Caroline Ouellette had four points in Canada’s 13-0 victory against Germany in 2004 – the 37th straight win at the Women’s Worlds.
photo: Jeff Vinnick
It was no April Fool’s joke, but it was memorable all the same. When Canada trounced Germany by a 13-0 score on 1st April 2004, to end the first round of the 2004 Women’s Worlds in Halifax, it had won its 37th straight game going back to Day One in 1990.
Over that time it had won seven straight gold medals at the WW and had outscored its opponents by an astounding 286-34. Of those 37 wins, 17 were by a shutout and another eleven by allowing only one goal.
Canada had won their seven golds with seven coaches, a unique achievement in itself and testament to the depth of its program.
The only comparable achievement in hockey was the dominant Soviet Union team that won seven World Championship gold medals in a row between 1963 and 1971, but even that team lost five games during that era.
The Canadians, of course, had had a cultural head start because women’s hockey had been played at the university level since the early part of the 20th century and the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association started in the mid-1970s.
The Americans were the clear number two, but they had yet to establish programs across the country and create the infrastructure needed to use its massive population to better effect. And although they had yet to win a WW gold by this point, they had that gold from Nagano in 1998 around their necks, so they knew they weren’t far off.
Indeed, trouble was on the way for Canada. Two days after win 37 in a row, the U.S. beat them, 3-1, their first win in WW play, and although Canada rebounded to take the gold with a 2-0 win, the Americans won the tournament a year later in Sweden.
Nevertheless, the streak was a monumental achievement and by far the longest in IIHF history. The longest winning streaks for the men are 27 games at the World Championship (Russia, 2007-10), 20 in Olympic men’s ice hockey (Canada, 1920-36) and 20 again at the World Juniors (Canada, 2004-07), the next closest streaks.
Click here for the overview of stories.
Over that time it had won seven straight gold medals at the WW and had outscored its opponents by an astounding 286-34. Of those 37 wins, 17 were by a shutout and another eleven by allowing only one goal.
Canada had won their seven golds with seven coaches, a unique achievement in itself and testament to the depth of its program.
The only comparable achievement in hockey was the dominant Soviet Union team that won seven World Championship gold medals in a row between 1963 and 1971, but even that team lost five games during that era.
The Canadians, of course, had had a cultural head start because women’s hockey had been played at the university level since the early part of the 20th century and the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association started in the mid-1970s.
The Americans were the clear number two, but they had yet to establish programs across the country and create the infrastructure needed to use its massive population to better effect. And although they had yet to win a WW gold by this point, they had that gold from Nagano in 1998 around their necks, so they knew they weren’t far off.
Indeed, trouble was on the way for Canada. Two days after win 37 in a row, the U.S. beat them, 3-1, their first win in WW play, and although Canada rebounded to take the gold with a 2-0 win, the Americans won the tournament a year later in Sweden.
Nevertheless, the streak was a monumental achievement and by far the longest in IIHF history. The longest winning streaks for the men are 27 games at the World Championship (Russia, 2007-10), 20 in Olympic men’s ice hockey (Canada, 1920-36) and 20 again at the World Juniors (Canada, 2004-07), the next closest streaks.
Click here for the overview of stories.