Will the host Canadians win their first Women's Worlds title since 2012?
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
Get ready to plunge into the unknown. The 20th IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in history is more shrouded in mystery than any of its predecessors, due largely to the two-year gap between tournaments with the global pandemic. For the 10 national teams in Calgary, leaving previous Women’s Worlds cancellations in the past and adjusting to the bubble format is just the first step.
For everyone from coaches and managers to fans and media, assessing player development and the progress of national teams has been harder than ever.
These Women’s Worlds also come at a time when the future of professional women’s hockey in North America is up in the air. And we’re about to get a bead on whether the traditional U.S.-Canada stranglehold on gold medal game appearances has truly been broken or will remain a norm as the 2020’s move forward.
Here are seven burning questions about the 2021 Women’s Worlds.
1) Can Canada end its gold medal drought?
Who can forget Marie-Philip Poulin’s 3-2 overtime goal against the U.S. in the 2014 Olympic gold medal game in Sochi? Coming on a two-player advantage, the Queen of Clutch’s second goal of the night capped off a late Canadian comeback that was as shocking as it was miraculous. That said, seven years later, it is even more shocking that the Canadians have not won either an Olympic gold medal or a Women’s Worlds gold medal since. To put it in perspective, Canada’s youngest current Olympic centralization member, forward Julia Gosling (not on the Calgary roster), turned 13 the day after Poulin’s iconic winner.
The country that invented hockey and boasts a world-leading 101,879 registered female players will do whatever it takes to capture its first Women’s Worlds title since 2012 (Burlington, Vermont), when Caroline Ouellette’s golden goal gave Canada a 5-4 win over the Americans. Yet it will be a huge challenge to stop the U.S. from winning its sixth consecutive championship and equalling Canada for the most all-time Women’s Worlds golds (10).
2) Was Finland’s 2019 final a flash in the pan?
As everyone knows, Finland came heartbreakingly close to ousting the Americans in a 2-1 shootout loss in the 2019 final in Espoo. After splitting their last four Women’s Worlds games with Canada, including an ecstatic 4-2 semi-final victory in 2019, coach Pasi Mustonen’s group has showed it’s capable of pulling off something that’s less an “upset” than a “hard-fought win” against North American opposition. However, is the Naisleijonat’s fighting spirit and commitment to two-way play enough to get them back into another gold medal game?
Clearly, it is not just about whether the continued emergence of 2019 rookies like Elisa Holopainen and Viivi Vainikka adequately compensates for the retirements of Olympic stalwarts like IIHF Hall of Famer Riikka Sallinen and Venla Hovi.
Every Finnish win over the Canadians or Americans – going right back to the historic 1-0 overtime win versus the U.S. at the 2008 Women’s Worlds in China – has featured the legendary Noora Raty in net. The 2021 absence of the 31-year-old Espoo native, named Best Goalie at five Women’s Worlds, may add potholes on the road to gold.
3) Is another non-North American team ready to bid for a medal?
The Swiss and Russians, our other two Group A teams, should have the inside track. Switzerland made history with its 2014 Olympic bronze medal and features elite snipers like Alina Muller and Lara Stalder. The Russians – with their 2016 Women’s Worlds bronze medal courtesy of Olga Sosina’s shootout winner in Kamloops – remain the last team to break the recent podium monopoly of the U.S., Canada, and Finland.
However, don’t be sleeping on the Czech Republic or Japan. In the 2019 quarter-finals, the Czechs gave Finland plenty of tense moments despite losing 3-1, and Hilary Knight said she had “never played against a more disciplined team” after the U.S. beat the Japanese 4-0.
In a one-game, do-or-die situation, all it might take is an offensive explosion from SDHL MVP Katerina Mrazova or a lights-out game from top goalie Nana Fujimoto to create a shocker. And the Germans also know a little something about upsets: they vaulted into the 2017 semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Russia.
4) Who is the world’s best player right now?
Is it Poulin or Knight? Kendall Coyne Schofield or Jenni Hiirikoski? Before the first puck drops on Friday, there are lots of good, perfectly acceptable answers. Yet Calgary could also be the tournament where the mantle is passed to a breakout star.
What if we see rookies like the U.S.’s Abby Roque or Canada’s Sarah Fillier bursting out of the gate and contending for the scoring crown? What if American goalie Aerin Frankel – a late replacement for the injured Maddie Rooney – takes over the crease and matches the 0.81 GAA and 96.5 save percentage with Northeastern that earned her the Patty Kazmaier Award in March? What if this is the year when Switzerland’s Alina Muller or Finland’s Petra Nieminen delivers on her full potential? We can’t wait to find out.
5) Which goalies will grab the starting jobs?
It’s not just the Americans who face a crease crunch with Frankel plus Nicole Hensley and Alex Cavallini, the gold medal-winning goalies of record at the 2017 and 2019 Women’s Worlds respectively.
Canadian and Finnish fans might at times feel like they’re in a time warp. Ann-Renee Desbiens, a former Patty Kaz winner whose last IIHF appearance was a 5-0 shutout over Russia to open the 2018 Olympics, hasn’t suited up for Canada since the 2015 Women’s Worlds in Malmo. Veteran Meeri Raisanen hasn’t backstopped Finland at this tournament since posting a 2.43 GAA and 92.1 save percentage at the 2016 tournament.
These veterans will face strong competition for the starting jobs from the likes of Emerance Maschmeyer – named Best Goalie in Kamloops when Raisanen was the tournament all-star netminder – and Anni Keisala respectively.
Former Women’s Worlds all-stars like Switzerland’s Florence Schelling and Russia’s Nadezhda Alexandrova retired at the end of the last Olympic cycle, so the lack of obvious go-tos is widespread.
6) How will the bubble format affect these Women’s Worlds?
The news that over 1,500 PCR tests in Calgary yielded zero positive COVID-19 results from the 10 teams, the staff members, and the officials associated with these Women’s Worlds was an important first step.
Yet of course, the bubble format means that the kind of camaraderie the players enjoyed while, say, meeting other athletes at the PyeongChang Olympic Village, going for coffee in Malmo, or seeing the sights of Helsinki near Espoo is off the table. Constant vigilance is required. The teams that remain the most focused, calm, confident, and consistent under these unusual circumstances we’ve learned to live with since March 2020 will fare the best.
7) Who’ll be in the driver’s seat heading into Beijing?
With 3,600 points in the IIHF Women’s World Ranking, the Americans enjoy a comfortable lead over second-place Canada (3,450) and third-place Finland (3,390).
However, with under six months to go until the 2022 Olympics, every game, every period, every shift in Calgary takes on a heightened importance. Teams hope their rookies will justify their selections and that everyone’s physical conditioning is up to the blistering pace of international hockey.
A sixth straight American title would cement USA Hockey’s confidence prior to Beijing. That said, it’s worth remembering that Canada was on a big streak at the Women’s Worlds (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997) before the inaugural 1998 Olympic women’s hockey tournament in Nagano but still fell short. The Canadians know that only home-ice gold – as a building block toward Beijing – will truly put the bronze-medal disappointment of Espoo behind them.
Meanwhile, the Finns want to prove that they really have separated themselves from the pack. That, unlike Sweden’s anomalous 2006 Olympic silver medal run, Espoo was a true game-changer that puts them in the championship conversation every year.
So put on your seat belts and get ready for an incredible ride from 20 to 31 August.
For everyone from coaches and managers to fans and media, assessing player development and the progress of national teams has been harder than ever.
These Women’s Worlds also come at a time when the future of professional women’s hockey in North America is up in the air. And we’re about to get a bead on whether the traditional U.S.-Canada stranglehold on gold medal game appearances has truly been broken or will remain a norm as the 2020’s move forward.
Here are seven burning questions about the 2021 Women’s Worlds.
1) Can Canada end its gold medal drought?
Who can forget Marie-Philip Poulin’s 3-2 overtime goal against the U.S. in the 2014 Olympic gold medal game in Sochi? Coming on a two-player advantage, the Queen of Clutch’s second goal of the night capped off a late Canadian comeback that was as shocking as it was miraculous. That said, seven years later, it is even more shocking that the Canadians have not won either an Olympic gold medal or a Women’s Worlds gold medal since. To put it in perspective, Canada’s youngest current Olympic centralization member, forward Julia Gosling (not on the Calgary roster), turned 13 the day after Poulin’s iconic winner.
The country that invented hockey and boasts a world-leading 101,879 registered female players will do whatever it takes to capture its first Women’s Worlds title since 2012 (Burlington, Vermont), when Caroline Ouellette’s golden goal gave Canada a 5-4 win over the Americans. Yet it will be a huge challenge to stop the U.S. from winning its sixth consecutive championship and equalling Canada for the most all-time Women’s Worlds golds (10).
2) Was Finland’s 2019 final a flash in the pan?
As everyone knows, Finland came heartbreakingly close to ousting the Americans in a 2-1 shootout loss in the 2019 final in Espoo. After splitting their last four Women’s Worlds games with Canada, including an ecstatic 4-2 semi-final victory in 2019, coach Pasi Mustonen’s group has showed it’s capable of pulling off something that’s less an “upset” than a “hard-fought win” against North American opposition. However, is the Naisleijonat’s fighting spirit and commitment to two-way play enough to get them back into another gold medal game?
Clearly, it is not just about whether the continued emergence of 2019 rookies like Elisa Holopainen and Viivi Vainikka adequately compensates for the retirements of Olympic stalwarts like IIHF Hall of Famer Riikka Sallinen and Venla Hovi.
Every Finnish win over the Canadians or Americans – going right back to the historic 1-0 overtime win versus the U.S. at the 2008 Women’s Worlds in China – has featured the legendary Noora Raty in net. The 2021 absence of the 31-year-old Espoo native, named Best Goalie at five Women’s Worlds, may add potholes on the road to gold.
3) Is another non-North American team ready to bid for a medal?
The Swiss and Russians, our other two Group A teams, should have the inside track. Switzerland made history with its 2014 Olympic bronze medal and features elite snipers like Alina Muller and Lara Stalder. The Russians – with their 2016 Women’s Worlds bronze medal courtesy of Olga Sosina’s shootout winner in Kamloops – remain the last team to break the recent podium monopoly of the U.S., Canada, and Finland.
However, don’t be sleeping on the Czech Republic or Japan. In the 2019 quarter-finals, the Czechs gave Finland plenty of tense moments despite losing 3-1, and Hilary Knight said she had “never played against a more disciplined team” after the U.S. beat the Japanese 4-0.
In a one-game, do-or-die situation, all it might take is an offensive explosion from SDHL MVP Katerina Mrazova or a lights-out game from top goalie Nana Fujimoto to create a shocker. And the Germans also know a little something about upsets: they vaulted into the 2017 semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Russia.
4) Who is the world’s best player right now?
Is it Poulin or Knight? Kendall Coyne Schofield or Jenni Hiirikoski? Before the first puck drops on Friday, there are lots of good, perfectly acceptable answers. Yet Calgary could also be the tournament where the mantle is passed to a breakout star.
What if we see rookies like the U.S.’s Abby Roque or Canada’s Sarah Fillier bursting out of the gate and contending for the scoring crown? What if American goalie Aerin Frankel – a late replacement for the injured Maddie Rooney – takes over the crease and matches the 0.81 GAA and 96.5 save percentage with Northeastern that earned her the Patty Kazmaier Award in March? What if this is the year when Switzerland’s Alina Muller or Finland’s Petra Nieminen delivers on her full potential? We can’t wait to find out.
5) Which goalies will grab the starting jobs?
It’s not just the Americans who face a crease crunch with Frankel plus Nicole Hensley and Alex Cavallini, the gold medal-winning goalies of record at the 2017 and 2019 Women’s Worlds respectively.
Canadian and Finnish fans might at times feel like they’re in a time warp. Ann-Renee Desbiens, a former Patty Kaz winner whose last IIHF appearance was a 5-0 shutout over Russia to open the 2018 Olympics, hasn’t suited up for Canada since the 2015 Women’s Worlds in Malmo. Veteran Meeri Raisanen hasn’t backstopped Finland at this tournament since posting a 2.43 GAA and 92.1 save percentage at the 2016 tournament.
These veterans will face strong competition for the starting jobs from the likes of Emerance Maschmeyer – named Best Goalie in Kamloops when Raisanen was the tournament all-star netminder – and Anni Keisala respectively.
Former Women’s Worlds all-stars like Switzerland’s Florence Schelling and Russia’s Nadezhda Alexandrova retired at the end of the last Olympic cycle, so the lack of obvious go-tos is widespread.
6) How will the bubble format affect these Women’s Worlds?
The news that over 1,500 PCR tests in Calgary yielded zero positive COVID-19 results from the 10 teams, the staff members, and the officials associated with these Women’s Worlds was an important first step.
Yet of course, the bubble format means that the kind of camaraderie the players enjoyed while, say, meeting other athletes at the PyeongChang Olympic Village, going for coffee in Malmo, or seeing the sights of Helsinki near Espoo is off the table. Constant vigilance is required. The teams that remain the most focused, calm, confident, and consistent under these unusual circumstances we’ve learned to live with since March 2020 will fare the best.
7) Who’ll be in the driver’s seat heading into Beijing?
With 3,600 points in the IIHF Women’s World Ranking, the Americans enjoy a comfortable lead over second-place Canada (3,450) and third-place Finland (3,390).
However, with under six months to go until the 2022 Olympics, every game, every period, every shift in Calgary takes on a heightened importance. Teams hope their rookies will justify their selections and that everyone’s physical conditioning is up to the blistering pace of international hockey.
A sixth straight American title would cement USA Hockey’s confidence prior to Beijing. That said, it’s worth remembering that Canada was on a big streak at the Women’s Worlds (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997) before the inaugural 1998 Olympic women’s hockey tournament in Nagano but still fell short. The Canadians know that only home-ice gold – as a building block toward Beijing – will truly put the bronze-medal disappointment of Espoo behind them.
Meanwhile, the Finns want to prove that they really have separated themselves from the pack. That, unlike Sweden’s anomalous 2006 Olympic silver medal run, Espoo was a true game-changer that puts them in the championship conversation every year.
So put on your seat belts and get ready for an incredible ride from 20 to 31 August.