Women’s Worlds fans, do you remember where you were on 4 April 2019? That’s when the first puck dropped in Espoo at 12:30 local time as Germany proceeded to upset Sweden 2-1 in a shootout despite being outshot 41-15.

That’s a lot of numbers. And the numbers reinforce that – let’s face it – the hockey world has been waiting way too long for the start of the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship. To be precise, Friday’s opening games in Calgary, Canada are taking place 859 days after the U.S. won its fifth straight world title in 2019. Since then, big veteran names from Finland’s Riikka Sallinen to the U.S.’s Kacey Bellamy have hung up their skates.

Calgary marks the second time we’re enjoying the expanded 10-team format, which will make its Olympic debut in Beijing in February 2022. For now, let’s take a quick look at some key numbers and names for each competing nation in this tournament preview.

Group A

 
Canada

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #2 (3450 points)
• All-time WW medals: 10 gold, 8 silver, 1 bronze
• Coach: Troy Ryan
• 2019 WW finish: Bronze medal
• 3 players to watch: Marie-Philip Poulin (F), Natalie Spooner (F), Brianne Jenner (F)
• Quirky number: In each of her last 4 full IIHF tournaments (2015-17 WW, 2018 OG), the legendary Poulin has scored 6 points.
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: Aiming to bounce back from Espoo, the host nation desperately needs its first WW gold since 2012 to set a winning tone for Beijing.

Finland

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #3 (3390 points)
• All-time WW medals: 0 gold, 1 silver, 12 bronze
• Coach: Pasi Mustonen
• 2019 WW finish: Silver medal
• 3 players to watch: Jenni Hiirikoski (D), Michelle Karvinen (F), Petra Nieminen (F)
• Quirky number: The 2020’s mark the first decade in IIHF women’s hockey history in which IIHF Hall of Famer Riikka Sallinen has not suited up for Finland.
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: The Naisleijonat are eager to prove that their 2019 home-ice heroics were not a one-off and that they can go all the way even without superstar goalie Noora Raty.

ROC

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #4 (3290 points)
• All-time WW medals: 0 gold, 0 silver, 3 bronze
• Coach: Yevgeni Bobariko
• 2019 WW finish: Fourth
• 3 players to watch: Olga Sosina (F), Valentina Merkusheva (G), Kristi Shashkina (F)
• Quirky number: Two Russian national team players have starred for the University of Calgary Dinos: retired forward Iya Gavrilova (last WW 2017, second in all-time Russian WW scoring with 35 points) and active 2021 forward Alexandra Vafina.
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: To build off the growing success of the Russian Women’s Hockey League, medaling for the first time since 2016’s bronze would be huge for the Russians.

Switzerland

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #5 (3170 points)
• All-time WW medals: 0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze
• Coach: Colin Muller
• 2019 WW finish: Fifth
• 3 players to watch: Lara Stalder (F), Alina Muller (F), Phoebe Staenz (F)
• Quirky number: 15 – it’s the age Muller was in Sochi in 2014 when she became the youngest player ever to win an Olympic ice hockey medal (bronze).
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: After struggling in Group A in 2019 with a 3-22 goal difference, the Swiss want to show the world they’ve improved at both ends of the ice.

United States

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #1 (3600 points)
• All-time WW medals: 9 gold, 10 silver, 0 bronze
• Coach: Joel Johnson
• 2019 WW finish: Gold medal
• 3 players to watch: Kendall Coyne Schofield (F), Hilary Knight (F), Brianna Decker (F)
• Quirky number: Four is the number of different head coaches the U.S. has brought to consecutive IIHF tourneys, including Ken Klee (2017 WW), Robb Stauber (2018 OG), and Bob Corkum (2019 WW).
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: The defending Olympic champs hope to burnish their status as the current top women’s hockey power by tying Canada for the most all-time WW gold medals (10).

Group B

 
Czech Republic

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #7 (3030 points)
• All-time WW medals: N/A (peak finish sixth 2016, 2019)
• Coach: Tomas Pacina
• 2019 WW finish: Sixth
• 3 players to watch: Alena Mills (F), Katerina Mrazova (F), Klara Peslarova (G)
• Quirky number: Talk about a statistical shift that’s almost night and day! The Czechs improved from a goal difference of 8-17 (five games) in their 2013 Women’s Worlds debut to 14-8 (five games) in 2019.
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: With 4,142 registered female players, the Czech Republic could see more growth if their women’s team is the next one to pull off a quarter-final surprise.

Denmark

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #11 (2750 points)
• All-time WW medals: N/A (peak finish seventh, 1992)
• Coach: Peter Elander
• 2019 WW finish: Promoted from Division IA with second-place finish
• 3 players to watch: Josefine Jakobsen (F), Silke Glud (F), Josefine Hoegh Persson (F)
• Quirky number: Do you love a shot-first mentality? Glud is the all-time Danish women’s league scoring leader with 672 points – including a whopping 408 goals – in 180 career games.
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: Riding their SDHL-seasoned veterans and coach Elander’s 2006 Olympic silver medal experience with Sweden, the Danes aspire to slip into a quarter-final berth in their first and only top-level appearance since their 1992 debut.

Germany

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #8 (3000 points)
• All-time WW medals: N/A (peak finish fourth in 2017)
• Coach: Thomas Schadler
• 2019 WW finish: Seventh
• 3 players to watch: Julia Zorn (F), Marie Delarbre (F), Jennifer Harss (G)
• Quirky number: 66 – it’s more than just Mario Lemieux’s jersey number. That’s the number of shots on goal Germany allowed in its last Women’s Worlds game, a 5-0 quarter-final loss to Canada in 2019, with Harss recording 61 saves.
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: Considering the increasing star power of the German men’s senior and U20 teams, another success by the women – building on 2017 in Plymouth, Michigan – would further spur hockey’s growth in Germany.

Hungary

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #12 (2720 points)
• All-time WW medals: N/A (2021 marks top-level debut)
• Coach: Lisa Haley
• 2019 WW finish: Promoted from Division IA with first-place finish
• 3 players to watch: Fanni Gasparics (F), Alexandra Huszak (F), Alexandra Gowie (F)
• Quirky number: Six – the number of times Pat Cortina served as a head coach at the elite IIHF men’s World Championship (Italy 2001, 2001; Hungary 2009; Germany 2013-15) before guiding the Hungarian women to promotion in 2019.
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: With no relegation this year, the Hungarians have a prime opportunity to learn and grow from competing against the world’s best.

Japan

• Current IIHF World Ranking: #6 (3070 points)
• All-time WW medals: N/A (peak finish seventh in 2008, 2015)
• Coach: Yuji Iizuka
• 2019 WW finish: Eighth
• 3 players to watch: Nana Fujimoto (G), Chiho Osawa (F), Rui Ukita (F)
• Quirky number: 2000 – the year when tireless 38-year-old defender Hanae Kubo made her top-level Women’s Worlds debut in Mississauga, Ontario.
• 2021 WW in 1 sentence: The Japanese hope to parlay a supremely disciplined effort into a quarter-final berth – and just maybe a playoff upset.