We need more women in the Hockey Hall of Fame — Women’s hockey news

Jennifer Botterill and Brianna Decker will be inducted in the Players category, while Danièle Sauvageau will be inducted as a Builder. Sauvageau is the first woman to be inducted in the Builder category. This is just the third time in history that the Hall has used both of its two allotted slots for female players in a year.

With these new inductees, there will be 15 women in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It’s a decent number, but there are still so many more women who are deserving of the recognition — not to mention the number of those who aren’t yet eligible for induction, but are nearly guaranteed a spot one day.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a new conundrum. Women’s hockey supporters have been reiterating this for years, and though there has finally been progress, it’s still incredibly slow. Mike Murphy from The Ice Garden wrote this similar piece in 2016 — nine whole years ago — and only eight women have been inducted since then.

Mike’s list from 2016 is a great starting point — and thankfully, a few on that list have or are being inducted — but here are five more players who should be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the near future, too. Stay tuned to The Ice Garden for an upcoming follow-up piece on current players who are undoubtedly going to enter the Hall someday, too.

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Julie Chu

During her playing career, Julie Chu saw success at pretty much every level of hockey possible. Her accolades speak for themselves: five gold medals (and four silver medals) at Worlds; three Olympic silver medals and one bronze; a three-time CWHL champion and one-time WWHL champion.

She was also a two-year captain at Harvard, won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2007 and remains the all-time leading scorer for the Crimson, with 284 points in 129 games. Her success has been noted, as the WCHA named its annual rookie of the year award after her in 2024.

Chu made history when, in 2002, she became the first Asian-American female to compete for the United States in the Winter Olympics in a sport other than figure skating. She deferred her acceptance to Harvard in order to compete at Salt Lake City, which marked the first of four Olympic tournament appearances. She is one of the most-decorated American female athletes in Winter Olympics history and spent years in a leadership role for the U.S. national team.

Domestically, she played two seasons with the Minnesota Whitecaps of the WWHL, then spent seven seasons with the Montréal Stars/Les Canadiennes de Montréal franchise in the CWHL. She averaged nearly a point-per-game in the CWHL, with 93 points — including 75 assists — in 95 games.

Chu is currently head coach at Concordia, a position she’s held since 2016.

Meghan Duggan

Like the other players listed here, Meghan Duggan’s accolades speak for themselves. Captain of the U.S. National Team for five years, Duggan led the team through two Olympic Games (including gold in 2018) and three Women’s World Championships. She registered eight points, including five goals, in 15 Olympic matchups, and 20 points in 39 Women’s Worlds games.

Duggan had success at pretty much every level she hit. In four years at Wisconsin, the Badgers won three NCAA championships. She was an alternate captain in her junior season, then had her best season as a senior and captain. That year, she set a new program record for points in a single season, with 39 goals and 48 assists for 87 points in just 41 games. That record was finally broken this past season by Casey O’Brien, who had 88 points.

After leaving Wisconsin, Duggan went pro with the CWHL’s Boston Blades. With the emergence of the NWHL in 2015, she made the jump, signing on with the Buffalo Beauts. As an inaugural member of the Beauts, she served as an alternate captain and had 16 points in 13 regular season games. Buffalo lost to Boston in the Isobel Cup Final. Duggan went to those same Boston Pride the following season and had 20 points in 17 games — and then the Pride lost to the Beauts in the Isobel Cup Final.

Since 2021, Duggan has served as the director of player development for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.

Maria Rooth

Maria Rooth, considered by some to be the best Swedish goal-scorer in women’s hockey history, is yet another player deserving of a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Like the aforementioned others, she too had success at pretty much every level, including as a three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award and three-time NCAA champion while registering 164 points in 92 games at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Rightfully so, she was the first University of Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey player to have her jersey retired.

She was the first Swedish player to score 100 goals in international competition and had 18 points in 20 Olympics games. Her accomplishments are many, including two Olympic medals and two Women’s Worlds medals, the Olympic All-Star team and Women’s Worlds All-Star team.

All of that isn’t even to mention her success playing domestically in Sweden, from three times winning gold in HockeyEttan to a two-time European Cup Champion, multi-time leader in the SDHL in goals, points and assists in the playoffs and more. In 2004-2005, she was named Swedish Player of the Year. She retired in 2010.

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In 2013, Rooth was inducted into the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame. Two years later, she was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame, becoming the first European women’s player to be inducted, as well as the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame. She was also named to UMD Women’s Hockey’s 25th anniversary team.

Again, this isn’t anything new. Meredith Foster & Hannah Bevis wrote about Rooth as a deserving eligible player in 2017, noting:

“Maria Rooth’s absence from the Hall is a double indictment against the Committee’s views on both women and non-North American players. She’s one of the finest goal scorers Sweden’s ever produced, plain and simple.”

Michelle Jay also wrote about Rooth as a potential candidate in 2020, as did Mike Murphy. Many have been banging this drum for years, and it’s about time the Hockey Hall of Fame took notice.

Rooth served as a senior advisor for Rögle BK this past season.

Florence Schelling

Florence Schelling is a Swiss hockey icon, period.

She was only 14 the first time she suited up for the national team, tending goal for three games at Women’s Worlds in 2004. She’d make her Olympic debut a few years later and enjoy a relatively prosperous career internationally, collegiately and professionally that included an Olympic bronze medal and a Women’s Worlds bronze medal, as well as a gold medal at the Division-I Women’s Worlds. She was also named best goaltender at both tournaments and named Olympic MVP in 2014.

After years of moving up through the ranks of Swiss hockey — including becoming the first woman to play in the Swiss Men’s National B League — Schelling made the jump to North America, where she’d spend four seasons at Northeastern. Through 98 games, she registered a 1.73 GAA and .940 save percentage with a 49-32-15 record. After her sophomore season, she was named a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award.

Schelling spent one season with the CWHL’s Brampton Thunder, going 7-7-1 with a 2.49 GAA and .905 save percentage, then went back overseas and spent the rest of her playing career in Europe. Her career with the national team also continued, including Olympic bronze in 2014 and twice being named one of Switzerland’s top three players at Women’s Worlds. In 2018, she was the SDHL’s goaltender of the year and had the best goaltending stats across the board: 1.45 GAA, .949 save percentage and 10 shutouts.

She entered Northeastern’s Hall of Fame in 2020, just two years after she retired from playing. She’s also a member of the Swiss Hockey Hall of Fame and, in 2014, was honored as the Swiss Ice Hockey Woman of the Year. In 2018, she won the Swiss Hockey Special Award, too.

In 2020, she became the first woman to be named general manager of a professional men’s hockey team with SC Bern. She served in that position for just over a year. Prior to that, she coached Switzerland’s U18 women’s team. In 2023, Geremy wrote about why Schelling is a sure-fire inductee.

Shannon Szabados

Shannon Szabados is one of the most decorated women’s hockey goaltenders out there. She made a name for herself not just internationally, backstopping Canada to two Olympic golds, but was also a pioneer for women in hockey.

The history-making began in 2002, when a 16-year-old Szabados became the first girl to play in the Western Hockey League. She appeared in four exhibition games with the Tri-City Americans before returning to the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The AJHL’s governors actually took a vote on whether a girl could play against 17- and 18-year old boys. Sheesh.

After a few years in the AJHL — during which she was named the best goaltender in the league — Szabados would suit up for the men’s teams at Grant MacEwan University and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology before making more history. In the 2013-14 season, Szabados became the first woman to sign and play in the SPHL. She spent parts of three seasons there, between the Columbus Cottonmouths and the Peoria Rivermen.

Szabados played for the NWHL’s Buffalo Beauts in the 2018-19 season, going 6-3-1 with a 1.49 GAA and .934 save percentage. She was the top goaltender in the league and received the goaltender of the year award, to boot. She spent the following season with the PWHPA before hanging up her skates.

All this, not to even mention her international play. In addition to the aforementioned two Olympic gold medals, she also nabbed six medals at Women’s Worlds (including one gold) and an Olympic silver medal. She was twice named best goaltender at the Olympics and once named to the Olympic all-star team.

In 2024, she was inducted to the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame. It’s only a matter of time before she — and the others named here — are given their rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame, too.

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