History of women's ice hockey in the United States
The history of women's ice hockey in the United States can be traced back to the early 20th century. In the 1920s, the Seattle Vamps competed in various hockey tournaments. In 1916, the United States hosted an international hockey tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, that featured Canadian and American women's hockey teams. AWCHA. In 1997-98, the American Women's College Hockey Alliance debuted. It was a program funded through the USOC/NCAA Conference Grant Program. The AWCHA organized and developed activities with collegiate women's varsity ice hockey  teams, and helped to promote women's ice hockey at all NCAA levels. The first AWCHA Division I National Ice Hockey Championship was held in March 1998. The New Hampshire Wildcats defeated the Brown Bears by a 4-1 score, to become the first recognized national champion in women's college ice hockey. In the 1999-2000 season, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) joined the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) as the second league in the nation to offer women's Division I competition. There were two more AWCHA National Championships and then the NCAA became involved. In August  2000, the NCAA announced it would hold its first Division I Women's Ice Hockey National Championship. The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs captured the first NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Championship, defeating the St. Lawrence Skating Saints by a 4-2 tally on March 25, 2001. Ivy League women’s hockey. In 1964, the Brown Bears men's coach Jim Fullerton arranged for Nancy Schieffelin to attend a team practice. She was an experienced player and came to the practice disguised in full uniform. A year later, Brown University had the first women's ice hockey program. The team  was known as the Pembroke Pandas. The Pandas had to borrow equipment, and sell hockey rule sheets at the Bears men's games to raise money for equipment. In February 1966, the Pandas (Brown Bears) women's ice hockey team played their first game. Against the Walpole Brooms, the club lost by a 4-1 score. The Cornell women's hockey program was started in 1971, but did not play its first game until 1972. It was a 4-3 victory over Scarborough. In 1972, they played eight games and lost four. The Big Red lost twice to the Brown  Bears. Yale University debuted its women's ice hockey program on December 9, 1975. Its first match was versus Choate-Rosemary Hall. The Bulldogs prevailed by a 5-3 tally. Two years later, the Bulldogs hockey program attained varsity status. In 1976, Brown hosted the first ever Ivy League women's ice hockey tournament. The other competing schools were Cornell, Princeton and Yale. The Big Red won the tournament. Dartmouth College welcomed women's ice hockey on January 7, 1978. The Big Green defeated Middlebury by a 6-5 score. The Big Green finished their inaugural season with 7 wins , 7 losses, and 1 tie. Against Ivy League teams, the Big Green were 1-3-1. In the 1978-79 season, the Harvard Crimson iced a women's team. Their first game was a 17-0 defeat at the hands of the Providence Friars. The next game was a 2-1 loss to the Yale Bulldogs. The Harvard Crimson "iced" their first-ever regular season women's hockey team in the 1978-79 season. Their first game was a 17-0 defeat at the hands of the Providence Friars. In 1998-99, the Crimson finished with a record of 33 -1. Of the 31 wins, the Crimson won 30 consecutive games to close the season. In the previous season, the Crimson had gone 14-16-0. The final game of that 30 game streak was a 6-5 overtime victory over the New Hampshire Wildcats in the AWCHA national championship game. On November 24, 1979, the Princeton Tigers played their first varsity game against the University of Pennsylvania. In winter of 1982, Princeton snapped the Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey program's string of six straight Ivy League titles. In 1998, the Patty Kazmaier Award was introduced, named  after former Princeton Tigers player Patty Kazmaier. In 1998-99, the Harvard Crimson finished with a record of 33-1. Led by head coach Katey Stone, the Crimson proceeded to win the American Women's College Hockey Alliance national championship. Ivy League players accomplishments. In 1987, Mollie Marcoux-Samaan joined the Princeton Tigers. In her four years with the Tigers, Marcoux-Samaan would gain eight letters in athletics (hockey and soccer). In 1990, Dartmouth Big Green player Judy Parish Oberting was named to the first U.S. National Team that competed at the 1990 IIHF Women's World Championship. In 1998 , Laurie Belliveau of Yale and Sarah Hood of Dartmouth were two Ivy League players named first team All-Americans. This was the first time that Ivy League women's hockey players were bestowed with such an honor. During the 2003-04 season, Nicole Corriero of Harvard set an NCAA record with 59 goals scored in a season. In the same season, former Princeton player Laura Halldorson coached the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program to the 2004 NCAA title. On January 18, 2003, Harvard beat the Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey program by a 17-2  mark, the largest margin of victory in NCAA history. Jennifer Botterill set an NCAA record (since tied) for most points in one game with 10 on January 28, 2003 versus Boston College. A few months later, Nicole Corriero tied Botterill's record for most points in one NCAA game with ten on November 7, 2003 versus the Union Dutchwomen. In addition, she holds the NCAA record for most game winning goals in a career, with 27. Professional hockey. NWHL. The National Women's Hockey League was formed in 2015 with four teams. Formed by Dani Rylan in March 2015 with  an estimated $2.5 million operating budget, it was the first women's professional hockey league to pay its players. Prior to the league's formation, the only choice for top level women's hockey in North America was the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), which at the time paid bonuses and incentives but not salaries. The league's inaugural season ran on a salary cap of US$270,000 maximum per team and a $10,000 minimum per player. The players also earn 15% of profits from any NWHL jersey sold with their name on it. The league placed  its four original teams in markets where many young girls play ice hockey: the New York City area, Buffalo, and New England. In 2018 the league expanded to five teams absorbing the Minnesota Whitecaps. Teams compete for the Isobel Cup, named after Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy, the daughter of Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, donor of the Stanley Cup. In addition, select NWHL players were invited to participate in the 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend in St. Louis. They participated in skill competitions and had a USA vs Canada three-on-three game. The NWHL star, Kendall Coyne Schofield  competed in the fastest skater event alongside big names in the NHL such as Connor McDavid, Mat Barzal and Nathan MacKinnon. In the year 2019, she finished 7th out of 8 skaters only a second behind the top skater, Connor McDavid. Also in 2019, Brianna Decker completed a demonstration for the "premier passer" event included in the Al-Star games. After she completed the event, fans complained because she placed three seconds ahead of the first place winner and deserved the $25,000 prize. 2019 was the first time woman ice hockey players has competed in the events but no  one received any prizes. The NHL gave the NWHL a special three-on-three event as team USA battled out team Canada. After their countless effort in the events, the NHL still did not pay. Instead, they were given appearance fees and a donation of $1 million towards girls hockey. Their appearances in the games have raised great awareness for women in a male dominated sport. More recognition was given to the NWHL, players earned more respect and they definitely added some new fans to their league. Notable teams. Connecticut Polar Bears. The Connecticut Polar Bears are an ice  hockey league for girls under the age of 19 in Connecticut. Numerous players from the Polar Bears have gone on to careers in college hockey at the NCAA Division I and Division III levels. In 1985, Maurice FitzMaurice's daughter Marnie wanted the opportunity to play ice hockey among girls. FitzMaurice and a few other fathers decided to organize a Pee Wee Girls program. The result was the Connecticut Polar Bears. It is the only all-girls ice hockey program in Connecticut, which consists of eleven teams. Since its beginnings, FitzMaurice has been the President of the Polar Bears. He  was also one of the organizers of one of the largest Christmas tournaments in North America. In 2007, the tournament hosted about 275 teams. Games were played across Connecticut. The program has produced numerous Olympians, including Julie Chu, Jaime Hagerman, Hilary Knight, Sue Merz, A.J. Mleczko, Kim Insalaco, Angela Ruggiero, Sarah Vaillancourt and Gretchen Ulion. Minnesota Whitecaps. Minnesota first competed for the Clarkson Cup in 2009 in Kingston, Ontario. The team lost to the Montreal Stars in a one-game final, 3 goals to 1. In 2010, the Minnesota Whitecaps became the first United States based team to win the  Clarkson Cup, doing so by defeating the Brampton Thunder, 4 goals to none. In 2019, after moving to the National Women's Hockey League, the Whitecaps became the only team to win both the Clarkson Cup and the Isobel Cup after beating the Buffalo Beauts by a score of 2 goals to one. Seattle Vamps. As early as January 1916, Frank Patrick and Lester Patrick talked of the formation of a women's league to complement the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. The proposal included teams from Vancouver, Victoria, Portland and Seattle. The league never formed but in January 1917, the  Vancouver News-Advertiser reported that wives of the Seattle Metropolitans had assembled a team. In February 1921, Frank Patrick announced a women's international championship series that would be played in conjunction with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. The three teams that competed were the Vancouver Amazons, Victoria Kewpies, and Seattle Vamps. On February 21, 1921, the Seattle Vamps competed against the Vancouver Amazons in Vancouver, and were vanquished by a 5-0 score. Two days later, the Vamps played against a team from the University of British Columbia and won the game. Jerry Reed scored three goals (a hat  trick) in the game for the Vamps. In both games, the Vancouver media referred to the Seattle team as the Seattle Sweeties. The Amazons traveled to Seattle and defeated them again. On March 2, 1921, the Vamps were defeated by the Kewpies 1-0 in Seattle. In the rematch on March 12, the Vamps travelled to Victoria. The result was a 1-1 tie, and Jerry Reed scored the goal for Seattle. The goaltender for the Vamps was Mildren Terran. After the 1921 season, the Vamps and the Kewpies ceased operations. Minnesota. In 1994, more than 500 member schools were  sent letters by the Minnesota State high school league. The intent was to determine how many schools were interested in starting girls' ice hockey teams. Twenty-four expressed interest as the league was looking for a new sport for Title IX purposes. On March 21, 1994, the Minnesota State High School League sanctioned girls' ice hockey. Minnesota became the first state in the U.S. to sanction girls' ice hockey as a high school varsity sport. On March 25, 1995, Apple Valley High School defeated the South St. Paul Packers, 2-0, to become the first Minnesota girls' state high school  champion. From 1994 to 2002, the number of varsity girls' teams in Minnesota expanded from 24 to 125 (in two classifications, AA and A). In 2001, a three-day girls' state tournament attracted 15,551 spectators. In 1994 there were 1,863 girls in the state participating in organized hockey outside of a varsity high school program. In 2002, the number increased to 6,856. Awards. Sarah Devens Award. Established in 1996, the Sarah Devens Award is awarded jointly by the ECAC and Hockey East. The award is named in honor of former Dartmouth Big Green ice hockey player, Sarah Devens, who died  in 1995 prior to her senior year. Kathryn Waldo, a forward from Northeastern University Huskies, was the first recipient. Waldo had cystic fibrosis, and despite health challenges, was a stand-out player for the Huskies during her four years. She finished her career with 106 points in 52 goals and 54 assists. Joe Burke award. The Joe Burke Award was established in 1994. It is presented annually to the person who has given outstanding contribution, support, and dedication to women's ice hockey. Joe Burke was a Dedham resident but never actually played the game himself. The first game he  attended was the University of New Hampshire and Boston College in 1978 at McHugh Forum. Since that game, Burke has been at every major girls'/women's hockey event in the New England area. Laura Hurd Award. The Laura Hurd Award is given to the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Player of the Year. It is named for Elmira College star Laura Hurd, a four-time All-American who lead her team to the first Division III championship. International tournaments. The following women's ice hockey tournaments (featuring teams from other nations) were contested in the United States. History