Head Coach Vicky Sunohara of Canada addresses the media after the game against Czechia in Preliminary Round - Group B action at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship at Vantaa Trio Arena on January 7, 2025 in Vantaa, Finland.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Andrea Cardin
If it wasn’t enough for Vicky Sunohara to join the IIHF’s Class of 2025 for induction into the Hall of Fame later this year, she made sure to add another level of record-making achievement to her resume just days after the announcement.
The press release came on New Year’s Day, just three weeks ago, and a mere 12 days later she became the first woman to win Olympic gold as a player and then win Women’s U18 gold as a coach.
But first, the call to the Hall. IIHF president Luc Tardif called Sunohara in early December, and it was a communication she couldn’t have been expecting less.
“I was at home [when he called],” Sunohara told IIHF.com. “But since it wasn’t a regular call, but came through online, I was hesitant to answer. And I thought, you know what, I'm gonna call this number back. And then it was Luc. But even then, for some reason, I thought maybe it had to do with the upcoming U18 Women’s Worlds and he might have a question or something. But then he told me [about being inducted], and I just went quiet. Luc went, ‘Hello?’ I was just really kind of shocked.”
Of course, any call like this takes a player back to their days on the ice, when memories were forged, not recollected.
“I've been fortunate to play with so many great people and on so many great teams,” Sunohara said. “It was so much a team effort, our success. I have a hard time thinking or feeling that I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame or get these accolades.”
Born in Toronto, she had a typical Canadian childhood.
“My dad put me on skates when I was two years old, on my backyard rink,” Sunohara said. “It was all I wanted to do, whether it was in the basement, our backyard rink, or at school. My dad used to go out every evening and flood the rink for all of us in the neighbourhood. They had to drag me in. I really loved it. And to be honest, I still love it. It's where I belong. I think I just feel at home on the ice. I love the competition. I love every part of it. Hockey has given me my friendships. I've had the opportunity to see a lot of the world because of hockey and meet so many people and participate in so many events. I don't know where I would be without it.”
Sunohara represented Canada for 17 years, starting with the first Women’s Worlds in Ottawa, in 1990, and continuing through 2007, when she won her last of nine IIHF gold medals. Seven of those came from the Women’s Worlds, while she also won Olympic gold in 2002 and 2006. She was a strong forward, an offensive threat, averaging nearly a point a game over a combined 56 games (25 goals, 54 points).
“[The honour] really made me reflect on how grateful I am for the opportunity. First for my dad, for introducing hockey to me. He loved hockey, and he was my coach when I was seven. I can't imagine having a different career path, and just being able to have that opportunity to speak to people about this induction gives me the opportunity to thank everybody who helped me along the way and supported me in my journey: the coaches at Hockey Canada, my family, and my kids at home for allowing me to do this. This is what I love.”
Memories, she has a few, but perhaps not the same as fans might have.
“It's so funny,” she said. “You don't really remember scores from games. Most people say it's about the journey and the process, and it really is. For example, people have asked about our Olympic gold medal game in 2002, and I don't even remember the score. But we remember the journey leading up to that, and our losing eight straight exhibition games to the U.S. and going to the Olympics and all the adversity we faced. I think that those are things that you think about.”
Sunohara attended Northeastern University, something perfectly common today, but not so much when she was a teenager.
“I know that there were a few Canadians who had gone down before me, but it was really the beginning, so nobody knew what to expect. A lot of great players decided to stay in Canada because at the time the hockey was probably more competitive. There were some scouts who came out and some of the schools on the East Coast were recruiting. I went to visit Northeastern and there were already a few Canadians there. That was all I wanted to do, play and go to the U.S. on scholarship. My coach at Northeastern was the head coach of Team USA back then, and our captain and a few players I played against at the Women’s Worlds.”
Sunohara also comes from that first generation of players who remained active after retiring, and there were many. The list includes names like Cassie Campbell, Hayley Wickenheiser, Jen Botterill, Cheryl Pounder, and Tessa Bonhomme.
“I think that we've always felt like pioneers,” Sunohara explained. “We wanted to get more females involved in the game, and we always wanted a professional league. I think we wanted to have some part in making the game better than it was when we played.”
After retiring, it didn’t take long for Sunohara to get back into the game. She was hired by the University of Toronto in 2011 and is now in her 14th year with the program.
“It's something that I never thought that I would do because I couldn't imagine myself ever being behind a bench and not jumping on the ice! Our coach Mel Davidson got us involved with coaching courses back when we were centralized for the 2002 Olympics. She said, ‘You never know – you might want to coach one day.’ Many of us took our first coaching courses then. Mel had a vision of having more females coaching in the game and she did an amazing job of supporting us and providing us with the environment to learn and to get to know what it's like.
“It’s been so rewarding, and challenging. I love it, and I love learning, and I love growing as a coach. I love the competition and the challenge of trying to build teams and work with other coaches and to try to develop players, but also develop them in a way that you're doing your best for the team to be successful as well.”
Sunohara reflected on her journey from player to coach, and then, in Finland earlier this year, being a head coach for Canada at the U18 Women’s Worlds for the first time.
“For this team, we were just trying to have them enjoy the process and really enjoy the moment. Mel told me once, ‘Don't wish time away.’ Yes, you want to compete for a medal, but it’s important to really enjoy today, one day at a time, and it's true. I was fortunate to have a long career and be able to compete in a lot of international games with Canada. But, especially at this level, you don't know if you're ever going to wear the Team Canada jersey again, so it’s really important to enjoy every day. Enjoy the process and really learn from each other and ask questions and grow as a player and be humble.”
Although the gold medal game was another chapter in the Canada-United States rivalry, two of the last three WW18 events featured a non-North American team in the finals.
“Maybe some of the shot differentials have been large, but the games are close now. The goalies are unbelievable, and scoring goals is so hard. I think the gap is narrowing, definitely, but we need the support of the federations, and we need to keep helping each other and working with each other and playing. Canada has, I think, 11,000 players in this [U18] age group. Sweden has 10,000 [female players] in total.”
The press release came on New Year’s Day, just three weeks ago, and a mere 12 days later she became the first woman to win Olympic gold as a player and then win Women’s U18 gold as a coach.
But first, the call to the Hall. IIHF president Luc Tardif called Sunohara in early December, and it was a communication she couldn’t have been expecting less.
“I was at home [when he called],” Sunohara told IIHF.com. “But since it wasn’t a regular call, but came through online, I was hesitant to answer. And I thought, you know what, I'm gonna call this number back. And then it was Luc. But even then, for some reason, I thought maybe it had to do with the upcoming U18 Women’s Worlds and he might have a question or something. But then he told me [about being inducted], and I just went quiet. Luc went, ‘Hello?’ I was just really kind of shocked.”
Of course, any call like this takes a player back to their days on the ice, when memories were forged, not recollected.
“I've been fortunate to play with so many great people and on so many great teams,” Sunohara said. “It was so much a team effort, our success. I have a hard time thinking or feeling that I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame or get these accolades.”
Born in Toronto, she had a typical Canadian childhood.
“My dad put me on skates when I was two years old, on my backyard rink,” Sunohara said. “It was all I wanted to do, whether it was in the basement, our backyard rink, or at school. My dad used to go out every evening and flood the rink for all of us in the neighbourhood. They had to drag me in. I really loved it. And to be honest, I still love it. It's where I belong. I think I just feel at home on the ice. I love the competition. I love every part of it. Hockey has given me my friendships. I've had the opportunity to see a lot of the world because of hockey and meet so many people and participate in so many events. I don't know where I would be without it.”
Sunohara represented Canada for 17 years, starting with the first Women’s Worlds in Ottawa, in 1990, and continuing through 2007, when she won her last of nine IIHF gold medals. Seven of those came from the Women’s Worlds, while she also won Olympic gold in 2002 and 2006. She was a strong forward, an offensive threat, averaging nearly a point a game over a combined 56 games (25 goals, 54 points).
“[The honour] really made me reflect on how grateful I am for the opportunity. First for my dad, for introducing hockey to me. He loved hockey, and he was my coach when I was seven. I can't imagine having a different career path, and just being able to have that opportunity to speak to people about this induction gives me the opportunity to thank everybody who helped me along the way and supported me in my journey: the coaches at Hockey Canada, my family, and my kids at home for allowing me to do this. This is what I love.”
Memories, she has a few, but perhaps not the same as fans might have.
“It's so funny,” she said. “You don't really remember scores from games. Most people say it's about the journey and the process, and it really is. For example, people have asked about our Olympic gold medal game in 2002, and I don't even remember the score. But we remember the journey leading up to that, and our losing eight straight exhibition games to the U.S. and going to the Olympics and all the adversity we faced. I think that those are things that you think about.”
Sunohara attended Northeastern University, something perfectly common today, but not so much when she was a teenager.
“I know that there were a few Canadians who had gone down before me, but it was really the beginning, so nobody knew what to expect. A lot of great players decided to stay in Canada because at the time the hockey was probably more competitive. There were some scouts who came out and some of the schools on the East Coast were recruiting. I went to visit Northeastern and there were already a few Canadians there. That was all I wanted to do, play and go to the U.S. on scholarship. My coach at Northeastern was the head coach of Team USA back then, and our captain and a few players I played against at the Women’s Worlds.”
Sunohara also comes from that first generation of players who remained active after retiring, and there were many. The list includes names like Cassie Campbell, Hayley Wickenheiser, Jen Botterill, Cheryl Pounder, and Tessa Bonhomme.
“I think that we've always felt like pioneers,” Sunohara explained. “We wanted to get more females involved in the game, and we always wanted a professional league. I think we wanted to have some part in making the game better than it was when we played.”
After retiring, it didn’t take long for Sunohara to get back into the game. She was hired by the University of Toronto in 2011 and is now in her 14th year with the program.
“It's something that I never thought that I would do because I couldn't imagine myself ever being behind a bench and not jumping on the ice! Our coach Mel Davidson got us involved with coaching courses back when we were centralized for the 2002 Olympics. She said, ‘You never know – you might want to coach one day.’ Many of us took our first coaching courses then. Mel had a vision of having more females coaching in the game and she did an amazing job of supporting us and providing us with the environment to learn and to get to know what it's like.
“It’s been so rewarding, and challenging. I love it, and I love learning, and I love growing as a coach. I love the competition and the challenge of trying to build teams and work with other coaches and to try to develop players, but also develop them in a way that you're doing your best for the team to be successful as well.”
Sunohara reflected on her journey from player to coach, and then, in Finland earlier this year, being a head coach for Canada at the U18 Women’s Worlds for the first time.
“For this team, we were just trying to have them enjoy the process and really enjoy the moment. Mel told me once, ‘Don't wish time away.’ Yes, you want to compete for a medal, but it’s important to really enjoy today, one day at a time, and it's true. I was fortunate to have a long career and be able to compete in a lot of international games with Canada. But, especially at this level, you don't know if you're ever going to wear the Team Canada jersey again, so it’s really important to enjoy every day. Enjoy the process and really learn from each other and ask questions and grow as a player and be humble.”
Although the gold medal game was another chapter in the Canada-United States rivalry, two of the last three WW18 events featured a non-North American team in the finals.
“Maybe some of the shot differentials have been large, but the games are close now. The goalies are unbelievable, and scoring goals is so hard. I think the gap is narrowing, definitely, but we need the support of the federations, and we need to keep helping each other and working with each other and playing. Canada has, I think, 11,000 players in this [U18] age group. Sweden has 10,000 [female players] in total.”