Legends of Hockey - Time Capsule - Profiles of Notable Women in Hockey

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Women's Hockey feature - sponsored by Sports Museum of America

Erika Holst was the offensive catalyst for Sweden at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, helping lead her country to a surprise bronze medal finish with five points in five games. This marked the second Olympics in which Erika led her team in scoring. Four year later, at the Torino Games in 2006, Holst propelled Sweden to the silver medal, upsetting the United States in the semi finals. A power forward, Erika has also excelled at the collegiate level, playing for the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she helped the Bulldogs capture the inaugural NCCA women's championship in 2001 as well as the 2002 and 2003 championships. She ranks first among all Swedes in points at both the World Championships (33) and Olympics (15).

Erika Holst helpped lead her country to a suprise bronze medal finish

Guo Hong, dubbed "The Great Wall of China", was one of the elite netminders in women's hockey for over a decade beginning in the mid 1990s. Hong proved to be the great equalizer for China in international play, often fending off as many as 50 shots a game. She finished the 2002 Olympics with a very respectable 88.79 save percentage, while leading the tournament in saves and shots against. Her best game came at the 1996 Pacific Rim Tournament where she stopped 38 of 39 Team Canada shots in a 1-0 loss. Hong was a eight-time member of China's World Championship team.

Angela James is a legendary name among Canadian women's hockey. The decision to leave her off the roster of the 1998 Olympic Team was as controversial as the decision to leave Mark Messier off the men's team that year. James had been a member of Canada's gold medal teams at each of the previous four Women's World Championships. She was Canada's leading scorer with eleven goals at the 1990 Women's World Championship and was an all-star forward in 1992. James had also been a top Canadian scoring threat at the 1994 and 1997 World Championships and represented her country at the Pacific Rim Championship in 1996. Since her retirement, James has become a sport co-ordinator for Seneca College. In 2008, James joined Geraldine Heaney and Cammi Granato as the first women to be inducted into the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.

In 2010, James would again join former rival Cammi Granato when it was announced that the two would be the first female Inductees of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Click Here to view Angela James' Honoured Member page.

In 2010 Angela James was among the first female Inductees of the Hockey Hall of Fame

Katie King ranks amongst the all-time leading Americans in Olympic scoring

High-scoring Katie King excelled at every level of women's hockey. She graduated from Brown University in 1997 with a remarkable 123 goals and 83 assists in just 100 games before moving onto the US National Women's Team. At six World Championships, King registered 36 points in 30 games, including a tournament-high seven goals in 2001, and was part of the 2005 gold medal winning team. Noted for her determination and excellent play at both ends of the rink, Katie ranks amongst the all-time leading Americans in Olympic scoring with 23 points. She has won gold (Nagano), silver (Salt Lake City) and bronze (Torino) during her accomplished Olympic career.

Brownstown, Michigan native Shelley Looney was a mainstay on the U.S. Women's National Team for over a decade. She was known as a tough competitor and all-around player who was solid both offensively and defensively. Looney was one of the American's top scorers at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, helping the team win the gold medal. Her goal at 10:57 of the second period in the final game gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead and proved to be the gold winner in a 3-1 victory. Four years later, she was a key member of the silver medal-winning squad in Salt Lake City. Looney appeared in eight Women's World Championships and played collegiately at Northeastern University from 1991-94, winning multiple awards including ECAC All-Star, 1993 ECAC Tournament MVP and 1993-94 ECAC Player of the Year. She was inducted into Northeastern College's Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999.

Shelley Looney was known as a tough competitor and all-around player who was solid both offensively and defensively

Kim Martin starred for Sweden as a ninth grader at the Salt Lake City Olympics

Goalkeeper Kim Martin was a mainstay on the Sweden's National Women's Team for over a decade. Born in 1986, she recorded a sparkling 1.67 goals-against average as a ninth grader at the Salt Lake City Olympics. Her .939 save percentage ranked second at the Games and her stellar play in the bronze medal game against Finland was the main reason why Sweden captured the bronze. She continued her magic in Torino, by being named top goaltender at those Olympic Winter Games in helping Sweden claim its first silver medal in women's Olympic hockey. Martin made her international debut in November 2000 at the Four Nations Cup, seeing action in one game, a 2-2 tie against Finland. This turned out to be the only game Sweden wouldn't lose in the tournament. Martin's first season of organized hockey was at the age of 10, and she didn't surrender a goal during the entire 17-game schedule.

Stefanie Marty used the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia as a coming out party of sorts. Though she had previously competed for Switzerland at the 2006 and 2002 games and put up modest offensive numbers, in Vancouver she tied the Olympic record for most goals scored in a single tournament with nine and helped her homeland to a fifth place finish.

Marty would represent Switzerland for the third time at the Olympic Winter Games in 2014. This time the games were held in Sochi, Russia, and Marty would score two goals and help her homeland to the bronze medal.

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion began playing hockey in the late 1920s in Port Daniel on the Gaspe coast of Quebec. With her two older sisters playing defense, Hazel took her spot as a lightning quick centre on a team in a ladies' league. After moving to Montreal, McCallion turned 'professional', earning $5 a game to play for Kik Cola, one of three teams in a ladies' league there. Since first being elected as mayor of Mississauga, Ontario in 1978, Hazel McCallion has been able to spread her influence into other hockey-related areas, including sitting on the board of the Ontario Women's Hockey League, obtaining ice time for girls' hockey and helping Mississauga build the Hershey Centre. In 1998, Hazel McCallion assisted a group headed by hockey personality Don Cherry in securing a franchise for the Mississauga IceDogs in the Ontario Hockey League.

Sue Merz was born in Greenwich, Connecticut. She played defense for the U.S. National Team from 1990-2002, winning six silver medals at the Women's World Championships. She was part of the historic Olympic gold medal team in Nagano and won a silver medal in 2002 at Salt Lake City Winter Games. Merz played college hockey at the University of New Hampshire, where she scored 53 goals, 54 assists, and 107 points. She was named to the All-Eastern College Athletic Conference Second Team and the New England Hockey Writers All-Star Team following her senior season. Merz played three seasons for the Connecticut Polar Bears, helping lead the team to the 1990 USA Hockey Girls' Midget National Championship.

Riikka Nieminen, the best female hockey player to ever come from Europe

Finland's speedy forward Riikka Nieminen is arguably the best female hockey player ever to emerge from Europe. She led two World Championships (1994 and '97) in scoring and was the top point producer at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. At the time of her retirement, Nieminen ranked seventh all-time in World Championship scoring with 41 points. She has also proved to be one of Finland's most versatile female athletes. Aside from her on-ice exploits, Riikka is a three-time Finnish Baseball Player of the Year.

Caroline Ouellette Ouellette was born is Montreal, Quebec on May 25, 1979. As a member of the Canadian National Women's Ice Hockey Team, she has won six World Championships (1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2012) and three Olympic gold medals (2002, 2006 and 2010). As one of the tallest players on the ice (she stands 5'10"), Ouellette is always an intimidating presence and her deft scoring touch makes her the quintessential power forward. In addition to her hockey prowess, Ouellette also represented Quebec in fastball at the 1997 Canada Games and graduated from the National Police Academy in Quebec in 2000.

Ouellette would serve as captain for the Canadian squad at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games held in Sochi, Russia, and would lead the team to the fourth consecutive Olympic championship.

At 5'10, Ouellette is always an intimidating presence

Jenny Potter is one of the best known members of the U.S. National Team. After growing up in a quiet suburban Minneapolis neighborhood, Potter, at the age of 19, reached her goal of earning a spot of the U.S. Olympic Team. As the second-youngest member of the team Potter earned a gold medal in the inaugural Women's Olympic hockey tournament in Nagano, Japan in 1998. Potter has also won three gold medals at the World Championships ('05, '08 and '09).

At the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Potter was again an offensive standout for the American team. She recorded sixe goals and three assists in the tournament, helping lead the American team to a silver medal.

At a very young age Marie-Philip Poulin has already reached the highest level of achievement in international hockey. At the 2010 Olympic Winter Games held in Vancouver, British Columbia, while still a teenager, Poulin would show she had a flare for the dramatic. In the gold medal game against the rival Americans, Poulin scored the games only goals, leading Canada to a 2-0 victory.

Four years later at the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Poulin would once again rise to the occasion on the game's grandest stage. Once again facing the United States with gold on the line, Canada trailed with less than a minute to play in the game. Poulin tied the score with just 55 seconds to play, forcing sudden-death overtime. In the overtime period Poulin would once again play the heroin. For the second time in her short career she scored the gold medal-winning goal at the Olympic Winter Games.