Report: Finnish netminder Noora Raty signs in PHF

According to multiple sources, Noora Raty has signed a contract to play in the PHF. It’s being reported that she will be singing for the Metropolitan Riveters.

Raty, who is 33 years old, is widely considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders to play the game and is a future Hockey Hall of Famer. She has been named Best Goaltender at the IIHF Women’s World Championships five times, winning four bronze and a silver representing Finland at the international stage. She has also won a pair of Olympic bronze medals throughout her illustrious career. In October 2022, Räty announced her official retirement from Finland’s national team, 

She was a star for the University of Minnesota, where she’s the all-time leader in wins, shutouts, and career save percentage. She won multiple NCAA national titles, including one in 2012, where she won all 38 games she started in. Last season she played in her native country of Finland in the Naisten Liiga for HPK and posted a 1.56 GAA and .943 save percentage in nine starts

In 2018, she was named the CWHL Goalie of the Year while playing for Kunlan Red Star. However, in 2019, the CWHL ceased operations, and it didn’t take long for Raty to take on a role with the PHWPA’s Board of Directors. She is still listed as an active board member and spent two seasons playing in the PHWPA for Minnesota. 

Raty has been a critical member and advocate for bringing a professional women’s hockey league to North America. She believes that a solid North American 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 train like a pro athlete at the same time is just too much and unfair.”