Women's Hockey Legends

Canada
Jennifer Botterill
Cassie Campbell
Delaney Collins
Judy Diduck
Danielle Goyette
Elizabeth Graham
Abby Hoffman
Angela James
Becky Kellar
Gina Kingsbury
Albertine Lapensee
Cherie Piper
Hilda Ranscombe
Manon Rheaume
Bobbie Rosenfeld
France St. Louis
Kim St. Pierre
Colleen Sostorics
Vicky Sunohara
Isobel Stanley
Sarah Vaillancourt

USA
Karyn Bye-Dietz
Cammi Granato
Katie King
Karen Koch
Shelley Looney
Kathryn Waldo

Sweden
Pia (Grengman) Sterner

Japan
Tamae Satsu

Gina Kingsbury

Gina Kingsbury played forward in two Olympics for Team Canada, winning gold in both 2006 and 2010.

The Saskatchewan-born, Quebec-raised Kingsbury first joined Team Canada in the under-22 division in 1999. She went on to help Canada win gold at the 2001, 2004 and 2007 world championships as well as silver in 2005, 2008 and 2009.

She graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2004 with a degree in psychology. She joined the Montreal Axion of the National Women’s Hockey League before making and committing to the 2006 Olympic team. She decided to advance her career with the national team by moving to Calgary where the team trains. She joined the Calgary Oval X-Treme in non-Olympic years.

In 116 games with the national team she scored 35 goals, 40 assists and 75 points.

The native of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec has since moved to Penticton, British Columbia and is very active with the Okanagan Hockey School.

Becky Kellar

Chasing Olympic and national team dreams is a big sacrifice for most athletes. But for Becky Kellar (now Becky Kellar-Duke), she put her whole life on hold for the Olympics.

Every four years left her husband and home in Burlington, Ontario to move to Calgary for seven months of training. But she did bring her kids, parents and dogs with her.

Kellar played defence for Team Canada in four Olympics, winning three golds and a silver. She was the oldest skater for Team Canada at the Vancouver Olympics, and one of only four women to play for Team Canada to play in each of the first four women's Olympic hockey tournaments.

She was also the first member of Team Canada's women team to become a mom. She has two sons, Owen and Zach.

Being a mother adds balance to her life because she has activities, schedules and responsibilities outside of her hockey career, she told Canadian Living magazine. It also allowed her to give extra focus her on-ice activities.

While winning the gold medal on home ice in Vancouver was a great way to cap her international hockey career, winning gold in 2002 may have offered her the best life lesson.

"In 2002, we lost every game to the U.S. leading into that final game. But as a group and as individuals, we were able to still believe in ourselves, even though a lot of people had given up," she says of the team's first golden victory. "The most important thing for us is to stay confident."

Kellar, who was born in Hagersville, Ontario, starred in both hockey and softball at the Ivy League school Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The psychology major has since been inducted into the school's athletic Hall of Fame.

She has since earned a Masters of Business Administration from Sir Wilfried Laurier University. She retired from the national team though continued to play hockey in Burlington. She is active on the motivational speaking circuit, including teaming with hockey teammate Cheryl Pounder in providing coaching presentations for management professionals.

Colleen Sostorics

Talk about an amazing storybook ending. Colleen Sostorics went from impossible dreams in small town Saskatchewan to striking gold on the biggest stage in the world.

Colleen Sostorics, who grew up in the farming community of Kennedy, Saskatchewan, capped her hockey career with an Olympic gold medal on home ice in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games. The 30 year old then left the game at the very top of her profession.

"Having a chance to step on the ice at GM Place in front of the Canadian fans and get that gold medal with my teammates who had fought so hard all year, that's definitely a highlight of my career," she told the Regina Leader-Post.  "But, looking back at it, there have been so many other highlights that weren't necessarily involving gold medals. I think back to my days of playing minor hockey in Kennedy. When we got to that league final in bantam (she was the captain of the boys team), that was a huge deal, and the first time I ever wore the (Canadian) jersey in 1998 with the under-22 team, and my first chance on the senior team in 2001. There's a lot of milestones that are really important and things that I'll cherish and always remember.

"I couldn't ask for anything more. I don't know if you can top that as an athlete," she added. "I knew I was going to try to make this team and hopefully win a gold medal for Canada. Once that was accomplished it took a few months to think about it and decide. Four years is a long time until the next Olympics and I think that was kind of out of the question. Might as well hang 'em up now and see what's next."

"Of course it was a difficult decision but I know it's the right decision," said Sostorics, who retired as the third-highest scoring defender in Team Canada history. "I've had a really rewarding career. Now I'm just looking forward to what comes next, all the adventures and challenges that will go with the second stage of my life."


Sostorics is a three-time Olympic gold medallist (2002, 2006 and 2010) and a three-time world champion (2001, 2004 and 2007). In 139 games with the Canadian national team the defender scored 13 goals and 53 points.


Sostorics has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Calgary. She works the motivational speaking scene and returns to help her parents on the family farm. She plans to stay very involved in hockey and sports (she is a notable fastball and rugby player, too), be it as a coach or administrator.

"That's where my passion lies," said Sostorics. "I think we all know, all of us Canadians, this game gets in your blood. You can't ever leave it for good. It's the game I love and it has played such a major role in my life. I want to stay involved in some capacity and give back to a community that has given so much to me."

Cherie Piper

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Cherie Piper has announced her retirement from the Canadian women's hockey team.

The 31-year-old forward from Toronto has not played for Canada since the 2011 world championship as she finished her education degree. She will not be in consideration for Team Canada at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. She will also retire from the Brampton Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League at the end of the 2013 season

"I've been thinking about it for a little while now," Piper told The Canadian Press. "This season confirmed it for me. I still love the game, but your body hurts a little more at the end of weekend games and I've had a lot of little injuries over the last few years. I've given a large portion of my life to the sport. It's time to be active in the sport in another way and not necessarily playing."

Piper won Olympic gold in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Winning gold on home ice in Vancouver will forever be her career highlight.

"The atmosphere and the energy in that building was like having an extra person on the ice," Piper recalled. "To have the opportunity as an Olympian to play in your own country, there's just nothing better than that."

In 111 career games with Team Canada Piper scored 40 goals and 78 assists over 12 seasons.

Described as a powerful skater and smart playmaker, she debuted in the Olympics in 2002 replacing veteran Nancy Drolet. Piper was hitting her stride in 2006 when she was second in team scoring behind Hayley Wickenheiser at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, with seven goals and eight assists in just five games.

But the years between Turin and Vancouver were difficult for Piper, as she suffered a major knee injury playing college hockey that kept her out of the 2007 world championship. Then her father Alan died of a heart attack in 2008. She was actually left off the world championship team in 2009, but reclaimed her spot in the lineup for the 2010 Winter Games.

Piper will be teaching in the Toronto area while continuing to work with young players at the Markham Stouffville Stars Girls Hockey Association.

Sarah Vaillancourt

Injuries shortened the promising career of Canada's Sarah Vaillancourt

Vaillancourt was an amazing story in her college career at Harvard University. As a freshman she openly admitted that she was a lesbian, and that she would leave if anyone had a problem with that. Fortunately none of her coaches or teammates did, because she went on to become one of the top players in the Ivy League school's history.

As a junior in 2008 she was awarded the Patty Kazmaier award as the nation’s top college player in 2008. She was a top ten finalist in her sophomore year, too. As a senior she was named ECAC player of the year. Somehow she also found tie to earn a psychology degree from Harvard, too!

Vaillancourt, from Sherbrooke, Quebec, was a mainstay on the Canadian national team during that time. She won Olympic Gold Medals in 2006 and 2010. She also played in six World Championships, winning Gold in 2007. All told, Sarah contributed 98 points (45 goals, 53 assists) in her 107 game career with Canada.

A hip injury and a series of sports hernias have not allowed her to play a full season since 2010. The hip injury required surgery.

She will be missed in Sochi, as she plays a nice grinder's role for the national team. The Canadian Press' Donna Spencer described Vaillancourt as "Vaillancourt’s game is skill and sandpaper. She has the vision and quick hands of a playmaker, but is also a burr under the saddle of the opposition."

While Vaillancourt retired from the Canadian national team at age 27, she continues to play and be a role model for young women everywhere. She is playing for the Montreal Stars of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League while pursuing a Master’s Degree at the University of Sherbrooke.

Danielle Goyette

Once called "the Gordie Howe of women’s hockey", Danielle Goyette was a superstar talent on offence who  continued to produce well into her lengthy career. In fact, she had more points in her final Women’s World Championship in 2007 at age 41 (11) than she did in her first 15 years earlier as a 26-year-old (10).

Goyette played in three Olympics and nine IIHF Women’s World Championships, winning gold every time except at the 1998 Olympics and 2005 Worlds when Canada won silver. She has represented Canada at international competitions more than any other hockey player in history – male or female – and has more than 100 goals to her credit in international play. By the time she retired from the national team she was second all-time with 15 goals at the Olympics. At the Women's World Championships she ranked third all time with 37 goals and fourth overall with 68 points.

Goyette grew up in St. Nazaire, Quebec, a village of just 800 people located some three hours north of Quebec City.

With such a small population she had no problem being welcomed on the boys teams. Starting at age four she was out with the boys on an outside rink where she dreamed she was playing with her beloved Montreal Canadiens. She also excelled at Tennis (she was a to junior player in the province) and fastball (she once made Canada's under 21 national team and travelled to the World Championships).

By 1991 she left Quebec for Calgary to join the Canadian national women's hockey team. She could barely speak a word of English. But she was fully fluent in the language of hockey. She slowly learned English and overcame a feeling of isolation to become a Canadian hockey legend. Much of her career she battled the younger Hayley Wickenheiser as Canada's top offensive woman.

For all the Olympic medals and world championships, Goyette's greatest moment as an athlete came in 2006 when she was selected as Canada's flag bearer for the Opening Ceremonies at the Turin Olympics.

Goyette, who suffered 24 shoulder dislocations requiring 3 surgeries, later became head coach at the University of Calgary. She led the Dinos to the school's first national championship in 2012.