Posted on 01/13/2003 4:47:23 PM PST by gd124
KIRKKONUMMI, Finland (Reuters) - Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser became the first woman to take to the open ice in a professional men's league Saturday, bagging an assist in Kirkkonummi Lightning's 7-3 win over Kettara.
The 24-year-old also committed an error with a sloppy back pass in a an otherwise sound performance in the Finnish second division.
"I tried to keep it simple... I think it went as well as it could in the conditions," Wickenheiser said after the huge media interest drew over 80 journalists and broadcasters from around the world to the game.
Wickenheiser follows three other women professionals who have played against men but they were all goaltenders.
In hockey-mad Canada the game was broadcast live.
It was the first of a three-game trial, after which the Kirkkonummi coaches will decide whether to keep her on for the rest of the season.
"It is the first game of hopefully many more but I will get better after each game as it goes on," Wickenheiser, a gold medallist at last year's Salt Lake City Winter Olympics said. Kettera captain Juha-Pekka Rinkinen said his team had discussed how to play against the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Wickenheiser.
"It couldn't have not affected us. But we still tried to play against her as we would against anyone else," he said.
Wickenheiser played only about 11 minutes of the match in a move to break her in gently, head coach Matti Hagman said, adding she had lived up to expectations.
"As a whole she played very well and for the next game we will have a good face-off player with us," Hagman said.
Wickenheiser started the game and had a hand in Kirkkonummi's first goal when she passed to Matti Tevanen who went on to score.
After a mix-up late in the game, however, she rolled the puck back weakly to her own goaltender and Vesa Koppi poached the game's final goal for the opposition.
Wickenheiser had planned to play in Italy but that fell through last year when the country's governing body said women could not play in the men's league.
Finland is one of the world's top ice hockey nations and many Finns play in North America's National Hockey League.
Kirkkonummi Salamat's female Canadian player Hayley Wickenheiser (L) celebrates with teammate Matti Tevanen after assisting on his first goal against Team Kettera of the Finnish second division, January 11, 2003 in Kirkkonummi, Finland. Wickenheiser became the first woman to take to the open ice in a professional men's league. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via Reuters)
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