From the THN Archive, we look back at 2002 when the NWHL expanded to 10 teams featuring the biggest stars in the game.
In 2002, the original iteration of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) expanded by three teams. In their fourth season, the NWHL was a 10-team loop split between three divisions.
The Beatrice Aeros entered year four having won the league's championship three straight years, and the talent-base of the league was also expanding after the Vancouver Griffins signed American Olympians Cammi Granato and Shelley Looney, and college standout Brooke Whitney landed with the Brampton Thunder.
That season, the league included the Calgary Oval X-Treme, Edmonton Chimos, and Vancouver Griffins in the Pacific Division, the Brampton Thunder, Durham Telus Lightning, Mississauga Ice Bears, and North York Beatrice Aeros in the West Division, and Montreal Wingstar, Ottawa Raiders, and Quebec Avalanche in the East Division.
Among the top players in the league that season were Charline Labonte, Caroline Ouellette, Geraldine Heaney, Becky Kellar, Cheryl Pounder, Sami-Jo Small, Therese Brisson, Jayna Hefford, Vicky Sunohara, Nancy Drolet, Cammi Granato, Shelley Looney, Hayley Wickenheiser, Cassie Campbell and Danielle Goyette.
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