Timeline of Women's Hockey

1890s

• The earliest documented game of all women's hockey was held in Barrie, Ontario in 1892.
• Women's hockey gains popularity in universities, principally at the University of Toronto, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and McGill University in Montréal, Québec.

1900s

• Eva Ault becomes known as the “Queen of Ice” and begins to help grow the popularity of the game.
• Albertine Lapensée, “The Miracle Maid,” becomes regarded by many as the first Canadian female hockey superstar.
• In 1906, the first Alberta Provincial Women's Championship tournament was held at the Banff Winter Carnival.

1920s

• Bobbie Rosenfeld and Myrtle Cook, former track stars and hockey players in their own rights, become Canada's first women sports reporters, specializing in hockey during the winter. In 1978, Rosenfeld's name would be lent to the award for Canada's best female athlete.
• Elizabeth Graham, goalie for Queen's University in Kingston, makes history on February 7, 1927 as one of first credited netminders to wear a mask in a game using a fencing cage.

1930s

• The Preston Rivulettes rule the ice lanes. Click here for an interview with Ruth (Dargel) Collins of the Rivulettes.
• Hilda Ranscombe was the brightest star on the Rivulettes, helping them dominate the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association (LOHA) and growing the game in the province.

1940s

• The war halts development of the women's game, which doesn't revive until the 1960s.

1954

• After being named president of the Detroit Red Wings in 1952 after her father's passing, Marguerite Norris becomes the first woman to have her name stamped on the Stanley Cup.

1956

• Abby Hoffman challenges hockey's gender barrier by playing in a boys' league under the guise of being male as there were no leagues for female in her area.

1960s

• The Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union and the Ontario‐Quebec University Athletic Association merge to form the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association, resurrecting collegiate women's hockey. It was intramural with exhibition games being played between Guelph, McMaster, UofT, McGill, Queen's and later Western. By 1961‐62, it was an intercollegiate league.
• The Central Ontario Women's Hockey League (COWHL) is formed.

1970s

• Shirley Cameron becomes hockey's first star of the modern era. She helps found the Edmonton Chimos.

1982

• Fran Rider becomes the President and CEO of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) and leads the organization through growing the game worldwide.
• Phenom Angela James begins her time at Seneca College where she would be named the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association MVP for three consecutive seasons while leading in scoring for three years and leading Seneca to back‐to‐back championships in 1983‐84 and 1984‐85.

1987

• The first ever Women's World Championship takes place in Toronto and was organized by Fran Rider and the Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA). However, it is not recognized as an official tournament by the IIHF. The teams that participated were Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, and a team comprised solely of players from the province of Ontario. Canada won the tournament, taking the Hazel McCallion World Cup.

1990

• The first official and IIHF‐sanctioned Women's World Championship is held in Ottawa. Canada, Finland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, West Germany and the United States participated. Canada wins their second consecutive and first IIHF official, World Championship.

1992

• Manon Rhéaume is the first woman to play in the NHL as she backstops the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 1992 exhibition game.

1998

• Women's hockey becomes a full medal sport at the Olympic Winter Games for the first time. The United States defeats Canada to win the first Olympic gold medal for Women's Ice Hockey.
• The COWHL effectively closes, dwindling to three teams. They are absorbed into the original National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) which has just begun operations.

1999

• The Women's World Championships expands to two pools, A and B.

2004

• The Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) is formed.

2005

• Angela Ruggiero becomes the first woman to play in a regular season professional game in the United States who was not a goaltender when she played for the Tulsa Oilers against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in a Central Hockey League game on January 28, 2005. That night, she joined her brother Bill on the Oilers, becoming the first brother/sister combination to play professionally at the same time.
• USA ends Canada's streak of eight straight (nine unofficial) World Championship titles in a shoot-out.
• The Clarkson Cup is commissioned by Canadian Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.

2006

• Sweden becomes the first non‐North American team to earn silver at the Winter Olympic Games beating the United States in the semi‐finals.

2007

• The original NWHL abruptly ceases operations. Players band together and form the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL).

2008

• The IIHF adds the U18 Women's World Championship to its tournament roster. The United States takes home the first gold medal.

2010

• Canada wins its third straight Olympic gold medal, defeating the rival Americans in a hard‐fought 2‐0 final.
• Cammi Granato and Angela James are the first women selected for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• The CWHL expands into the United States with the Boston Blades.

2011

• The WWHL winds down operations as former teams the Strathmore Rockies and Edmonton Chimos merge into the CWHL as Team Alberta. The Minnesota Whitecaps, the most prominent of the remaining WWHL teams, becomes independent.

2013

• Geraldine Heaney becomes the third woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

2014

• Canada wins its fourth straight Olympic gold medal, scoring the tying goal with seconds left in regulation, forcing overtime in an epic championship contest against the United States.

2015

• Angela Ruggiero becomes the fourth woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• A new National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) launches with four teams in the USA. The new NWHL championship trophy is named the Isobel Cup after the daughter of Lord Stanley, Isobel, who is one of the earliest known female hockey players. It is the first women's league in North America to pay players.

2017

• Danielle Goyette becomes the fifth woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• The CWHL expands into China with two teams, the Kunlun Red Star and Vanke Rays based in Shenzhen. This was an effort of the Chinese Government in order to ice a competitive team at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. The following season, the teams would merge into the KRS Vanke Rays. This investment allows the CWHL to pay their players.

2018

• For the first time in Women's Olympic history, the gold medal winner is determined by shoot‐out. Jocelyne Lamoureux scores the winner for the USA as they defeat their rival from Canada, claiming their second Olympic gold medal.
• Jayna Hefford becomes the sixth woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• The Minnesota Whitecaps make a return to league play as they join the new NWHL.

2019

• Kendall Coyne Schofield becomes the first woman to participate in the NHL's All‐Star Skills Competition in the Fastest Skater event. Previously, female players were included as demonstrators of the events only.
• The final Clarkson Cup is awarded in March and the CWHL closes a week later citing an unstable business model.
• Finland becomes the first country other than Canada and the United States to finish in the top two of the IIHF Women's World Championship when they take silver on home ice.
• Former CWHL players and several NWHL players, along with support from many players around the world, come together and vow to not play in any North American league “until we get the resources that professional hockey demands and deserves.” They later form the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) to advocate for the creation of a sustainable professional league. In the Fall, they began their Dream Gap Tour.
• Hayley Wickenheiser becomes the seventh woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

2020

• The new NWHL expands into Canada for the first time with the addition of the Toronto Six.

2021

• The new NWHL rebrands as the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).
• Canada breaks a five‐year gold medal drought, winning the IIHF Women's World Championship on home ice.
• Kim St‐Pierre becomes the eighth woman (and first female goaltender) inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• IIHF members vote to hold the IIHF Women's World Championship during Olympic Winter Games years. The tournaments in these years will take place in the summer and help mark the start of a new Olympic cycle.

2022

• Canada reclaims Olympic gold after defeating the USA in Beijing. Canadian forward Sarah Nurse breaks Hayley Wickenheiser's record for most points in a single Olympic tournament as well as setting the record for assists while Claire Thompson becomes the top scoring defender and Brianne Jenner ties the record for most goals.
• Riikka Sallinen becomes the ninth woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the first female player from outside of North America.
• Finland's Jenni Hiirikoski plays in her 14th IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, a new record.
• USA's Hilary Knight breaks Hayley Wickenheiser's record for most career points at the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship.
• Czechia wins bronze at the IIHF Women's World Championship, marking their first medal at the top level tournament.

2023

• At only 14, Nela Lopusanova of Slovakia sets the hockey world ablaze during the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's U18 Championship with multiple highlight reel goals, including being the first woman to pull off the 'Michigan' in international competition.
• The United States defeats Canada to take over the top spot at the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship.
• USA's Hilary Knight is the first player to reach (and pass) 100 points at the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship. As captain of the team, she also won her ninth championship which ties her with Danielle Goyette and has tied Hayley Wickenheiser with 13 tournament medals.
• The IIHF introduces Player of the Year Awards. Hilary Knight of Team USA and the PWHPA is named the inaugural female winner.
• The PWHPA unionizes and creates a historic CBA with their partners who are investing to create the group's vision for a truly sustainable professional league.
• The investors working with the PWHPA purchase the PHF, which announces it is ceasing operations.
• It is announced that the new professional league in North America will begin play in January 2024.

2023

• The Professional Women's Hockey League is officially revealed on August 29, with six franchises: Toronto, ON, Ottawa, ON and Montreal, QC in Canada, and Boston, MA, New York, NY area, and Minneapolis‐Saint Paul, MN in the United States.
• Each PWHL team is allowed to sign three players in an inital free‐agency period. 2023 college graduates are not eligible to be signed during this period.
• Kelly Pannek becomes the first player to ever sign in the PWHL as she inks a contract during the initial free‐agency period with PWHL Minnesota.
• American Taylor Heise is drafted first‐overall to PWHL Minnesota.
• Caroline Ouellette becomes the tenth woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

2024

• The PWHL begins its inaugural season on New Year's Day at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. PWHL New York defeated PWHL Toronto by a score of 4 to 0.
• PWHL New York's Ella Shelton scored the PWHL's first regular season goal assisted by Alex Carpenter at 10:43 of the first period.
• PWHL New York netminder Corinne Schroeder recorded the PWHL's first regular season shutout with 29 saves.
• Canada defeated USA 6-5 in overtime to win its 13th IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championships.
• On April 20, 2024, the PWHL set an all-time women's hockey attendance record with 21,105 fans at the game between PWHL Montréal and PWHL Toronto at the Bell Centre in Montréal, Quebec.
• PWHL Toronto set a Toronto professional hockey winning streak record of 11 games on route to capture the PWHL top seed in the regular season with a record of 13 wins, 4 overtime wins and 7 losses in 24 games played.
• On May 29, 2024, PWHL Minnesota claimed the inaugural Walter Cup Championship with a 3-0 win over PWHL Boston. Taylor Heise took home the inaugural Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award with 5 goals and 8 points in 10 playoff games, leading her team to victory.
• PWHL Toronto's Natalie Spooner captures the first PWHL Billie Jean King MVP award. She led the inaugural PWHL season with 20 goals and 27 points in 24 games to earn the league's most valuable player honours. Natalie also became the second player to be awarded the IIHF Female Player of the Year award for her outstanding international play.
• Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell become the eleven and twelfth women to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• A new PWHL era began on September 9, 2024, as league announced official team names and logos for the inaugural six teams. The Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and the Toronto Sceptres now represent the Professional Women's Hockey League.

2025

• On April 23, 2025, The PWHL announces that it will expand the league to Vancouver, BC, with the newest team to begin play in the 2025-26 season. This marks a significant milestone as it will be the first time that the league reaches the West Coast.
• On April 30, 2025, The PWHL announces its second expansion to Seattle, Washington, with the new team set to begin to play in the 2025-26 season.
• On May 26, 2025, the Minnesota Frost became back-to-back Walter Cup Champions with a 2-1 OT win over the Ottawa Charge. The Ilana Klose Playoff MVP award went to Ottawa's goaltender Gwyneth Philips, appearing in all eight playoff games, posting a 1.23 goals against average and a .952 save percentage.
• Marie-Philip Poulin (Montréal Victoire) awarded the PWHL Billie Jean King MVP, PWHL Forward of the Year and the 2025 IIHF Female Player of the Year