Anna Wiegand ends her career as a game official not only with the 2022 Olympic final but also by becoming the first woman to call a game in Switzerland’s top men’s league.
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
It was an exciting race for the playoff spots at the end of the regular season in Switzerland’s National League.
But it was not only teams that wrote history during the last game days. For the first time a woman was officiating an ice hockey game in the top Swiss men’s league.
The referee who broke the barrier was one of the very best from the women’s side, Anna Wiegand, who recently officiated the gold medal game at both the 2022 Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament in Beijing and last September at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Calgary.
The Swiss-Finnish referee has been officiating in Switzerland for years, both on the women’s side and working her way up in men’s hockey from amateur and junior leagues to having her debut in the second-tier professional competition and now at the top league where she partnered with her husband, Marc Wiegand, for the HC Ajoie vs. SCL Tigers Langnau game.
“I really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful experience. I’m thankful that I have been able to experience it before I hang up my skates with these people and these players,” Wiegand told broadcaster MySports after the game.
“It was a unique experience. It means a lot for me. Something people sometimes don’t notice is the passion referees have for the sport, the sacrifices made to be here.”
It’s an end of an officiating career with many highlights for Wiegand since her international debut. She officiated in two Olympic Winter Games (2014, 2022) and five IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021).
But it was not only teams that wrote history during the last game days. For the first time a woman was officiating an ice hockey game in the top Swiss men’s league.
The referee who broke the barrier was one of the very best from the women’s side, Anna Wiegand, who recently officiated the gold medal game at both the 2022 Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament in Beijing and last September at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Calgary.
The Swiss-Finnish referee has been officiating in Switzerland for years, both on the women’s side and working her way up in men’s hockey from amateur and junior leagues to having her debut in the second-tier professional competition and now at the top league where she partnered with her husband, Marc Wiegand, for the HC Ajoie vs. SCL Tigers Langnau game.
“I really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful experience. I’m thankful that I have been able to experience it before I hang up my skates with these people and these players,” Wiegand told broadcaster MySports after the game.
“It was a unique experience. It means a lot for me. Something people sometimes don’t notice is the passion referees have for the sport, the sacrifices made to be here.”
It’s an end of an officiating career with many highlights for Wiegand since her international debut. She officiated in two Olympic Winter Games (2014, 2022) and five IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021).