According to multiple sources, future Hockey Hall of Famer Noora Räty has signed to play in the PHF.
According to multiple sources, future Hockey Hall of Famer Noora Räty has signed to play in the PHF.
According to multiple sources, one of the greatest goaltenders ever to play the game and future Hockey Hall of Famer, Noora Räty, has signed a contract to play in the PHF next season. It appears as though Räty is set to take over the crease for the Metropolitan Riveters.
Räty, 33, was named Best Goaltender at the World Championships five times, winning four bronze and a silver representing Finland, and also won a pair of Olympic bronze medals.
Following the CWHL ceasing operations in 2019, Räty took on a role on the PWHPA's Board of Directors. She is still listed on the PWHPA website as an active board member, and spent two seasons playing in the PWHPA based out of Minnesota. Prior to the PWHPA, Räty was named CWHL Goalie of the Year in 2018 playing with the Kunlan Red Star.
Räty has been a long time advocate of a professional league in North America that could push the game forward, which is why she joined the PWHPA, and now, has made the decision to join the PHF. As she stated in 2014, Räty believes a strong North American professional league is the key to international parity.
“I don’t feel that women’s hockey can grow or get any better in the future if the USA or Canada don’t get a professional league started soon,” Raty said in a statement posted to Twitter. “That is the next critical step that our sport needs to take or our sport will never be respected like it should be. Asking players to work full-time and then training like a pro athlete at the same time is just too much and unfair.”
With the doubling of the PHF's salary cap from $750,000 to $1.5 million this year, as well as logistical improvements, professional women's hockey players are now able to make hockey their full time job.
At the NCAA level, Räty graduated as the all-time leader in wins, shutouts, and career save percentage while playing for the University of Minnesota. In her time with the University of Minnesota, Räty won multiple national titles including in 2012 when she won all 38 games she appeared in.
Last season, Räty joined Naisten Liiga's HPK late in the year posting a 1.56 GAA and .943 save percentage in nine starts, before appearing in seven playoff games for HPK. Prior to joining HPK, Räty had been working with Team China’s women’s team as the nation's goaltending coach in preparation for the Division 1A World Championships, which are scheduled to be hosted in China the next three seasons.
In October of 2022, Räty announced her official retirement from Finland's national team, after multiple seasons of turmoil between Räty and Finland's coach. In total Räty represented Finland at four Olympic Games and nine World Championships, while appearing in over 200 games for her nation. On top of five World Championship best goaltender honors, Räty was also named an All-Star at the 2018 Olympic Games.
When Räty does decide to hang up her pads permanently, she's destined for a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame and a legacy as one of the best goaltenders ever to play the game.