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1997 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships

1997 IIHF World Women's Championship
1997 IIHF Women's World Championship.png
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 Gold medal blank.svg  Canada (4th title)
Runner-up Silver medal blank.svg  United States
Third place Bronze medal blank.svg  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.

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.

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.

All times local

All times local

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


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