Swiss goaltender Florence Schelling after her last game, a 1-0 shutout win against Japan at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
The women’s record book is dotted with the name Florence Schelling. The Swiss goalie started her international career in 2004 at the age of 15, and by the time she retired 15 years later she had played in more games at the World Women’s Championship (44), more minutes (2,578:35), and won more games (21) than any other netminder.
Among her many achievements, however, there is one that is perhaps her greatest. From 5 April 2013 to 17 February 2018, a span of nearly five years, no one played goal for Switzerland in a senior IIHF event except Florence Schelling. Not one minute.
That computes to 28 straight starts – and complete games – from the 2013 Women’s Worlds, through the 2014 Olympics, 2015, 2016, and 2017 Women’s Worlds, and 2018 Olympics. The streak ended on 18 February 2018, when Janine Alder shut out the unified Korean team, 2-0, in a classification game, but two days later Schelling was back in the blue ice, posting a shutout of her own in a 1-0 win over Japan. It was the final game of her illustrious career.
The streak started after Sophie Anthamatten and Dominique Slongo shared the loss in a 13-0 shelling at the hands of Canada on 3 April 2013. The next game, Schelling started against the United States and kept the favourites at bay much of the time in a 5-0 Swiss loss.
Without question the highlight of Schelling’s career matched the nation’s women’s highlight. That came on 20 February 2014, the bronze medal game of the Sochi Olympics between the Swiss and Sweden.
The Swiss didn’t win a game in the preliminary round, but Schelling shut out Russia, 2-0, in the quarter-finals. The team then lost an entertaining game to Canada, 3-1, the closest result ever between the two nations, in the semis.
The Swedes, meanwhile, upset Finland, 4-2, in the quarters before losing to the U.S., 6-1, in the semis, setting up a European showdown for third place. The Swedes scored once in the first and again in the second, taking what looked like a solid 2-0 lead into the third.
But Schelling stood tall and the skaters in front of her rallied for four straight goals to take control of the game, and although the Swedes got one back in the final minute with an extra skater, Switzerland claimed Olympic bronze. This was the first such medal for the country, and only the second ever, to go with a 2012 Women’s Worlds bronze, also backstopped by Schelling.
In all, Schelling played for Switzerland at 14 events between 2004 and 2018, including a record-tying ten Women’s Worlds, missing only the 2005 WW. During that stretch, she played in 63 of a possible 70 games for her country, winning 31 and losing 30, and posting 10 shutouts.
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Among her many achievements, however, there is one that is perhaps her greatest. From 5 April 2013 to 17 February 2018, a span of nearly five years, no one played goal for Switzerland in a senior IIHF event except Florence Schelling. Not one minute.
That computes to 28 straight starts – and complete games – from the 2013 Women’s Worlds, through the 2014 Olympics, 2015, 2016, and 2017 Women’s Worlds, and 2018 Olympics. The streak ended on 18 February 2018, when Janine Alder shut out the unified Korean team, 2-0, in a classification game, but two days later Schelling was back in the blue ice, posting a shutout of her own in a 1-0 win over Japan. It was the final game of her illustrious career.
The streak started after Sophie Anthamatten and Dominique Slongo shared the loss in a 13-0 shelling at the hands of Canada on 3 April 2013. The next game, Schelling started against the United States and kept the favourites at bay much of the time in a 5-0 Swiss loss.
Without question the highlight of Schelling’s career matched the nation’s women’s highlight. That came on 20 February 2014, the bronze medal game of the Sochi Olympics between the Swiss and Sweden.
The Swiss didn’t win a game in the preliminary round, but Schelling shut out Russia, 2-0, in the quarter-finals. The team then lost an entertaining game to Canada, 3-1, the closest result ever between the two nations, in the semis.
The Swedes, meanwhile, upset Finland, 4-2, in the quarters before losing to the U.S., 6-1, in the semis, setting up a European showdown for third place. The Swedes scored once in the first and again in the second, taking what looked like a solid 2-0 lead into the third.
But Schelling stood tall and the skaters in front of her rallied for four straight goals to take control of the game, and although the Swedes got one back in the final minute with an extra skater, Switzerland claimed Olympic bronze. This was the first such medal for the country, and only the second ever, to go with a 2012 Women’s Worlds bronze, also backstopped by Schelling.
In all, Schelling played for Switzerland at 14 events between 2004 and 2018, including a record-tying ten Women’s Worlds, missing only the 2005 WW. During that stretch, she played in 63 of a possible 70 games for her country, winning 31 and losing 30, and posting 10 shutouts.
Click here for the overview of stories.