HISTORY
· Ice hockey is one of the fastest growing women's sports in the world, with the number of participants increasing 350 percent in the last 10 years.
· There have been nine IIHF World's Women Championships .
· The USHL welcomed the first female professional hockey player in 1969–70, when the Marquette Iron Rangers signed Karen Koch.
· Women's ice hockey was added as a medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The United States won gold, Canada won silver and Finland won bronze.
· The chief difference between women's and men's ice hockey is that body checking is not allowed in women's ice hockey. After the 1990 Women's World Championship, body checking was eliminated because female players in many countries do not have the size and mass seen in North American players.
· In addition, players in women's competition are required to wear protective full-face masks.
