Shelley Looney

Hockey is game known for toughness and courage. In the world of women's hockey, few are tougher or more courageous than Shelley Looney.

The American winger is perhaps best known for a terrible injury. She suffered a badly broken jaw at the 1997 World Championships as he she dropped to the ice to block a shot in overtime of the gold medal game. Despite her incredible efforts and willingness to do anything to win, Team USA would lose that game to Canada.

A solid two way player, Looney also played in the 1992 and 1994 World Championships, as well as the Pacific Rim Championship in 1995. Like all competitors in women's hockey, her biggest tournament was the 1998 Winter Olympics. She scored 4 goals in 6 games helping the US win the first gold medal in Women's Olympic Hockey history. Her 4th goal proved to be the eventual winner in the gold medal game against Canada.

Looney, who was born in Michigan and trained at Northeastern University, returned to the Olympics in 2002. This time the Americans would fall short to Canada on home ice.

Looney took up a number of coaching opportunities while trying to keep active for the 2006 Olympics. Unfortunately she would be one of the final cuts for that American team, all but ending here playing career.

In her international career she scored 61 goals and 136 points in 151 games. She was also inducted into the Northeastern University athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. She was the first Olympic gold medalist in University history, and retired as the fifth leading scorer of all time.