The next few months are "going to dictate the way women's hockey is seen." The American hockey team is going into Sunday's Ice Hockey Women's World Championship finals dominating its competition. In its previous four games, the team scored 30 goals against the other top teams in the world. Its opponents -- Russia, Japan, Switzerland and Russia again in the semifinals -- were shut out and didn't score any goals. But for all their dominance on the ice, the athletes are still looking for support off it -- to help build the foundation to grow a sustainable North American women's hockey league that will keep interest beyond international competition. It's really important, the next steps we take in the next few months -- it's going to dictate the way women's hockey is seen in the future. "Whether you like it or not, you're given a platform to truly make a difference. What's been amazing is that our team has embraced that and really tried to create changes beyond just playing hockey," forward Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, who is not competing in worlds after recently giving birth, told ABC News. For these athletes, there are three levels of competition: first, there's what happens on the ice; then there's their ongoing efforts to work with USA Hockey, which governs the national team, to increase equity; and finally, there's the players' desire for "one league" -- a professional league of local teams between the United States and Canada that would function like the National Hockey League. Those calls for "one league" have grown since the end of March, when the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) announced it was folding. For American forward Hilary Knight, who played in the CWHL and whose professional future is now somewhat in the air, the closure is an opportunity. "It's really important, the next steps we take in the next few months -- it's going to dictate the way women's hockey is seen in the future," she told ABC News. Step 1: Equity within USA Hockey The national hockey team went into the 2018 Olympics hoping a gold medal would be a catalyst for further growth in women's hockey, a year after they threatened a boycott before agreeing to a positive deal with USA Hockey. In their demands to USA Hockey, the national team players were asking not just for higher wages for themselves, but for the infrastructure for women's and girls' hockey so the sport would grow. They recognize women's hockey is nowhere near as popular as men's, so their goals are, instead, to lay the groundwork for the future. In some respects, after winning gold at the 2018 Olympics, the team was left frustrated, as reported by The New York Times, with a lack of promotion from USA Hockey. ABC News reached out to USA Hockey for comment but the league did not respond. I feel like it's moved slowly, but it's starting to move in the right direction. Some older players felt "disappointed" that "there was not a whole lot that happened to the team" after a post-Olympics media tour, U.S. defenseman Monique Lamoureux-Morando, Jocelyne's twin, who is also sitting out worlds after recently giving birth, told ABC News. That lack of promotion was a missed opportunity, players believed, to capitalize on the attention they'd gained at the Olympics. "But, I think as of late, USA Hockey has been working with the players and the staff and really trying to collaborate and move forward in a positive direction," Lamoureux-Morando said. "I feel like it's moved slowly, but it's starting to move in the right direction." Knight, too, said the team has "a strong working relationship now with USA Hockey," even if sometimes she does have to "take a deep breath" and remind herself "it's not built overnight." It helps that they can see the fruits of their efforts. For instance, at this year's world championship in Finland, many of the athletes' families are there. That wasn't always the norm, Knight said. "We've got families here, because they're [now] provided a ticket and housing. That's a great step, giving a nod to the steps we put together with USA Hockey," she explained. Step 2: 'One league' "People watch women's hockey during the Olympics, and then the other three years it's not as visible," Lamoureux-Morando said. "The next biggest thing to take women's hockey to the next level in visibility is to have one sustainable league." There is a clear concentration of talent in women's hockey in Canada and the United States. As it stands now, though, players from both countries only play against each other during international competition as part of national teams. Otherwise, the athletes have competed in two separate professional leagues: the CWHL and the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) in America, where they play on local teams. Picture the New York Rangers, for example, never playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The players have long been calling for "one league," preferably under the umbrella of the NHL. Last month, ESPN, citing sources, reported that the NHL would be interested if the CWHL and NWHL either merged or both folded. Since the CWHL folded, the NHL said in a statement to ABC News, "The NHL's position has been consistent for some time and remains unchanged with this news: We would consider starting a women's league if there were no alternatives for women to play professionally in North America." It's a daunting task, for sure, but we're builders, we're visionaries, and we can get it done if we want to. "As long as elite women hockey players have professional opportunities, it is not an environment we are prepared to wade into in any formal way," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. "We have always supported professional women's hockey, and we plan to continue to do so. That doesn't mean we need to form or directly subsidize an existing professional league." ESPN reported the NHL agreed to "significantly" increase its financial support of the NWHL since the closure, with sources saying it will contribute $100,000.<doc-sep>Team USA won its fifth straight gold medal at the IIHF Women's World Championship on Sunday, but controversy reigned in the final moments. The Americans were taken to the limit by host country Finland, which had already shocked the hockey world by advancing to the final after upsetting Canada a day earlier. The game was knotted 1-1 through regulation time, meaning overtime would be required. It was in the extra period where things went completely awry, with the Finns seemingly robbed of a winning goal. After US goaltender Alex Rigsby made a stop on Finland captain Jenni Hiirikoski, forward Petra Nieminen stuffed home the rebound and sent the Espoo Metro Areena crowd into raptures. The Finns celebrated what they thought was their first-ever World Championship title, but after a 12-minute review the officials overturned the goal. After video review, the call on the ice is no goal. Overtime continues on. pic.twitter.com/L9rJPX01g5 — Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 14, 2019 Bizarrely, it was Rigsby who was assessed a penalty on the play, with the American goalie given a tripping infraction. In normal circumstances, a delayed penalty would allow play to continue until a member of the offending team gained control of the puck or a goal is scoring by the opposition, but that wasn't the case on Sunday. Instead, the penalty to Rigsby nullified Nieminen's goal and play resumed. No other goals were scored in the overtime period, sending the game to a shootout. So, Alex Rigsby was given a penalty on this controversial call. Assessed a tripping minor. Rigsby called for tripping Hiirikoski, but the goal was also disallowed? When did USA touch the puck for the delayed call? There's a startling lack of clarity. https://t.co/hl2EN2ei9q — Mike Murphy (@DigDeepBSB) April 14, 2019 The Americans scored on their first two attempts and held on to win the shootout 2-1, clinching the gold medal. Drive for Five ✅@usahockey wins its 5th straight gold at #WomensWorlds!!!!! pic.twitter.com/sVI7lQzVQb — NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) April 14, 2019 Needless to say, the disallowed overtime goal remained the primary talking point well after the American celebrations had subsided. Even a former member of Team USA couldn't understand the ruling, along with other big names from the hockey world. What is going onnnnn? If it's not a goal, then Finland should have a penalty for goalie interference. If it's a goal, then it means USA tripped Finland and the Finnish goal is good...? If it's no goal, then how does USA have penalty? Someone help me🙄 honest question — Julie Chu (@juliechu13) April 14, 2019 This literally just happened: - Finland scores gold medal winning goal in overtime - The goal is called back - USA wins in a shootout I can’t believe it. — Steve Dangle Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) April 14, 2019 The game that should have been a celebration of women's hockey was instead shrouded in controversy.<doc-sep>The U.S. Women's National Team claimed its fifth straight gold medal at the World Championships on Sunday, but this year's victory was by far the most bizarre and controversial of the bunch. Team USA beat Finland 2-1 in a shootout, but there were plenty of dramatics along the way. After Finland tied the game at 1-1 with about a minute and a half remaining in the second period, the game went scoreless in the third period and then headed to overtime. Midway through the OT period, the Finns -- playing in front of their home crowd in Helsinki -- appeared to score the game-winning goal on a rebound opportunity in front of the American net. The puck hit the back of the net and officials ruled it a good goal, prompting a wild celebration from the Finnish players, coaches and fans. But after a lengthy review, the would-be game-winner went to review and the goal was waved off due to goaltender interference. An oncoming Finnish player skated into with the USA netminder Alex Rigsby and officials determined that the contact impeded the Rigsby's ability to make a play on the shot, thus leading them to take the goal off the board -- yet giving a penalty to Rigsby. It was a confusing and controversial determination that left many stunned and looking for further explanation. But eventually, the OT period expired and the game headed to a shootout to determine a winner. USA's Amanda Kessel and Annie Pankowski buried their opportunities in the five-round shootout, and Finland's hopes hinged on this attempt from Susanna Tapani... Tapani attempted to go with a flashy, unique move that one might consider gutsy for the situation, but Rigsby didn't bite. With the save, the Americans secured the win to finish the tournament unbeaten and capture their fifth straight gold in the event. However, it was clear that the Finns were not at all pleased with the way the overtime ruling was handled. While Finland wanted to file an official protest of the result with the IIHF, the team reportedly will not be able to do so.<doc-sep>With 8:27 left in overtime in the gold medal game of the 2019 IIHF Women’s World Championship, Finland’s Petra Nieminen buried a loose puck into Team USA’s open net. Finland thinks they have won their first gold medal, in their first appearance in the gold medal game, in front of their loud, passionate fans in Espoo. They celebrate accordingly. Gloves go flying. Helmets are torn off. Teammates embrace. Team Finland has scored in overtime and won #WomensWorlds pic.twitter.com/GGuFWn6p9q — Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 14, 2019 It was a fairy tale ending for Finland. Their performance at the Worlds, which before today’s game was highlighted by a 4-2 upset over Team Canada in yesterday’s semifinals, was simply sensational. But Nieminen’s goal did not stand. After a lengthy video review, the referee signaled to a stunned crowd of 6,053 that the goal was disallowed. Overtime resumed and Team USA went on to win gold in a shootout. After the game, Finland filed an official protest, which now appears is not allowed. The host nation of the 2019 Worlds and the world of women’s hockey is filled with questions. Team #Finland has now made a protest. Hopefully wrong decisions of disallowing the goal is overturned and #gold medals handed to Finland. #WomensWorld #icehockey — Ville Cantell (@villecantell) April 14, 2019 Some clarity here: Finland women's hockey team wanted to file an official protest w/ IIHF for disallowed goal in OT that gave the U.S. World Championship gold. But, according to Finnish Hockey Fed chairman, they can not file an official protest. (H/T to @shoffren for his help) — Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) April 14, 2019 Let’s take a closer look at this unforgettable and controversial call. First, let’s start by digging into the IIHF rule book, which you can find here. Rule 97, Section IX: ix. No goal will be allowed if the referee has blown his whistle to stop play before the puck crosses the plane of the goal line. Such a play is not subject to review by the video-goal judge. Rule 150, Sections I, V, and VI: i. A skater who, by means of his stick or his body, interferes with or impedes the mobility of a goaltender who is in his goal crease, or who prevents the goaltender from playing his position, will be assessed a minor penalty. v. An attacking skater may skate through the goal crease during game action so long as he doesn’t make contact with the goaltender. If he makes contact, or if the goaltender makes contact while backing up in his goal crease, the attacking skater will be assessed a minor penalty vi. Incidental contact with the goaltender is permitted so long as it doesn’t violate situations set out in Rule 150-i-v. Rule 185, Section III: iii. An attacking skater who makes incidental contact with a goaltender out of his goal crease while both try to gain possession of the puck will not be penalized. If a goal is scored at this time, the goal will count. Rule 186, Sections I and V: i. If an attacking skater makes contact with a goaltender in the goal crease during game action, he will be assessed a minor penalty for interference. If a goal is scored at this time, it will not count. v. An attacking skater who makes contact other than incidental with a goaltender who is out of his goal crease during game action will be assessed a minor penalty for interference. If a goal is scored at this time, it will not count. There’s a lot to break down from the rules cited above, but before we go any further let’s start with the facts. The first of which is that USA goaltender Alex Rigsby was the only player assessed a penalty on the play. In other words, there was no penalty called on Finnish defender Jenni Hiirikoski, who made contact with Rigsby before Nieminen scored her goal. The fact that Hiirikoski wasn’t assessed a minor for goaltender interference is what has so many people confused. It’s clear that Hiirikoski made contact with Rigsby, but even if Rigsby initiated that contact, she’s protected because of her position and because she was partially in her goal crease. However, there was no penalty called for goaltender interference here. If the only penalty on the play in question was given to Rigsby, why did the goal not stand? The IIHF’s official recap of the game states that the goal was disallowed because of goaltender interference. When the officials waved the goal off for goalie interference, the fans howled in derision. The Finns did get a power play, as Rigsby was also called for tripping on the play, but they couldn’t capitalize, and also couldn’t score when Megan Keller was called for slashing at the end of overtime. Our second irrefutable fact is that there was contact between Hiirikoski and Rigsby and that the goal was disallowed because of that contact. It’s worth noting that Kendall Coyne Schofield appeared to be talking to the officials about why there was no call on Hiirikoski, if the video-judge and review had ruled that the goal should be overturned. It’s also worth noting that the referee in the corner did not raise her hand until Hiirikoski went down, which suggests that there was no other delayed penalty. Even if there had been, Rigsby didn’t have control of the puck before Nieminen scored. Next, let’s try to establish where contact first occurred. Was it inside the crease or not? Was it incidental? Here are some screenshots. Below is another angle of that contact, a split second before Hiirikoski and Rigsby make contact. Take note of how Rigsby is hunting for the puck with her glove after she bobbled Hiirikoski’s shot. Really, it’s just too close to call definitively from these two angles alone. Because still images can be misleading — whether or not they are intended to be — here is a .gif of the better angle of the two so you can judge for yourself. But there’s no doubt that there’s contact between Hiirikoski and Rigsby.<doc-sep>
The United States celebrated a women's world hockey title that the Finns thought was theirs Sunday in Espoo, Finland. The U.S. claimed gold at a fifth straight world championship beating host Finland 2-1 in a shootout. The Americans were up 2-1 in the shootout when goalie Alex Rigsby stopped Susanna Tapani for the victory. "We rely a lot on our goaltenders, and clearly Alex Rigsby showed up in a huge way that we knew she was capable of doing," U.S. forward Hilary Knight said. Annie Pankowski both scored in regulation and the shootout. Amanda Kessel also scored a shootout goal and Rigsby had 26 saves. WATCH | United States wins gold in a shootout: U.S. edges Finland in shootout to claim women's world hockey title Sports 0:32 United States wins 2-1 over Finland to earn a fifth straight women's world hockey championship title. 0:32 Finland goaltender Noora Raty made 50 saves a day after posting 43 in a 4-2 semifinal win over Canada. Finland's captain Jenni Hiirikoski, who was named MVP of the tournament, scored in the shootout. Tapani scored in regulation. WATCH | Finland's would-be winning goal waved off for goalie interference: Finland celebrates hockey worlds victory but goal is waved off Sports 0:33 Petra Nieminen scores but after lengthy review it's ruled Finnish captain Jenni Hiirikoski made contact with American goalie Alex Rigbsy. 0:33 Playing in their first final, the Finns celebrated what they thought was a golden goal by Petra Nieminen at 11:33 of overtime. The team and the sold-out Metro Areena convulsed in joy, but the goal was waived off after a review that lasted several minutes. Hiirikoski had made contact with Rigsby as she passed in front of the net. Nieminen had a near-empty net at which to shoot. Hiirikoski wasn't assessed a goaltender interference penalty, but Rigsby was given a tripping minor, which wrinkled many brows in the arena. Finnish Ice Hockey Federation chief executive officer Matti Nurminen said the situation was discussed with the International Ice Hockey Federation. "The referees on the ice had a different view on the situation than the video-goal judge," Nurminen said. "Referees on the ice were giving a penalty to the goalie for tripping and they were allowing the goal. "But when it goes to video review, the power and authority goes the video-goal judges. They saw it as goalie interference and made that decision. "IIHF president Rene Fasel said it was a judgement call. If you show it to 100 hockey persons, some per cent say it was a goal and some say it wasn't." "These are tough decision for the video goal judges. We have to respect their call." U.S. keeps the line moving So the American women's run of titles continues as they've now won eight of the last nine world championships. They also beat Canada in a shootout for gold at last year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. "It means we're continuing to develop our culture internally," Knight said. "We're trying to develop our younger players so they can step up and play big roles as our veterans phase out, making people comfortable all over the ice. "But we have a really special group. I can't say it enough. It's really magical to be in our room and something we try to cultivate every single time we get together." The U.S. and Finland had chances to end the game in overtime. Knight hit the post during an American power play, while the Finns couldn't generate the equalizer on two power-play chances. Sunday's championship game was the 19th in tournament history, but the first that didn't feature the United States and Canada battling for gold. Raty said silver felt bittersweet because she and her teammates had already experienced what it felt like to win gold. "I feel proud, I feel good and I also feel disappointed," Raty said. "I don't know how I feel. It almost would have been easier if we'd lost five nothing. "I'd probably be happier right now. But we were so close. We could taste it 'holy cow we're world champs' and they take it away."