How old is women's hockey? | 3 min read

How old is women's hockey?

We often hear that female sports still have time to develop as they started off later than male types. However, this is not always true. As with women's hockey, sometimes the women have played the game for as long as men have but for them, the development took so much longer. And so, we still have a long way to go.

When did it all start?

The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, where the first hockey game was played on March 3, 1875. Some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Today hockey is the official national winter sport in Canada, and it also the most popular winter sport in Belarus, Sweden, The Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia and Switzerland. North America’s National Hockey League (NHL) is the highest level professional ice hockey league in the world.

How old is women's hockey? 

Women are known to have played the game since the 19^th century. However, the first unofficial female tournament was held in Toronto, Canada only in 1987. It was then followed by the first IIHF World Championship in 1990 in Ottawa. Women's ice hockey was added as a medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The United States won the gold, Canada won the silver, and Finland won the bronze medal.

Men and women playing hockey. Switzerland, 1914

Karen Koch was the first professional female hockey player in North America. “Professional” means that Koch signed a contract that got her $40 per game thus making her the first official female player. Her teammates were impressed with how fearless Karen was. "She's got a lot of guts. It's hard to believe a girl would just stand there and let us shoot at her. She's not scared.", said Robert Caster, Iron Ranger left winger.

Karen Koch, the only female player on the team, had trouble with getting a separate dressing room. 1969

Another notable figure in the history of women’s hockey is Manon Rheaume. A goaltender from Canada, she has achieved a number of firsts during her career, becoming the first woman to play for a major NHL team in 1992. In 2015, she dropped the puck in the ceremonial opening faceoff before the first ever National Women's Hockey League game. 

Manon Rheaume

Where do we stand now?

The league debuted as the first women's professional hockey league to pay its players.

Right now women’s hockey is at a point of time where NWHL is at a standstill with Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). You can read more about it in our article that covers NWHL and PWHPA conflict. We hope they are going to find common ground as both organizations share the same values and we believe they could be a stronger representative power for current and future athletes if they cooperate. As Danika's story shows us, we still have a long way to go, and we'd better be as united as we can.