The fourth sanctioned Women's World Championships, held in Kitchener, Ontario (Can.) from March 31 to April 6, 1997. With women's hockey being accepted as a full medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the world championships served as a qualifier with the top five teams joining host Japan at the 1998 games in Nagano. Top two teams (*) in each pool after preliminary round-robin advanced to the medal round. Remaining four teams played in the qualifying round for the final Olympic berth.
Final Round Robin Standings
| POOL A | W-L-T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|
| *Canada | 3-0-0 | 6 | 22 | 2 |
| *China | 2-1-0 | 4 | 18 | 12 |
| Russia | 0-2-1 | 1 | 6 | 18 |
| Switzerland | 0-2-1 | 1 | 6 | 20 |
| POOL B | W-L-T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|
| *United States | 2-0-1 | 5 | 20 | 3 |
| *Finland | 2-0-1 | 5 | 18 | 3 |
| Sweden | 0-2-1 | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| Norway | 0-2-1 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
Qualifying Round
| Sweden 7 | Switzerland 1 |
| Russia 2 | Norway 1 |
Medal Round
| Canada 2 | Finland 1 |
| United States 6 | China 0 |
| Seventh Place: Switzerland 1 | Norway 0 |
| Fifth Place: Sweden 3 | Russia 1 |
| Bronze Medal: Finland 3 | China 0 |
| Gold Medal: Canada 4 | OT | United States 3 |
Leading Scorers
| | Gm | G | A | Pts | PM |
|---|
| Riika Nieminen, Finland | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| Hayley Wickenheiser, Can. | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 12 |
| Cammi Granato, USA | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
| Tiia Reima, Finland | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| Cassie Campbell, Canada | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| Nancy Drolet, Canada | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Shelley Looney, USA | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Karyn Bye, USA | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Laurie Baker, USA | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Hongmzi Liu, China | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Wei Guo, China | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Lori Dupuis, Canada | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Gretchen Ulion, USA | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Sandra White, USA | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
All-Tournament Team
G— Patricia Sautter, Switzerland; D— Kelly O'Leary, USA; Cassie Campbell, Canada; F— Riika Nieminen, Finland; Hayley Wickenheiser, Canada; Cammi Granato, USA.
