentially as games are being broadcast on major television networks and streaming services, and also on the league’s YouTube channel to attract an audience outside of North America.

The league has adopted non-traditional rulebook innovations, including the 3-2-1-0 standings system, the jailbreak rule, and the privilege for the top-seeded playoff team to select its first-round opponent.

Honourable mentions:

Shannon Szabados plays a regular season game in goal for the WHL Tri-City Americans, 2002
Angela Ruggiero plays a game with her brother Billy for the CHL Tulsa Oilers, and records an assist, 2005
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, citing lack of parity between the North American teams and the rest of the world, threatens to pull women’s hockey from the Olympics, 2010
Harrison Browne of the Buffalo Beauts of the NWHL becomes the first openly transgender professional hockey player, 2016
Cammi Granato hired as Seattle Kraken pro scout, 2019
Women’s World Championship gold medal games decided in overtime (and not already mentioned, listed by year, OT scorer and nationality): 2011 Hilary Knight USA, 2012 Caroline Ouellette CAN, 2016 Alex Carpenter USA, 2024 Danielle Serdachny CAN, 2025 Tessa Janecke USA