The 1997

IIHF Women's World Championships The IIHF Women's World Championship is the premier international women's tournament in ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The official world competition was first held in 1990, with four more champions ...

was held March 31 – April 6, 1997, in seven Canadian cities all in the Province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics ** Canadian Olympic Committee * Canada at the Paralympics ** Canadian Paralympic Committee * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at ...

won their fourth consecutive gold medal at the World Championships defeating the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, however this time the United States took Canada in the closest final so far, losing in overtime.

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

picked up their fourth consecutive bronze medal, with a win over

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

who made the Semi-Final for the second consecutive year. This tournament also served as the qualifier for the

Nagano Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

, with the top five finishers joining host

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Sweden defeated first Switzerland, then Russia, in the consolation round to join the four semi-finalists in the Olympics.

Qualification

The following teams participated in the championship. Qualification was the top three from the 1996 Pacific Rim Championship, and the top five from the 1996 European Championship. *Pacific Rim Championship: ** ** ** *European Championship: ** ** ** ** **

Final tournament

The eight participating teams were divided up into two seeded groups as below. The teams played each other once in a single round robin format. The top two teams from the group proceeded to the Final Round, while the remaining teams played in the consolation round.

First round

Group A

Standings

Results

All times local

Group B

Standings

Results

All times local

Playoff round

Consolation round 5–8 place

Consolation round 7–8 place

Consolation round 5–6 place

Final round

Semifinals

Match for third place

Final

Champions

Tournament Awards

The following was selected as the All-Star team of the tournament: * Goaltender -

Patricia Sautter Patricia Elsmore-Sautter (born 28 February 1979) is a Swiss ice hockey player. She competed in the women's tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as To ...

* Defence - Cassie Campbell * Defence - Kelly O'Leary * Forward -

Hayley Wickenheiser Hayley Wickenheiser (born August 12, 1978) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, physician and assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was the first woman to play full-time professional men’s hockey in a position other ...

* Forward -

Cammi Granato Catherine Michelle Granato (born March 25, 1971) is an American former ice hockey player and one of the first women to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 2010. She currently works as an assistant general manager for the Vancou ...

* Forward - Riikka Nieminen

Final standings

Scoring leaders

References

* *

External links

Summary from the Women's Hockey Net

{{Women's ice hockey tournaments

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

International ice hockey competitions hosted by Canada

IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship March 1997 sports events in Canada April 1997 sports events in Canada Women's ice hockey competitions in Canada 1997 in sports in Ontario Sport in Brantford Sport in Brampton Ice hockey competitions in Hamilton, Ontario 20th century in Hamilton, Ontario Sports competitions in Kitchener, Ontario Ice hockey competitions in London, Ontario Sports competitions in Mississauga