Fran Rider, pictured during the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship in Ottawa, initiated the unofficial Women’s Worlds in 1987.
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
Organizing the unofficial 1987 Women’s World Championship was a step-by-step process. It started with Fran Rider, head of the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, coming up with the concept and recruiting teams.
Then, Murray Costello, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (precursor to Hockey Canada), gave a presentation during IIHF meetings in Colorado in June 1986. The IIHF president, Gunther Sabetzki, encouraged the organizers to call it a world tournament because he saw women’s hockey as a future endevaour under the IIHF umbrella.
And so it was that seven teams from six countries (Canada had two entries) converged in Toronto in late April 1987 for a tournament that was as successful as it was ground-breaking.
All games were played at the North York Centennial Arena over six days. Games were 45 minutes long (3 periods of 15 minutes) and teams often played two games on the same day.
There were some close scores and some blowouts. On the first day, Canada edged the U.S., 2-1, and Ontario roared through its first four games undefeated, outscoring their opposition by a cumulative 57-0 score. But then the Ontarians lost their last two games of the round robin, 5-0 to Canada and 4-2 to the Americans.
In the semi-finals, though, Ontario got a measure of revenge, beating the U.S., 5-4, and advancing to the gold-medal game against Canada. Canada won that finals, 4-0, and the U.S. beat Sweden, 5-0, to take the bronze.
But really it was women’s hockey that was the winner more than any one team. The tournament was covered quite impressively by the Toronto Sun, and fan support was much stronger than expected. Ontario was coached by Lee Trempe, who said prophetically after the game, “It was the first women’s worlds, but I don’t think it will be the last.”
The lineups for that 1987 tournament are replete with history. Canada had the legendary Shirley Cameron as well as France St-Louis, Margot Verlaan (-Page), and goalie Cathy Phillips.
Angela James and Geraldine Heaney played for Ontario. Both became Hall of Famers. Deb Maybury became a referee in 1990. The America roster included Kim Eisenreid, Cindy Curley, and Lauren Apollo, all stars three years later.
Sweden, which got to Toronto only because of the sponsorship of Leafs defenceman Borje Salming, had Tina Bjork and Kristina Bergstrand, and the Swiss had Doris Wyss, Mirjam Baechler, and, most famous of all, Sandra Dombrowski, who had a lengthy career in officiating with the IIHF.
Of course the IIHF received nothing but great reports from the tournament, and that spelled the start of a formal tournament under its auspices in 1990. The rest is history, but that history started in a small local arena in north Toronto in 1987.
Click here for the overview of stories.
Then, Murray Costello, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (precursor to Hockey Canada), gave a presentation during IIHF meetings in Colorado in June 1986. The IIHF president, Gunther Sabetzki, encouraged the organizers to call it a world tournament because he saw women’s hockey as a future endevaour under the IIHF umbrella.
And so it was that seven teams from six countries (Canada had two entries) converged in Toronto in late April 1987 for a tournament that was as successful as it was ground-breaking.
All games were played at the North York Centennial Arena over six days. Games were 45 minutes long (3 periods of 15 minutes) and teams often played two games on the same day.
There were some close scores and some blowouts. On the first day, Canada edged the U.S., 2-1, and Ontario roared through its first four games undefeated, outscoring their opposition by a cumulative 57-0 score. But then the Ontarians lost their last two games of the round robin, 5-0 to Canada and 4-2 to the Americans.
In the semi-finals, though, Ontario got a measure of revenge, beating the U.S., 5-4, and advancing to the gold-medal game against Canada. Canada won that finals, 4-0, and the U.S. beat Sweden, 5-0, to take the bronze.
But really it was women’s hockey that was the winner more than any one team. The tournament was covered quite impressively by the Toronto Sun, and fan support was much stronger than expected. Ontario was coached by Lee Trempe, who said prophetically after the game, “It was the first women’s worlds, but I don’t think it will be the last.”
The lineups for that 1987 tournament are replete with history. Canada had the legendary Shirley Cameron as well as France St-Louis, Margot Verlaan (-Page), and goalie Cathy Phillips.
Angela James and Geraldine Heaney played for Ontario. Both became Hall of Famers. Deb Maybury became a referee in 1990. The America roster included Kim Eisenreid, Cindy Curley, and Lauren Apollo, all stars three years later.
Sweden, which got to Toronto only because of the sponsorship of Leafs defenceman Borje Salming, had Tina Bjork and Kristina Bergstrand, and the Swiss had Doris Wyss, Mirjam Baechler, and, most famous of all, Sandra Dombrowski, who had a lengthy career in officiating with the IIHF.
Of course the IIHF received nothing but great reports from the tournament, and that spelled the start of a formal tournament under its auspices in 1990. The rest is history, but that history started in a small local arena in north Toronto in 1987.
Click here for the overview of stories.