Women's Ice Hockey Tournament at the Winter Olympic Games 2018

[hckošice 14,831]

Together on the ice

Unified Korea Olympic team set to play in PyeongChang

 

For the first time in Olympic history, a combined ice hockey team of South and North Korean players will compete together in the Olympic Winter Games.

 

The unified Korea team was confirmed on Saturday following a meeting between the IOC and a delegation of North and South Korean officials in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“This would have seemed impossible only a few weeks ago,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “Today is a great moment for the Olympic Movement, because the Olympic spirit has brought us all together.”

“These great results could only be achieved with the enthusiastic cooperation of the Olympic Winter Sports Federations, in particular the International Ski Federation, the International Ice Hockey Federation, and the International Skating Union.”

For ice hockey, the IOC decided to allow the two National Olympic Committees, for the first time in their Olympic history, to form a unified team in a sport. This unified women’s ice hockey team will be created by adding 12 players and one official from the NOC of the DPRK to the existing ROK Olympic squad of 23 players. With respect to fair play and the other competing teams, only 22 players will be entitled to play in each game, as is the rule for all participating teams.

“For the first time in their Olympic history, the two Korean teams will unite to compete as one team in a sport," said Bach. "The unified women’s ice hockey team will be represented by the Korean Unification Flag and will compete as Korea, with the anthem being the song “Arirang” (a Korean folk song). This team will be a great symbol of the unifying power of Olympic sport.”

The head coach, responsible for the selection of the players, will be the ROK coach Sarah Murray. The head coach will at each match select at least three players from the NOC of the DPRK for the team.

The decision was welcomed by the International Ice Hockey Federation, which played a vital role to answer the sport-relevant questions regarding integration of the unified team into the women’s Olympic ice hockey tournament.

“The inclusion of North Korea players to the South Korean women’s ice hockey team marks a significant achievement for the Olympic ideal of peace through sport. It is an honour to have women’s ice hockey, one of the fastest-growing team sports in the world, as the platform for this unprecedented initiative between these two countries,” said IIHF President René Fasel.

At the request of the IOC, the IIHF evaluated the best method for the integration of North Korean players into the South Korean teams and made recommendations to the IOC and the delegations.

The NOC of DPRK will officially submit to the IIHF a list of players to be added to the Olympic squad at a later date. The two participating NOCs will also select the new uniform to represent the historic COR team.

“This initiative by North and South Korea offers a tremendous opportunity to use ice hockey, one of the core team sports of the Olympic Winter Games, as a tool to foster create new connections and develop closer bonds across the Korea Peninsula. The IIHF will work with all the participating teams to make sure this endeavor for peace through sport is a success.”
 

[NearPup 3,051]

What a joke. How can you possibly integrate unknown players lesd than a month before the Olympics?

[hckošice 14,831]

TEAM SWITZERLAND

 

 

Goaltenders:

• Janine Alder (St. Cloud State University, NCAA, )
• Andrea Brandli (EHC Schaffhausen)
• Florence Schelling (Linkoping HC, )

Defencers:

• Livia Altmann (Colgate University, NCAA, )
• Laura Benz (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Nicole Bullo (HC Lugano)
• Nicole Gass (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Christine Meier (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Shannon Sigrist (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Stefanie Wetli (EHC Winterthur)
• Sabrina Zollinger (HV71 Jonkoping, ) 

Forwards:

• Tess Allemann (Bomo Thun)
• Sara Benz (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Sarah Forster (Bomo Thun)
• Alina Muller (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Evelina Raselli (HC Lugano)
• Lisa Ruedi (GCK Lions Zurich)
• Dominique Ruegg (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Phoebe Staenz (SDE HF, )
• Lara Stalder (Linkoping HC, )
• Isabel Waidacher (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Monika Waidacher (ZSC Lions Zurich)
• Nina Waidacher (ZSC Lions Zurich)

 

[hckošice 14,831]

TEAM FINLAND

 

 

Goaltenders:

• Meeri Raisanen (HPK Hameenlinna)
• Noora Raty, (Kunlun Red Star Shenzhen, CWHL, )
• Eveliina Suonpaa (Lukko Rauma)

Defencers:

• Jenni Hiirikoski (Lulea HF, )
• Mira Jalosuo (Karpat Oulu)
• Rosa Lindstedt (HV71 Jonkoping, )
• Isa Rahunen (Karpat Oulu)
• Ronja Savolainen (Lulea HF, )
• Minnamari Tuominen K-Espoo Blues)
• Ella Viitasuo (K-Espoo Blues)

Forwards:

• Sanni Hakala (HV71 Jonkoping, )
• Venla Hovi (University of Manitoba, )
• Michelle Karvinen (Lulea HF, )
• Petra Nieminen (Team Kuortane)
• Tanja Niskanen (KalPa Kuopio)
• Emma Nuutinen (Mercyhurst University, )
• Annina Rajahuhta (Kunlun Red Star Shenzhen, CWHL, )
• Saila Saari (Karpat Oulu)
• Sara Sakkinen (Team Kuortane)
• Susanna Tapani (Lukko Rauma)
• Noora Tulus (Lulea HF, )
• Riikka Valila (HV71 Jonkoping, )
• Linda Valimaki (Ilves Tampere )

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Crossing 38°N

North Korean players arrive to form unified team

Normally closed and heavily guarded, the intra-Korean border opened today for the 12 North Korean players who joined their South Korean colleagues to form a unified women's ice hockey team for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics.

 

The 2018 Olympic Winter Games will be joined by athletes from the northern part of the peninsula following the breakthrough discussions between the involved parties on Saturday. The athletes will march together at the opening and closing ceremonies with the unification flag and some individual athletes will compete and travel to PyeongChang 2018 later.

 

The most remarkable move, however, is to have a unified team in a team sport with athletes from the two Koreas that have been separated for over 60 years after the Korean War.

 

In women’s ice hockey the two teams are not far apart from each other also on the ice. The 23 players from the Republic of Korea (“South Korea”, 22nd in the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Ranking) will stay together but will be joined by 12 players from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“North Korea”, 25th in the ranking) and be granted an exception to have 35 players on the tournament roster of the unified team.

 

However, the game-day roster will remain at 22 like for all teams in the tournament and according to the agreement at least three North Korean players will play in each game.

 

The joint team was first proposed at high-level inter-Korean talks between the administrations of the two countries on 9th January before reaching an agreement and working on the details that were approved and announced on Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the International Olympic Committee is headquartered following discussions on how to integrate the new players with the IOC and the IIHF.

In order to prepare for the historic team effort, the 12 players came to South Korea on Thursday and earlier than the other athletes. The delegation crossed the demilitarized zone around the 38th parallel north that divides the Korean peninsula near the cities of Kaesong and Paju. They were brought to Jincheon, about 90 kilometres south of Seoul where the South Korean players have been practising.

The 12 players crossed the border in apparel with the DPR Korea flag but will soon be equipped with new apparel for the unified Korean women’s team. The team will compete under the unification flag picturing the Korean peninsula and will have a different abbreviation (COR instead of KOR) in the Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament.

 

The delegation coming from the north were welcomed with flowers by their new Korean colleagues from the south, head coach Sarah Murray and Mongwon Chung, the President of the Korea Ice Hockey Association governing the sport in the south.

 

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap it was agreed that the players from the north and south will run separate practices before they will officially be joined together to practise as a unified team as of next week.

 

On 4th February the team will play an exhibition game against Sweden before starting the 2018 Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament on 10th February against Switzerland.

 

The full 35-player roster will be published at a later date.

[JoshMartini007 2,537]

I can't find the article, but I remember reading that the coach was planning to use the North Korean players as fourth liners. I don't think that's fair, the North Korean women aren't that much worse than South Korea.

[hckošice 14,831]

OLYMPIC ATHLETES FROM RUSSIA

 

 

Goaltenders:

• Nadezhda Alexandrova (Tornado Moscow Region, )
• Nadezhda Morozova (Biryusa Krasnoyarsk, )
• Valeria Tarakanova (SKIF Nizhni Novgorod, )

Defencers:

• Maria Batalova (Tornado Moscow Region, )
• Anastasia Chistyakova (Dynamo St. Petersburg, )
• Liana Ganeyeva (Arktik-Universitet Ukhta, )
• Angelina Goncharenko (Tornado Moscow Region, )
• Yekaterina Lobova (Biryusa Krasnoyarsk, )
• Yekaterina Nikolayeva (Dynamo St. Petersburg, )
• Nina Pirogova (Tornado Moscow Region, )
• Svetlana Tkachyova (Tornado Moscow Region, )

Forwards:

• Lyudmila Belyakova (Tornado Moscow Region, )
• Yelena Dergachyova (Tornado Moscow Region, )
• Yevgenia Dyupina (Dynamo St. Petersburg, )
• Fanuza Kadirova (Arktik-Universitet Ukhta, )
• Diana Kanayeva (Dynamo St. Petersburg, )
• Viktoria Kulishova (SKIF Nizhni Novgorod, )
• Valeria Pavlova (Biryusa Krasnoyarsk, )
• Anna Shokhina (Tornado Moscow Region, )
• Alevtina Shtaryova (Tornado Moscow Region, )
• Yekaterina Smolina (Dynamo St. Petersburg, )
• Olga Sosina (Agidel Ufa, )
• Alyona Starovoytova (Tornado Moscow Region, )   

 

[hckošice 14,831]

TEAM UNIFIED KOREA

 

 

Goaltenders:

• Han Do-Hee (Ice Avengers)
• Genevieve Kim Knowles (Phoenix)
• Ri Pom (Sajabong)
• Shin So-Jung (Ice Beat) 

Defencers:

• Cho Mi-Hwan (Ice Avengers)
• Choe Jong-Hui (Kimchaek)
• Eom Su-yeon (Ice Avengers)
• Hwang Chung-Gum (Taesongsan)
• Hwang Sol-Gyong (Jangjasan)
• Kim Se-Lin (Ice Avengers)
• Park Chae-Lin (Ice Beat)
• Park Ye-Eun (Ice Beat)
• Park Yoon-Jung (Phoenix)
• Ryu Su-Jong (Kimchaek) 

Forwards:

• Choe Un-Gyong (Susan)
• Choi Ji-Yeon (Ice Avengers)
• Choi Yu-Jung (Ice Beat)
• Randi Heesoo Griffin (Phoenix)
• Han Soo-Jin (Ice Beat)
• Danelle Im (Phoenix)
• Jin Ok (Kanggye)
• Jo Su-Sie (Ice Beat)
• Jong Su-Hyon (Taesongsan)
• Jung Si-Yun (Ice Avengers)
• Kim Hee-Won (Ice Avengers)
• Kim Hyang-Mi (Taesongsan)
• Kim Un-Hyang (Kanggye)
• Kim Un-Jong (Taesongsan)
• Ko Hye-In (Ice Avengers)
• Lee Eun-Ji (Phoenix)
• Lee Jing-Yu (Phoenix)
• Lee Yeon-Jeong (Ice Beat)
• Caroline Nancy Park (Phoenix)
• Park Jong-Ah (Ice Avengers)
• Ryo Song-Hui (Taesongsan) 

 

[hckošice 14,831]

All rosters updated in post 2

 

[vovanA 169]

Today WADA came to Russian training to test 16 players at the same time. Very nice, they found the right time and right place