Story of the Week

A sparkling feature on exactly how good Danielle Goyette was as a player and the impact she has had on women’s hockey both as a player and a coach has not yet crossed our Google Alerts, so we don’t have an Article of the Week. But the election of the fifth women’s hockey player to the Hockey Hall of Fame is definitely worth talking about.

At the international level, Danielle Goyette currently ranks as the fourth-highest scorer in Canadian Women’s National Team history. 219 points in 171 games. Three Olympic medals. Eight World Championship golds. She was the flag bearer for Canada in the opening ceremonies for her final Olympics at Turin in 2006.

At the league level (or at least leagues we have stats for), she played four seasons with Calgary in the original NWHL and later the WWHL. In 57 games, she scored 151 points or 2.65 PPG. For context, Angela James put up a career 1.87 PPG and they named the CWHL scoring title after her.

Goyette played for the national team for sixteen years and retired in 2007 at the age of 41. She was eligible for entry the year the Hockey Hall of Fame started admitting women. It’s taken them seven more years to get her in.

In the meantime, she’s been coaching the University of Calgary Dinos, taking them to a national championship in her fifth season. She was also assistant coach for Team Canada for several years, including at the 2014 Olympics. Why she never made head coach is a subject Hockey Canada doesn’t want to talk about.

She’s the first woman from Québec to join the Hockey Hall of Fame and she is beyond deserving.

WHW: Too Awesome for the HHoF

How long does it take?

Angela James and Cammi Granato retired in 2005, making them HHOF eligible (if that was a thing for women at the time) in 2008. They were inducted in 2010.

Geraldine Heaney retired in 2004. She was inducted in 2013.

Angela Ruggiero retired in 2011. She was inducted almost on time, in 2015.

Danielle Goyette retired in 2007. She will be inducted in 2017.

Jayna Hefford retired in 2014. In terms of all-time points, whether at the World, Olympic or league levels, she blows all of them out of the water. Even as unfamiliar as the members of the Selection Committee are with women’s hockey, by numbers alone she should have been a first-ballot shoo-in, in the class right next to Goyette.

There are dozens of eligible women with numbers just as impressive — not to mention goalies like Kim St-Pierre (CAN) and Kim Martin (SWE), none of whom have been inducted yet.

So when Hayley Wickenheiser gets inducted in 2019, as soon as her three year waiting period is up? As far as the Hockey Hall of Fame is concerned, when it comes to women, that is waiving the waiting period.

Hockey Hall of Fame

Danielle Goyette gets call to Hockey Hall of Fame | UToday | University of Calgary
University of Calgary women's hockey coach Danielle Goyette has received the honour of a lifetime for a hockey player: induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Danielle Goyette au Temple de la renommée | JDM
Elle devient la première hockeyeuse québécoise à recevoir cet honneur.

HHOF adds 7 - IIHF.com
Selanne, Goyette head another stellar class

Fixing the Hockey Hall of Fame selection process - The Ice Garden
There’s a way to induct more women into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but not with the current system that’s in place

IIHF

Jennifer Botterill Discusses The State Of Women's Hockey
Four time Olympian Jennifer Botterill exemplifies grace and greatness to the fullest. Here she talks the current state of women's hockey.

(News Focus) Stumbling blocks ahead for Koreas to assemble joint women's hockey team at PyeongChang 2018
South Korea will have plenty of stumbling blocks ahead in its bid to assemble a unified, all-Korean women's hockey team at next year's PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Learning from the best
IIHF launches women's goalie camp

Hockey féminin : Canada et États-Unis ont rendez-vous au Centre Vidéotron | JDQ
Les deux formations de hockey féminin se donnent rendez-vous au Centre Vidéotron le 22 octobre prochain. (Somewhat garbled translation: Women’s Hockey : Canada and the United States have appointment at the Centre Videotron)

Q & A With Team Finland’s Minttu Tuominen - The Ice Garden
Balancing work, studies, and training, the Naisleijonat player talks inline hockey and returning to Finland.

CWHL

Catching up with Noora Räty - The Ice Garden
Räty chats about her decision to go to China, her plans after hockey, and that one time she met David Hasselhoff.

Where Did The Blades Offense Come From Last Season?
Although the standings might not reflect it, the Boston Blades made tremendous strides last season.

Women's ice hockey team left in the cold - BBC News
A great three minute video intro to Les Canadiennes and the CWHL by the BBC!

Passionnée sur la glace comme à la ferme | La Terre de Chez Nous
Parlez-en à Sarah Lefort, jeune sensation des Canadiennes de Montréal dans la Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin (LCHF).

NWHL

NWHL to return to Pittsburgh in 2018 | Pittsburgh Hockey Digest
After a successful National Women’s Hockey League All-Star Game held in the Pittsburgh area in 2017, the league will return to the region in 2018 by hosting a neutral-site, regular-season game.

Brianna Laing Signing Brings Change To Boston Pride
On June 12, the Boston Pride announced the signing of goaltender Brianna Laing.

Underrated Johnston And Dosdall Back With Riveters
Appropriately enough, the first defender signed by the New York Riveters this offseason was the team's captain.

Can Connecticut Whale Be Competitive Despite Talent Loss?
The Connecticut Whale were the only team not to lose a player to USA Hockey's centralization roster.

Free Agent Goalie Targets For Connecticut Whale
As the free agency period continues, the Connecticut Whale still have one rostered goalie spot to secure.

Connecticut Whale Replace Coach Linstad With Ryan Equale
Linstad was the last remaining female head coach in the NWHL after Shelley Looney parted ways with the Buffalo Beauts last offseason.

Signings and Re-Signings

Riveters re-sign forward Bray Ketchum - The Ice Garden

Naisten Liiga (Finland)

Finnish Naisten Liiga expanding in 2018 - The Ice Garden
Highest level of Finnish women's hockey to add two teams before Worlds on home ice in 2019

NCAA

RPI fires women’s hockey coach John Burke: Why now? What does it mean?
RPI announced that it has terminated the employment John Burke after 14 seasons as women’s ice hockey coach. The move was announced in a two-paragraph statement at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

RPI Engineers - Vines Named Interim Head Coach of Women's Hockey
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Director of Athletics Dr. Lee McElroy has named Bryan Vines the interim head women's ice hockey coach. Vines was an assistant coach for the Engineers' men's hockey team for the last eight seasons.

College women's hockey: UMD adds experienced goalie from Mercyhurst | Duluth News Tribune
With star goaltender Maddie Rooney playing for the U.S. Women's National Team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team is bringing in a mercenary of sorts to compete for the starting role.

Tereza Vanisova named Czech Republic's Female Hockey Player of the Year - University of Maine Athletics
University of Maine women's ice hockey right wing Tereza Vanisova has been named the Czech Republic's Female Hockey Player of the Year.

Is NCAA hockey finally on the horizon for Illinois?

Since 1996, when Illinois-Chicago's varsity program disbanded, the state has not had any Division I college hockey programs.

Para ice hockey

Chasing national aspirations | Brockville Recorder
Encouraged by the comments and with the support of her parents, Sharp feels she is now ready to try out for the national team, which she will do in August.

AWIHL (Australia)

It’s winter in Australia, which means hockey season! AWIHL news is hard to find but we’ll bring you anything we can.

Pirates and Flyers share points in double header | Ice Hockey News Australia
The Canberra Pirates have won and lost a game in their double header against the Blacktown Flyers Women at the Phillip Ice Skating Centre.

Women's HockeyCanadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL)