1997 IIHF Women's World Championship

1997 IIHF World Women's Championship
Tournament details
Host country  Canada
Dates March 31 - April 6
Teams 8
Venue(s) Brantford, Brampton, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Mississauga, North York (in 7 host cities)
Final positions
Champions   Canada (4th title)
Runner-up   United States
Third place   Finland
Fourth place  China
Tournament statistics
Matches played 20
Goals scored 129 (6.45 per match)
Attendance 60,418 (3,021 per match)
Scoring leader(s) Finland Riikka Nieminen 10 points
← 1994
1999 →

The 1997 IIHF World Women's Championships was held March 31-April 6, 1997 in seven Canadian cities all in the Province of Ontario. Team Canada won their 4th consecutive gold medal at the World Championships defeating the United States in a repeat of the previous three finals, however this time the United States took Canada in the closest final so far, losing in overtime. Finland picked up their fourth consecutive bronze medal, with a win over China who made the Semi-Final for the second consecutive year.

This tournament also served as the qualifier for the Nagano Olympics, with the top five finishers joining host Japan. 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.

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

     Teams proceed to Final round
     Teams sent to Consolation round

Group A

Standings

Rk. Team GP W T L GF GA DIF PTS
1.  Canada 3300222+206
2.  China 32011812+64
3.  Russia 3012618-121
4.   Switzerland 3012620-141

Results

All times local

March 31, 1997
7:00 pm		 China  6 – 2
( 3 - 0, 2 - 2, 1 - 0)		  Russia Hamilton
Attendance: 750
March 31, 1997
7:30 pm		 Canada  6 – 0
( 1 - 0 , 2 - 0 , 3 - 0 )		   Switzerland Kitchener
Attendance: 3,889
April 1, 1997
7:00 pm		 China  11 – 3
( 5 - 2 , 3 - 0 , 3 - 1 )		   Switzerland Mississauga
Attendance: 1,207
April 1, 1997
7:30 pm		 Canada  9 – 1
( 3 - 0 , 3 - 0 , 3 - 1 )		  Russia Kitchener
Attendance: 5,559
April 3, 1997
7:30 pm		 Switzerland   3 – 3
( 1 - 0 , 2 - 3 , 0 - 0 )		  Russia North York
Attendance: 1,089
April 3, 1997
7:30 pm		 Canada  7 – 1
( 5 - 0 , 1 - 0 , 1 - 1 )		  China Kitchener
Attendance: 5,457

Group B

Standings

Rk. Team GP W T L GF GA DIF PTS
1.  United States 3210203+175
2.  Finland 3210183+155
3.  Sweden 3012217-151
4.  Norway 3012219-171

Results

All times local

March 31, 1997
4:00 pm		 Norway  0 – 7
( 0 - 2 , 0 - 3 , 0 - 2 )		  United States Kitchener
Attendance: 3,100
March 31, 1997
4:00 pm		 Finland  5 – 0
( 3 - 0 , 1 - 0 , 1 - 0 )		  Sweden Brampton
April 1, 1997
4:00 pm		 Norway  2 – 2
( 2 - 0 , 0 - 1 , 0 - 1 )		  Sweden Kitchener
Attendance: 3,068
April 1, 1997
7:00 pm		 Finland  3 – 3
( 1 - 2 , 0 - 1 , 2 - 0 )		  United States Brantford
April 3, 1997
7:00 pm		 Norway  0 – 10
( 0 - 3 , 0 - 3 , 0 - 4 )		  Finland Kitchener
Attendance: 3,401
April 3, 1997
7:00 pm		 United States  10 – 0
( 4 - 0 , 3 - 0 , 3 - 0 )		  Sweden London
Attendance: 3,472

Playoff Round

Consolation Round 5-8 Place

April 4, 1997
4:00 pm		 Sweden  7 – 1
( 2 - 0 , 1 - 1 , 4 - 0 )		   Switzerland Kitchener
Attendance: 3,301
April 4, 1997
7:30 pm		 Russia  2 – 1
( 1 - 1 , 1 - 0 , 0 - 0 )		  Norway Kitchener
Attendance: 2,849

Consolation Round 7-8 Place

April 6, 1997
2:00 pm		 Switzerland   1 – 0
( 0 - 0 , 0 - 0 , 1 - 0 )		  Norway Kitchener
Attendance: 565

Consolation Round 5-6 Place

April 6, 1997
1:00 pm		 Russia  1 – 3
( 1 - 0 , 0 - 2 , 0 - 1 )		  Sweden Kitchener
Attendance: 2,471

Final round

Semi finals Finals
5 April 1997 6 April 1997
                 
     
Group A 1st  Canada 2
 
Group B 2nd  Finland 1   Gold Medal Game (OT)
   Canada 4
     
   United States 3
Group B 1st  United States 6
 
Group A 2nd  China 0  
  Bronze Medal Game
 Finland 3
 China 0

Semifinals

April 5, 1997
1:00 pm		 Canada  2 – 1
( 0 - 1 , 1 - 0 , 1 - 0 )		  Finland Kitchener
Attendance: 4,963
April 5, 1997
5:00 pm		 United States  6 – 0
( 2 - 0 , 2 - 0 , 2 - 0)		  China Kitchener
Attendance: 3,832

Match for third place

April 6, 1997
4:00 pm		 Finland  3 – 0
( 0 - 0 , 0 - 0 , 3 - 0 )		  China Kitchener

Final

April 6, 1997 Canada  4 – 3
( 1 - 0 , 1 - 2 , 1 - 1 , 1 - 0 )		  United States Kitchener
Attendance: 6,247

Champions

 1997 IIHF World Women Championship Winners 

Canada
4th title

Tournament Awards

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

Final standings

Rk. Team Notes
1st  Canada Qualified for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games
2nd  United States Qualified for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games
3rd  Finland Qualified for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games
4.  China Qualified for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games
5.  Sweden Qualified for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games
6.  Russia Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Qualification Tournament
7.   Switzerland Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Qualification Tournament
8.  Norway Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Qualification Tournament

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts
Finland Riikka Nieminen 55510
Canada Hayley Wickenheiser 5459
United States Cammi Granato 5538
Finland Tiia Reima 5448
Canada Cassie Campbell 5268
Canada Nancy Drolet 5426
United States Shelley Looney 5426
United States Karen Bye 5426
China Liu Hongmzi 5336
China Guo Wei 5336

References

    External links

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