Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Women's tournament

1998 Winter Olympics

File:Ice hockey pictogram.svg
Tournament details
Host country	Japan
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Dates	8–17 February
Teams	6
Final positions
Champions File:Gold medal blank.svg	United States (1st title)
Runner-up File:Silver medal blank.svg	Canada
Third place File:Bronze medal blank.svg	Finland
Fourth place	China
Tournament statistics
Games played	17
Goals scored	119 (7 per game)
Attendance	81,707 (4,806 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Riikka Nieminen (12 points)

The 1998 Olympic women's ice hockey tournament was the first year that featured women in ice hockey competition. It was anticipated that the women's gold medal match would feature Canada versus the United States. Canada was favored to come out on top as they had won all the competitions in previous years in women's hockey, with the United States perpetually finishing second, while no other national teams could match their level of play. However, the United States beat Canada in the final and became the first country to win gold in women's ice hockey at the Olympics. Petra Vaarakallio scored the first-ever goal in women's ice hockey at the Olympics in 1998. She had won bronze at the 1992 World Ringette Championships but stopped playing ringette after receiving a six-month suspension for kicking an opponent who was lying on the ice. There were no qualification tournaments, the host Japan played alongside the top five nations at the previous season's World Championships.

Rosters

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Women's team rosters

Preliminary round

<section begin="Preliminary round" />

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	5	5	0	0	33	7	+26	10	Gold medal game
2	Canada	5	4	0	1	28	12	+16	8
3	Finland	5	3	0	2	27	10	+17	6	Bronze medal game
4	China	5	2	0	3	10	15	−5	4
5	Sweden	5	1	0	4	10	21	−11	2
6	Japan (H)	5	0	0	5	2	45	−43	0

Source:
(H) Hosts

<section end="Preliminary round" />

All times are local (UTC+9).

<section begin=A1 />

8 February 1998 12:00

Sweden

0–6 (0–2, 0–2, 0–2)

Finland

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 2,208

Game reference
	Annica Åhlén	Goalies	Tuula Puputti	Referee: Marina Zenk Linesmen: Debra Parece Evonne Young
	0–1 08:35 – Vaarakallio (Huotari) 0–2 15:17 – Ikonen (Selin) (PP) 0–3 22:35 – Reima (Fisk) 0–4 34:07 – Nieminen (Reima) 0–5 55:11 – Krooks 0–6 58:20 – Ikonen
	16 min	Penalties	12 min
	12	Shots	28

<section end=A1 /> <section begin=A2 />

8 February 1998 16:00

Canada

13–0 (3–0, 6–0, 4–0)

Japan

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 4,597

Game reference
	Lesley Reddon Manon Rhéaume	Goalies	Haruka Watanabe Yuka Oda	Referee: Victoria Renfer-Kale Linesmen: Johanna Kuisma Sigrid Nonas
	Goyette (Wickenheiser) – 05:46 1–0 Heaney – 15:42 2–0 Wickenheiser (Wilson, Campbell) – 17:05 3–0 Goyette (Wilson, Brisson) – 24:23 4–0 Brisson (Wickenheiser) – 28:12 5–0 Campbell (Diduck) – 31:22 6–0 Wilson (Goyette) – 35:43 7–0 Kellar (Sunohara) – 36:14 8–0 Wickenheiser (Wilson) (PP) – 38:08 9–0 Diduck (Campbell) – 53:52 10–0 St-Louis (Heaney, Kellar) (PP) – 55:26 11–0 Goyette – 56:21 12–0 Smith (St-Louis) (PP) – 58:06 13–0
	12 min	Penalties	12 min
	64	Shots	3

<section end=A2 /> <section begin=A3 />

8 February 1998 20:00

China

0–5 (0–2, 0–1, 0–2)

United States

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 3,255

Game reference
	Guo Hong	Goalies	Sarah Tueting	Referee: Laurie Taylor-Bolton Linesmen: Isabelle Giguère Sandra Dombrowski
	0–1 07:39 – Granato (Ulion, Schmidgall) (PP) 0–2 19:17 – Bye (Mounsey) (PP) 0–3 34:53 – Mounsey (King) 0–4 51:05 – Schmidgall (Bye) 0–5 56:20 – Granato (King)
	14 min	Penalties	10 min
	10	Shots	31

<section end=A3 />

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<section begin=A4 />

9 February 1998 12:00

Finland

11–1 (2–0, 3–0, 6–1)

Japan

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 4,972

Game reference
	Liisa-Maria Sneck	Goalies	Haruka Watanabe Yuka Oda	Referee: Laurie Taylor-Bolton Linesmen: Sigrid Nonas Evonne Young
	Lankosaari (Riipi, Krooks) – 03:54 1–0 Riipi (Lankosaari) – 18:45 2–0 Reima (Fisk, Hänninen) – 27:22 3–0 Hänninen (PP) – 33:29 4–0 Hänninen (Nieminen, Ikonen) (PP) – 38:23 5–0 Rantamäki – 45:43 6–0 6–1 48:28 – Hatanaka (Fujiwara, Yoshimi) (PP) Nieminen (Lehto) – 49:06 7–1 Krooks – 49:52 8–1 Hänninen (Nieminen) (PP) – 50:42 9–1 Lehto (Nieminen) – 52:55 10–1 Nieminen (Fisk, Lehtimäki) – 54:40 11–1
	16 min	Penalties	42 min
	49	Shots	9

<section end=A4 /> <section begin=A5 />

9 February 1998 16:00

United States

7–1 (1–1, 4–0, 2–0)

Sweden

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 3,607

Game reference
	Sara DeCosta	Goalies	Annica Åhlén	Referee: Manuela Gröger Linesmen: Isabelle Giguère Marina Zenk
	0–1 10:02 – Morelius (Sjölander, Holst) (PP) Baker (Merz) – 16:27 1–1 Bye (Merz, Mounsey) (PP) – 32:39 2–1 King (Blahoski) – 34:26 3–1 Merz – 36:20 4–1 Bye (SH) – 38:39 5–1 Ulion (Granato) (PP) – 54:28 6–1 Looney (SH) – 55:30 7–1
	14 min	Penalties	24 min
	47	Shots	3

<section end=A5 /> <section begin=A6 />

9 February 1998 20:00

Canada

2–0 (0–0, 2–0, 0–0)

China

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 2,713

Game reference
	Manon Rhéaume	Goalies	Guo Hong	Referee: Sandra Dombrowski Linesmen: Johanna Kuisma Debra Parece
	Goyette (Wickenheiser) – 24:38 1–0 Sunohara (Heaney) (PP) – 35:38 2–0
	6 min	Penalties	14 min
	40	Shots	8

<section end=A6 />

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<section begin=A7 />

11 February 1998 12:00

Sweden

3–5 (0–2, 2–2, 1–1)

Canada

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 5,429

Game reference
	Charlotte Göthesson	Goalies	Lesley Reddon	Referee: Victoria Renfer-Kale Linesmen: Debra Parece Evonne Young
	0–1 09:30 – Goyette 0–2 10:06 – Nystrom (Drolet) 0–3 26:23 – Drolet (Kellar) (PP) Rooth (Almblad) – 28:38 1–3 1–4 35:05 – Brisson (SH) Burholm (Holst) (PP) – 38:11 2–4 2–5 40:34 – Goyette (Wickenheiser, Wilson) Månsson (Sjölander) – 42:11 3–5
	34 min	Penalties	20 min
	11	Shots	38

<section end=A7 /> <section begin=A8 />

11 February 1998 16:00

Japan

1–6 (0–0, 0–3, 1–3)

China

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 5,863

Game reference
	Yuka Oda	Goalies	Guo Hong	Referee: Manuela Gröger Linesmen: Johanna Kuisma Sigrid Nonas
	0–1 32:21 – Yang (Li, Liu H.) 0–2 32:35 – Guo W. (Yang) 0–3 33:45 – Zhang L. (Lu) M. Sato (Obikawa) (PP) – 22:25 1–3 1–4 46:31 – Guo W. (Gong) (PP) 1–5 52:24 – Sang (Xu) 1–6 55:19 – Guo W. (Liu H.)
	12 min	Penalties	18 min
	7	Shots	44

<section end=A8 /> <section begin=A9 />

11 February 1998 20:00

United States

4–2 (1–1, 3–1, 0–0)

Finland

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 3,688

Game reference
	Sarah Tueting	Goalies	Tuula Puputti	Referee: Marina Zenk Linesmen: Isabelle Giguère Laurie Taylor-Bolton
	Movsessian (King) – 02:48 1–0 1–1 18:09 – Hänninen (Lehto, Nieminen) (PP) Bye (Schmidgall) – 21:22 2–1 2–2 25:27 – Nieminen (SH) Mounsey (Bye, Merz) (PP) – 26:49 3–2 Ulion (Bye) – 36:56 4–2
	18 min	Penalties	10 min
	25	Shots	22

<section end=A9 />

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<section begin=A10 />

12 February 1998 12:00

China

3–1 (0–0, 0–1, 3–0)

Sweden

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 3,670

	Guo Hong	Goalies	Annica Åhlén	Referee: Marina Zenk Linesmen: Johanna Kuisma Debra Parece
	0–1 31:10 – Sjölander (Almblad) Zhang L. (Yang, Liu H.) – 46:42 1–1 Liu H. (Wang) – 50:38 2–1 Yang (Zhang L., Guo W.) – 58:08 3–1
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	23	Shots	23

<section end=A10 /> <section begin=A11 />

12 February 1998 16:00

United States

10–0 (5–0, 2–0, 3–0)

Japan

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 5,015

	Sara DeCosta	Goalies	Haruka Watanabe Yuka Oda	Referee: Laurie Taylor-Bolton Linesmen: Isabelle Giguère Sigrid Nonas
	Looney – 03:55 1–0 Mleczko (Merz) – 09:08 2–0 Whyte (Granato) – 13:32 3–0 Looney (Ulion, Schmidgall) (PP) – 14:14 4–0 Mleczko (Brown-Miller, Looney) – 14:36 5–0 King (Baker, Bailey) – 29:18 6–0 King (Blahoski, Baker) – 39:34 7–0 Baker (Granato) (PP) – 45:37 8–0 Bye (Mounsey, Ulion) (PP) – 51:46 9–0 King (Baker) – 53:03 10–0
	8 min	Penalties	12 min
	56	Shots	4

<section end=A11 /> <section begin=A12 />

12 February 1998 20:00

Finland

2–4 (0–2, 1–2, 1–0)

Canada

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 3,133

	Liisa-Maria Sneck Tuula Puputti	Goalies	Manon Rhéaume	Referee: Sandra Dombrowski Linesmen: Manuela Gröger Evonne Young
	0–1 12:45 – Brisson (Sunohara) (PP) 0–2 16:50 – Heaney (Drolet) (PP) 0–3 28:53 – Brisson (St-Louis) Vaarakallio (Fisk) – 33:25 1–3 1–4 36:26 – Goyette (Heaney, Diduck) (PP) Rantamäki (Vaarakallio) – 53:32 2–4
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	21	Shots	23

<section end=A12 />

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<section begin=A13 />

14 February 1998 12:00

Japan

0–5 (0–2, 0–2, 0–1)

Sweden

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 6,009

	Yuka Oda	Goalies	Charlotte Götesson	Referee: Sandra Dombrowski Linesmen: Isabelle Giguère Debra Parece
	0–1 10:58 – Andersson (PP) 0–2 18:33 – Holst (Elfsberg) 0–3 25:34 – Gustafsson (Elfving) 0–4 31:15 – Rooth (Andersson, Holst) (PP) 0–5 59:18 – Holst (Rooth)
	12 min	Penalties	14 min
	15	Shots	30

<section end=A13 /> <section begin=A14 />

14 February 1998 16:00

Finland

6–1 (2–0, 2–1, 2–0)

China

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 5,638

	Tuula Puputti	Goalies	Huo Lina Guo Hong	Referee: Victoria Renfer-Kale Linesmen: Laurie Taylor-Bolton Evonne Young
	Ikonen – 01:08 1–0 Lehtimäki (Hänninen) – 09:56 2–0 Fisk (Lehtimäki) – 24:37 3–0 3–1 24:50 – Liu H. (Wang) Nieminen (SH) – 27:57 4–1 Lehtimäki (Hänninen) – 44:20 5–1 Nieminen – 57:09 6–1
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	33	Shots	9

<section end=A14 /> <section begin=A15 />

14 February 1998 20:00

Canada

4–7 (1–1, 0–0, 3–6)

United States

Aqua Wing Arena Attendance: 5,872

	Lesley Reddon	Goalies	Sarah Tueting Sara DeCosta	Referee: Manuela Gröger Linesmen: Johanna Kuisma Sigrid Nonas
	Dupuis (Sunohara) (PP) – 03:01 1–0 1–1 19:20 – Granato (PP) Dupuis (Brisson) (PP) – 41:24 2–1 Hefford (Dupuis) (PP2) – 45:28 3–1 Brisson (Wilson, Wickenheiser) (PP) – 45:53 4–1 4–2 47:05 – Baker (King) 4–3 50:57 – Granato (Ulion, Mounsey) (PP2) 4–4 52:25 – Schmidgall (Granato) (PP) 4–5 52:48 – Dunn (Mleczko) 4–6 57:06 – Brown-Miller (Mleczko) 4–7 58:58 – Baker (ENG)
	18 min	Penalties	30 min
	35	Shots	30

<section end=A15 />

Final round

Bronze medal game

17 February 1998 14:00

3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Finland

4–1 (0–1, 3–0, 1–0)

China

Big Hat Attendance: 7,412

Game reference
	Tuula Puputti	Goalies	Guo Hong	Referee: Laurie Taylor-Bolton Linesmen: Johanna Kuisma Evonne Young
	0–1 09:27 − Yang Fisk (Nieminen, Lehto) − 23:07 1–1 Ikonen (Vaarakallio, Rantamäki) − 27:08 2–1 Lankosaari (Riipi, Krooks) − 30:15 3–1 Nieminen (Lehtimäki) (ENG) − 59:52 4–1
	0 min	Penalties	8 min
	23	Shots	9

Gold medal game

17 February 1998 18:00

1st place, gold medalist(s) United States

3–1 (0–0, 1–0, 2–1)

Canada 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Big Hat Attendance: 8,626

Game reference
	Sarah Tueting	Goalies	Manon Rhéaume	Referee: Marina Zenk Linesmen: Isabelle Giguère Debra Parece
	Ulion (Whyte, Merz) (PP) − 22:38 1–0 Looney (Whyte, Ulion) (PP) − 50:57 2–0 2–1 55:59 − Goyette (Wickenheiser, Heaney) (PP) Whyte (ENG) − 59:52 3–1
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	24	Shots	22

Medalists

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Women's tournament	File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Alana Blahoski A. J. Mleczko Angela Ruggiero Cammi Granato (C) Chris Bailey Colleen Coyne Lisa Brown-Miller Gretchen Ulion Jenny Schmidgall Karyn Bye (A) Katie King Laurie Baker Tricia Dunn Sandra Whyte Sara DeCosta (G) Sarah Tueting (G) Shelley Looney Sue Merz Tara Mounsey Vicki Movsessian Head coach: Ben Smith	File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Becky Kellar Cassie Campbell Danielle Goyette Fiona Smith France Saint-Louis Geraldine Heaney Hayley Wickenheiser Jayna Hefford Jennifer Botterill Judy Diduck Karen Nystrom Kathy McCormack Laura Schuler Lesley Reddon (G) Lori Dupuis Manon Rhéaume (G) Nancy Drolet Stacy Wilson (C) Thérèse Brisson (A) Vicky Sunohara Head coach: Shannon Miller	File:Flag of Finland.svg Finland Emma Terho Riikka Nieminen (A) Johanna Ikonen Karoliina Rantamäki Katja Riipi Katja Lehto Kirsi Hänninen (A) Liisa-Maria Sneck (G) Maria Selin Marianne Ihalainen (C) Marika Lehtimäki Marja-Helena Pälvilä Päivi Salo Petra Vaarakallio Sanna Lankosaari Sari Fisk Sari Krooks Satu Huotari Tiia Reima Tuula Puputti (G) Head coach: Rauno Korpi

Final rankings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1st place, gold medalist(s)	United States	6	6	0	0	36	8	+28	12
2nd place, silver medalist(s)	Canada	6	4	0	2	29	15	+14	8
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)	Finland	6	4	0	2	31	11	+20	8
4	China	6	2	0	4	11	19	−8	4
5	Sweden	5	1	0	4	10	21	−11	2
6	Japan (H)	5	0	0	5	2	45	−43	0

Source:
(H) Hosts

Statistics

Scoring leaders

List shows the top ten skaters sorted by points, then goals.

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM	POS
Riikka Nieminen	6	7	5	12	+14	4	F
Danielle Goyette	6	8	1	9	+10	10	F
Karyn Bye	6	5	3	8	+4	4	F
Cammi Granato	6	4	4	8	+2	0	F
Katie King	6	4	4	8	+10	2	F
Gretchen Ulion	6	3	5	8	3	4	F
Hayley Wickenheiser	6	2	6	8	+7	4	F
Thérèse Brisson	6	5	2	7	+5	6	D
Laurie Baker	6	4	3	7	+10	6	F
Kirsi Hänninen	6	4	3	7	+13	6	D

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties in minutes; POS = Position
Source: eurohockey.com

Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.

Player	TOI	GA	SA	Sv%	SO
Sarah Tueting	210	4	64	93.75	1
Manon Rhéaume	208	4	54	92.59	1
Charlotte Göthesson	120	5	53	90.57	1
Tuula Puputti	271	7	67	89.55	1
Guo Hong	350	16	150	89.33	0

TOI = Time on ice (minutes); GA = Goals against; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts

External links

• IIHF – 25 years ago, women joined the Olympics (in English)
• Whockey – Women's Hockey 1998 Winter Olympics (in English)
• SFRP Hockey Archine: Winter Olympic Games 1998 (in English)
• The Hockey Nut: Women's Olympic Hockey 1998 (in English)
• Hockeyarchives – Jeux Olympiques de Nagano 1998 Compétition féminine (in French)
• – Championats du monde feminins 1997 (in French)
• la84 foundation – Nagano 1998 Official Report (182–187) (in English)
• IIHF: Nagano 1998 in Web Archivessa (in English)