Nagano 1998 – pictured host Japan against the United States – ended an early era of international women’s hockey.
photo: IIHF Archive
Women’s hockey as we know it started with an invitational tournament in Toronto in 1987. There were two teams representing the hosts – one called Canada and another Ontario – and one from the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, and the Netherlands.
The success of that event gave rise to an IIHF-supported tournament in 1990, after which events were held in 1992, 1994, and 1997. This decade of hockey, 1987-97, can in many ways be regarded as the early era of the women’s game. It was a time when rules and formats and teams were being organized, and it all was really a warmup to the first Olympics with women, in 1998 in Nagano.
Canada beat Ontario, 4-0 in the 1987 finals, and then Canada beat the U.S. in each of the first four IIHF Women’s Worlds. But when the Americans upset Canada to win gold in Nagano, the stage had been set for a much more competitive women’s version of hockey.
Consider that Norway was a mainstay of the early tournaments (1990-97), after which it has yet to play in the top pool again and has never qualified for an Olympics.
The same can be said for Denmark, which finished in 7th place in 1992 but never played in the top pool afterwards or in the Olympics. Japan has had a better record, playing in 1998 but not again until 2014. It also played in the inaugural event in 1990 but then was out of the top pool for another decade and has been up and down ever since.
Germany has been mostly consistent but didn’t compete in 1992, 1997, or 1998 and has had to earn promotion after being demoted on three occasions in the last 15 years.
On the other side of Nagano, however, Russia emerged as a force in the women’s game, as did the Swiss after a bumpy few years in the early 2000s. The pool of talent hasn’t been as big for the women as men, but there are parallel histories.
Consider that the men’s World Championship featured teams from Great Britain, Romania, Belgium, France, and Poland with regularity in the 1930s. But after the war, with more serious interest from more hockey-centric nations, these early-era nations fell into lower pools as today’s great nations, including Russia and Finland, started to emerge.
When the women played at the 1997 Women’s Worlds, they knew hockey was going to the Olympics, and they knew after that the tournament would be held annually in non-Olympic years. For them, 1997 was the last year of this early era, an era that gave way to another level of skill and, more important, training and financing from national federations.
Click here for the overview of stories.
The success of that event gave rise to an IIHF-supported tournament in 1990, after which events were held in 1992, 1994, and 1997. This decade of hockey, 1987-97, can in many ways be regarded as the early era of the women’s game. It was a time when rules and formats and teams were being organized, and it all was really a warmup to the first Olympics with women, in 1998 in Nagano.
Canada beat Ontario, 4-0 in the 1987 finals, and then Canada beat the U.S. in each of the first four IIHF Women’s Worlds. But when the Americans upset Canada to win gold in Nagano, the stage had been set for a much more competitive women’s version of hockey.
Consider that Norway was a mainstay of the early tournaments (1990-97), after which it has yet to play in the top pool again and has never qualified for an Olympics.
The same can be said for Denmark, which finished in 7th place in 1992 but never played in the top pool afterwards or in the Olympics. Japan has had a better record, playing in 1998 but not again until 2014. It also played in the inaugural event in 1990 but then was out of the top pool for another decade and has been up and down ever since.
Germany has been mostly consistent but didn’t compete in 1992, 1997, or 1998 and has had to earn promotion after being demoted on three occasions in the last 15 years.
On the other side of Nagano, however, Russia emerged as a force in the women’s game, as did the Swiss after a bumpy few years in the early 2000s. The pool of talent hasn’t been as big for the women as men, but there are parallel histories.
Consider that the men’s World Championship featured teams from Great Britain, Romania, Belgium, France, and Poland with regularity in the 1930s. But after the war, with more serious interest from more hockey-centric nations, these early-era nations fell into lower pools as today’s great nations, including Russia and Finland, started to emerge.
When the women played at the 1997 Women’s Worlds, they knew hockey was going to the Olympics, and they knew after that the tournament would be held annually in non-Olympic years. For them, 1997 was the last year of this early era, an era that gave way to another level of skill and, more important, training and financing from national federations.
Click here for the overview of stories.
Image from the first era of women’s hockey in a game between Sweden and Norway.
photo: IIHF Archive