Canada's Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse and Emily Clark pose with their gold medals following the Women’s Gold Medal Game against USA at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
photo: Andrea Cardin / HHOF-IIHF Images
Today is International Women’s Day, and to mark the celebrations the IIHF presents a list of women in hockey we can all be proud to know and admire, women whose words and actions, voices, determination, and ambition, have paved the way so far and will continue to pave the way to grow the game around the world, in places familiar and unfamiliar. The list is alphabetical and is not intended to rank in any way. All these women deserve the praise and admiration of hockey fans around the world.
International Women's Day 2022
If you can see it, you can be it. Proud to stand alongside the women who are changing the game and inspiring the next generation of ice hockey players.
Cassie Campbell-Pascall – A tremendous promoter of the game as a player, Campbell-Pascall has continued in the same vein since retiring. A broadcaster by night, she spends her days defending Olympic integrity, ensuring equity within the IIHF family, and continuing to promote the game’s development wherever possible.
Emilie Castonguay – After playing NCAA hockey for four years, Castonguay returned home and interned with the Montreal Canadiens before getting her law degree from the University of Montreal. She made headlines when top prospect Alexis Lafreniere hired her after she became the first female NHLPA-certified player agent, but now that she is the assistant GM of the Vancouver Canucks she looks to be on her way to even bigger and better things. Bright, articulate, and possessed of a good hockey mind, there is no limit to what she can achieve in the NHL and beyond.
Meghan Chayka – She introduced the NHL to analytics, and what started out as a niche area of scouting and player assessment has now become a vital tool used by all pro teams across the NHL and throughout Europe. Chayka promotes women in hockey through actions more than words, and the fact that she has brought a new concept of how we see players is akin to hockey’s version of “Moneyball.”
Kendall Coyne Schofield – Gutted by defeat after the gold medal game in Beijing, the classy Coyne Schofield spoke not of the immediate but of the future when she said: “I know there are a lot of young girls watching back home, and I hope women’s hockey cannot be silent after these two weeks. They need to be able to see themselves in us, and it can’t be silent. It can’t not be visible because it’s not the Olympic Games. We need to continue to push for visibility. We need to continue to fight for women’s hockey, because it’s not good enough. It can’t end after the Olympic Games.” She has never backed down from a fight, and her fight, along with everyone else at the PWHPA, to create a true women’s pro team looks closer than it’s ever been.
Sarah Fillier – Her play at last year’s Women’s Worlds spurred talk of a coming-out party in Beijing, and Fillier delivered. Skilled on ice and personable off it, the 21-year-old represents the future of the game. And she’s okay with that. If sponsors and investors want to know what a pro league would look like, Fillier is the answer.
Cammi Granato – A legend as a player, Granato has joined the Canucks to oversee the team’s player development and amateur and pro scouting. She had been a scout with the expansion Seattle Kraken, but a promotion in her adopted home town, along with the addition of Castonguay, is putting Vancouver at the forefront of change within the NHL ranks.
Katie Guay – The first women to referee an AHL game, Guay is a leader in stripes. She has embraced the challenge and celebrated her historic promotion, but she has also managed to keep the noise down as she tries to pursue her true dream of simply aiming higher and higher and doing her job well. Not “women well.” Well.
Jayna Hefford – As the leader of the PWHPA, Hefford has faced one challenge after another fearlessly. There have been moments of worry and anxious waiting, but every Dream Gap Tour weekend, every game among the world’s best players, helps to showcase the game. Now, it seems, a pro league is closer than ever, and who better to lead the charge than Hefford?
Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer & Marta Zawadzka – They come from countries not very well known for women’s hockey (Hungary, Poland), but as the two women who sit on the IIHF Council they have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to gain more traction for women in international hockey. They fought to get the Women’s Worlds from eight teams to ten, and will continue to aspire to the same for the Women’s U18. Most important, women across the globe know they have a point of contact that is a supportive one.
Brigitte Lacquette – An Ojibwa who played for Team Canada at three Women’s Worlds and the 2018 Olympics, Lacquette has since become the first woman of First Nations descent to scout for an NHL team (Chicago). Her fight is both as a woman and as a member of the Indigenous community. But Ryan Stewart, the assistant GM of the Blackhawks, did his due diligence and found everyone considered Lacquette to have a great hockey mind. And now she’s in the NHL.
Kim Martin Hasson – She burst onto the hockey scene as a 15-year-old goalie at the 2002 Olympics, but in retirement Martin Hasson has been just as active in her native Sweden. She runs her own hockey school and is a well-respected voice on Swedish TV, providing insightful commentary and helping to make the connection between women of her generation and the next.
Alina Muller – If anyone wants to know what the value of a true and unified pro hockey league in North America would look like, it would be one where you could watch Muller play alongside North Americans as part of a truly global women’s hockey community. She is every bit the equal of the Canadians and Americans, but many aren’t aware of her because Team Switzerland games are few and far between.
Sarah Nurse – One of the dominant players in Beijing, Nurse is also a leading voice in the Black community where there are precious few female hockey players and role models. A force in uniform, she is a class act off ice who works evert day to try to grow the game and create dreams for girls across Canada.
Klara Peslarova – One of the best goalies at the Beijing Olympics, Peslarova plays on a Czechia team that is quickly earning the respect of the more dominant nations. The Czech women’s national team just played in their first Olympics and have been in the top pool of women’s play since 2016. If the women’s pool is going to improve to a new level of competition, players like Peslarova will be front and centre in that rise.
Marie-Philip Poulin – The GOAT is at the very height of her abilities, the most powerful player on ice and an influential one off it. Selfless with her time and gracious in sharing the accolades, she is the face of the game. As Connor McDavid is to the NHL, so MPP is to the women’s hockey.
Fran Rider – When the U18 Women’s Worlds couldn’t be played in January due to Covid-19, it was Rider, head of the OWHA, who spoke first and offered to host the event. Her contributions to the game over the past 30 years have been many, and she continues to be a voice that unapologetically promotes the women’s game at all levels and in every way.
Angela Ruggiero – A Hall of Famer for her career on ice, Ruggiero has nonetheless managed to do as much off it since retiring. She is a Commission Member of the IOC and the CEO and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab, and she is as active as any woman in demanding equity and accountability in ensuring fairness for women athletes. Equal opportunity isn’t optional; it’s mandatory.
Emma Terho – One of Finland’s great stars between 1998 and 2014, Terho has continued to forge a greater and greater role in women’s sports off ice. She is currently a member of the IOC’s executive board and has sat on a variety of commissions at the IOC over the last several years. Indeed, there are few women in the world as active in the administration of sports as Terho.
Hayley Wickenheiser – A giant during her playing days, Wickenheiser continues to be a voice of reason. She is now a fully-licensed doctor while working in the front office of the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was a strong advocate during the worst days of covid and is now trying to help the efforts in Ukraine to support a country on the verge of collapse. Hockey remains in her blood, but so does human well-being.
Emilie Castonguay – After playing NCAA hockey for four years, Castonguay returned home and interned with the Montreal Canadiens before getting her law degree from the University of Montreal. She made headlines when top prospect Alexis Lafreniere hired her after she became the first female NHLPA-certified player agent, but now that she is the assistant GM of the Vancouver Canucks she looks to be on her way to even bigger and better things. Bright, articulate, and possessed of a good hockey mind, there is no limit to what she can achieve in the NHL and beyond.
Meghan Chayka – She introduced the NHL to analytics, and what started out as a niche area of scouting and player assessment has now become a vital tool used by all pro teams across the NHL and throughout Europe. Chayka promotes women in hockey through actions more than words, and the fact that she has brought a new concept of how we see players is akin to hockey’s version of “Moneyball.”
Kendall Coyne Schofield – Gutted by defeat after the gold medal game in Beijing, the classy Coyne Schofield spoke not of the immediate but of the future when she said: “I know there are a lot of young girls watching back home, and I hope women’s hockey cannot be silent after these two weeks. They need to be able to see themselves in us, and it can’t be silent. It can’t not be visible because it’s not the Olympic Games. We need to continue to push for visibility. We need to continue to fight for women’s hockey, because it’s not good enough. It can’t end after the Olympic Games.” She has never backed down from a fight, and her fight, along with everyone else at the PWHPA, to create a true women’s pro team looks closer than it’s ever been.
Sarah Fillier – Her play at last year’s Women’s Worlds spurred talk of a coming-out party in Beijing, and Fillier delivered. Skilled on ice and personable off it, the 21-year-old represents the future of the game. And she’s okay with that. If sponsors and investors want to know what a pro league would look like, Fillier is the answer.
Cammi Granato – A legend as a player, Granato has joined the Canucks to oversee the team’s player development and amateur and pro scouting. She had been a scout with the expansion Seattle Kraken, but a promotion in her adopted home town, along with the addition of Castonguay, is putting Vancouver at the forefront of change within the NHL ranks.
Katie Guay – The first women to referee an AHL game, Guay is a leader in stripes. She has embraced the challenge and celebrated her historic promotion, but she has also managed to keep the noise down as she tries to pursue her true dream of simply aiming higher and higher and doing her job well. Not “women well.” Well.
Jayna Hefford – As the leader of the PWHPA, Hefford has faced one challenge after another fearlessly. There have been moments of worry and anxious waiting, but every Dream Gap Tour weekend, every game among the world’s best players, helps to showcase the game. Now, it seems, a pro league is closer than ever, and who better to lead the charge than Hefford?
Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer & Marta Zawadzka – They come from countries not very well known for women’s hockey (Hungary, Poland), but as the two women who sit on the IIHF Council they have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to gain more traction for women in international hockey. They fought to get the Women’s Worlds from eight teams to ten, and will continue to aspire to the same for the Women’s U18. Most important, women across the globe know they have a point of contact that is a supportive one.
Brigitte Lacquette – An Ojibwa who played for Team Canada at three Women’s Worlds and the 2018 Olympics, Lacquette has since become the first woman of First Nations descent to scout for an NHL team (Chicago). Her fight is both as a woman and as a member of the Indigenous community. But Ryan Stewart, the assistant GM of the Blackhawks, did his due diligence and found everyone considered Lacquette to have a great hockey mind. And now she’s in the NHL.
Kim Martin Hasson – She burst onto the hockey scene as a 15-year-old goalie at the 2002 Olympics, but in retirement Martin Hasson has been just as active in her native Sweden. She runs her own hockey school and is a well-respected voice on Swedish TV, providing insightful commentary and helping to make the connection between women of her generation and the next.
Alina Muller – If anyone wants to know what the value of a true and unified pro hockey league in North America would look like, it would be one where you could watch Muller play alongside North Americans as part of a truly global women’s hockey community. She is every bit the equal of the Canadians and Americans, but many aren’t aware of her because Team Switzerland games are few and far between.
Sarah Nurse – One of the dominant players in Beijing, Nurse is also a leading voice in the Black community where there are precious few female hockey players and role models. A force in uniform, she is a class act off ice who works evert day to try to grow the game and create dreams for girls across Canada.
Klara Peslarova – One of the best goalies at the Beijing Olympics, Peslarova plays on a Czechia team that is quickly earning the respect of the more dominant nations. The Czech women’s national team just played in their first Olympics and have been in the top pool of women’s play since 2016. If the women’s pool is going to improve to a new level of competition, players like Peslarova will be front and centre in that rise.
Marie-Philip Poulin – The GOAT is at the very height of her abilities, the most powerful player on ice and an influential one off it. Selfless with her time and gracious in sharing the accolades, she is the face of the game. As Connor McDavid is to the NHL, so MPP is to the women’s hockey.
Fran Rider – When the U18 Women’s Worlds couldn’t be played in January due to Covid-19, it was Rider, head of the OWHA, who spoke first and offered to host the event. Her contributions to the game over the past 30 years have been many, and she continues to be a voice that unapologetically promotes the women’s game at all levels and in every way.
Angela Ruggiero – A Hall of Famer for her career on ice, Ruggiero has nonetheless managed to do as much off it since retiring. She is a Commission Member of the IOC and the CEO and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab, and she is as active as any woman in demanding equity and accountability in ensuring fairness for women athletes. Equal opportunity isn’t optional; it’s mandatory.
Emma Terho – One of Finland’s great stars between 1998 and 2014, Terho has continued to forge a greater and greater role in women’s sports off ice. She is currently a member of the IOC’s executive board and has sat on a variety of commissions at the IOC over the last several years. Indeed, there are few women in the world as active in the administration of sports as Terho.
Hayley Wickenheiser – A giant during her playing days, Wickenheiser continues to be a voice of reason. She is now a fully-licensed doctor while working in the front office of the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was a strong advocate during the worst days of covid and is now trying to help the efforts in Ukraine to support a country on the verge of collapse. Hockey remains in her blood, but so does human well-being.