In 2022, international women’s hockey fans are blessed with a banquet of tournaments. It’s the first time the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship has ever been held in an Olympic year, as the sport continues to grow with more than 40 countries in the IIHF Women’s World Ranking.

Excitingly, it’s also the first time the tournament has ever taken place in Denmark. Fans of the men’s IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will recall the fantastic atmosphere when it debuted in the Nordic nation of 5.8 million in 2018. That year, the Danish hockey hotbed of Herning co-hosted with the capital city of Copenhagen. This year, it’s the turn of Frederikshavn, located on Jutland’s northeast coast, to welcome the world along with Herning.

So which of the 10 women’s national teams are set to shine most brightly in the 31 games staged between 25 August and 4 September? Let’s take a closer look. Teams are listed in alphabetical order in their preliminary round groups.

Group A (Herning)

Canada

“How do you stop Canada?” That’s the question every other Group A team is asking – along with Canada’s potential quarter-final opponents from Group B.

The Canadians come in as the reigning Olympic and Women’s Worlds champions. Since installing Troy Ryan as head coach, they have won 14 consecutive IIHF games, including 13 in regulation and the 3-2 gold-medal overtime win over the archrival Americans at the 2021 Women’s Worlds in Calgary. At the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, their goal difference (57-10) was even more devastating than in Calgary (34-7). Playing the proverbial 200-foot-game with speed, skill, and physicality, they are setting the standard in every department.

For another nation, the absence of forwards like 2018 Olympic and 2021 Women’s Worlds MVP Melodie Daoust, perennial all-star candidate Natalie Spooner, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Johnston would be a crushing blow. Yet with captain Marie-Philip Poulin leading the way in superstar form at age 31, Canada is unlikely to suffer offensively. One of the few non-PWHPA players on the roster, 22-year-old Sarah Fillier (Princeton), is already being touted as the successor to “Pou.” And with Olympic scoring champ Sarah Nurse (5+13=18) and tournament MVP Brianne Jenner (9+5=14), they’ve got all the veteran savvy you could ask for.

Factor in arguably the world’s top current starting goalie in Ann-Renee Desbiens (1.80 GAA, 94.0 save percentage in Beijing) and hard-rock veteran defenders like Jocelyne Larocque and Renata Fast, and opponents should struggle almost as much to score on Canada as to keep pucks out of their own net. Claire Thompson had a spectacular Olympic debut with a single-tournament points record for blueliners (2+11=13), and her non-participation could mean a slight reduction of offence from the back end, but that’s about it. A little more sandpaper, a little less silk. It’s still gold or bust.

Finland

Pasi Mustonen, Finland’s head coach since 2015, handed over the reins to Juuso Toivola after one game at the 2022 Olympics due to a family health emergency. Well before that, Mustonen spoke repeatedly about how it had taken years to build the right blend of veteran experience and skill to produce the historic silver-medal Cinderella at the 2019 Women’s Worlds in Espoo.

Under Toivola, the Finns remain in a rebuilding phase, but are still the perennial third-place favourites. That’s where Suomi sits in the IIHF Women’s World Ranking. They claimed the bronze medal at the last Women’s Worlds and Olympics.

Secondary scoring is the primary concern. In both Calgary and Beijing, Finland’s top three scorers came from the top line of Petra Nieminen, Susanna Tapani, and Michelle Karvinen. To challenge the Canadians or Americans, especially 5-on-5, a real breakout tournament for 20-year-old attackers like perennial Naisten Liiga scoring leader Elisa Holopainen or Viivi Vainikka, a two-time SDHL champion with Lulea, would go a long way. The slippery Sanni Vanhanen, 17, is coming off a tournament all-star berth with the bronze Finnish squad at June’s U18 Women’s Worlds in Wisconsin.

Having the most individually decorated blueliner in IIHF women’s history in tireless captain Jenni Hiirikoski, 35, is an asset that speaks for itself. Nelli Laitinen, 20, took another big step forward in production as she led all Finnish rearguards in Olympic scoring (2+5=7). And Hiirikoski’s Lulea teammate Ronja Savolainen remains one of the biggest presences in European hockey. That said, the depth overall isn’t quite there compared to the North Americans.

However, with the skill and focus of starting netminder Anni Keisala – Best Goalie at the 2021 Women’s Worlds – between the pipes, the Finns should take anything other than another bronze as unacceptable.

Japan

In many respects, Japanese women’s hockey is cresting at the moment. Sixth-place finishes at both the 2021 Women’s Worlds and 2022 Olympics were high-water marks for the national team. Recently, Japan has defeated rivals like Czechia, Germany, and Sweden. With the Russians disqualified from international competition, the well-drilled Japanese under head coach Yuji Iizuka now get to apply their grit and skills in Group A. How will they fare?

Japan’s ability to deliver a full 60 minutes is never in doubt. However, this roster features some major changes from Beijing as we head into a new Olympic quad cycle.

Goaltender Nana Fujimoto, the backbone of the team whose top-level Women’s Worlds debut came in 2008, isn’t on this roster. That could place a big burden on 27-year-old Akane Konishi, who saw Olympic action in the 6-2 win over Denmark and 7-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. The soon-to-be Vanersborgs HC netminder had only ever appeared in one game at most in her prior IIHF competitions, dating back to the 2014 Olympics.

Long-time captain Chiho Osawa, 30, announced her retirement at the start of August. From Rui Ukita, a long-time offensive threat, to Hanae Kubo, the 39-year-old who is as close to Finland’s ageless wonder Riika Sallinen as Japan’s ever had, the forward group also lacks some key names. So it’s a chance for younger players to step up.

Forward Haruka Toko, 25, led the Olympic team in scoring (3+3=6) and is poised to make her SDHL debut with Linkopings HC in 2022-23. Akane Shiga, 21, has definite game-breaker potential. She led Japan with four goals at the last Women’s Worlds, including both markers when her team fell 10-2 to the Americans in the quarter-finals. She also had Japan’s lone goal in the Olympic quarter-final.

Meanwhile, the defence corps will lean on the experience and leadership of two-time Olympians like Shiga’s big sister, 23-year-old Aoi Shiga, and Akane Hosoyamada, who is 30. However, up and down the roster, there will be a learning curve for the many new faces, and for Japan to upset any of its Group A foes will be a big challenge.

Switzerland

In one respect, the Swiss women’s national team has a problem similar to that facing the Edmonton Oilers. Both teams have two elite, world-class forwards – Switzerland’s Alina Muller and Lara Stalder and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – and then a fairly steep drop-off up front.

Producing offence has thus been a challenge for the Swiss. When Muller got knocked out of the 2021 Women’s Worlds with an injury after scoring Switzerland’s lone goal in a 3-1 opening loss to the Russians, Switzerland miraculously scraped out a fourth-place finish – despite totalling just five goals in the entire tournament. That reflects the value of Muller, a 24-year-old Patty Kazmaier Award finalist from Northeastern University, who helped Switzerland win an historic 2014 Olympic bronze medal at age 15. She has excelled with 10 points at both of the last two Winter Games. 

Another fourth-place finish followed in Beijing. Stalder – a 28-year-old sniper who has won three straight SDHL scoring titles with Brynas Gavle – got the winner when Switzerland shocked Finland 3-2 in the group, and then Muller led the way with a pair in the 4-2 quarter-final win over ROC.

Realistically, if these two aces aren’t going, the Swiss are going nowhere in Group A. Hopes are high for offensive support from Alini Marti, 18, entering her second Women’s Worlds as a Swiss champ with ZSC Lions Frauen and coming off seven points in seven games at June’s U18 Women’s Worlds in Wisconsin. If fellow forward Evelina Raselli, 30, can rediscover the touch that got her four points at the 2018 Olympics, that’d be a nice bonus.

On defence, Lara Christen, a 19-year-old ZSC Lions Frauen member who potted three points in Beijing, shows good promise. But in any scenario, starting goalie Andrea Braendli, 25, is likely to be extremely busy again. The long-time Ohio State star, who heads to Boston University next year, faced a tournament-high 242 shots in Beijing.

If Braendli isn’t lights-out, the Swiss could find themselves tangling with Japan to avoid fifth place in Group A rather than vying for another bronze medal. Their only other IIHF bronze came at the 2012 Women’s Worlds with the legendary Florence Schelling between the pipes.

United States

For the Americans, these Women’s Worlds in Denmark are an opportunity for a big reset. At this writing a year ago, the U.S. was still the reigning Olympic and world champion. That, of course, included a long COVID-19-imposed pause, given that the 2020 Women’s Worlds in Nova Scotia were cancelled and the 2021 sequel slated for that spring was postponed.

Regardless, it’s safe to say that the core leadership group with captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, all-time U.S. leading scorer Hilary Knight, and three-time Olympic defender Lee Stecklein didn’t expect to find themselves as clear silver-medal favourites in 2022.

Make no mistake: these are all great warriors, along with sniper Alex Carpenter and playmaker Amanda Kessel. But as they push or pass age 30, what they can provide is likely to stabilize at best or start to decline. For the U.S to grab its crown back from Canada, it’s essential for younger players to start driving the bus.

In Calgary and Beijing, former head coach Joel Johnson got criticism for limiting the minutes of budding stars like defenders Jincy Dunne (25) and Caroline Harvey (19) and forwards Grace Zumwinkle (23) and Abby Roque (24). Each has shown flashes of “best in the world” potential.

That trend appears likely to change under Johnson’s replacement, John Wroblewski. A newcomer to women’s hockey, he oversaw the 2001-born U.S. National Team Development Program class that featured NHL-bound uber-talents like Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield, and Trevor Zegras. Expect a return to the confident, creativity-driven style that propelled the Americans to five straight world titles and the 2018 Olympic gold medal between 2013 and 2019.

The goaltending trio of Nicole Hensley, Maddie Rooney, and Aerin Frankel gives Wroblewski plenty of strong options versus Canada and the Finns. But until proven otherwise, the Americans are 1B, not 1A, for now.

Group B (Frederikshavn)

Czechia

Under new head coach Carla MacLeod, the Czechs are looking to max out the potential they didn’t quite achieve under her predecessor Tomas Pacina. With back-to-back seventh-place results at the 2021 Women’s Worlds and 2022 Olympics, which marked their Winter Games debut, they fell short of their peak (sixth at the 2016 and 2019 Women’s Worlds).

Czechia is blessed with undeniable offensive skills. It ranges from the powerful shot of long-time captain Alena Mills to the playmaking of former SDHL MVP Katerina Mrazova to the slick dangles and snipes of Tereza Vanisova, a two-time Isobel Cup winner with the Boston Pride who led the 2022 Olympic team in scoring (2+4=6). When the Czechs play a strong puck possession game and trust their offensive instincts, they’re formidable. But they have shown vulnerability at inopportune times, like losing 3-2 to both Denmark and Japan (in a shootout) in Beijing.

MacLeod – a two-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist (2006, 2010) who also helped jumpstart Japan’s program in the 2010s and now coaches the University of Calgary – could help Czechia finally stage a quarter-final upset. The 40-year-old former defender brings a positive outlook and strong analytical and communication skills.

Much will hinge on whether star goalie Klara Peslarova is dialled in again. The 25-year-old Ostrava native (Brynas Gavle) was named a 2022 Olympic all-star (1.60 GAA, 94.4 save percentage), largely thanks to her superhuman quarter-final outing versus the Americans with 55 saves in a 4-1 defeat.

Denmark

Denmark’s primary goal is simple: avoid relegation. That’s about the worst thing that can happen for a host nation. At the men’s Worlds, it’s only happened once in the 21st century (Austria, 2005).

Happily, the Danish women’s confidence got a big boost in their Olympic debut. After going winless at the 2021 Women’s Worlds in their first appearance since 1992, they shocked Czechia 3-2 in Beijing. Silke Glud’s early third-period power play goal snapped the tie.

For new head coach Bjorn Edlund (ex-MODO Ornskoldsvik), the key players remain the same and are largely Sweden-based. Along with Glud (Malmo Redhawks), veteran captain Josefine Jakobsen (Djurgarden) and Josefine Hoegh Persson (Lulea) lead the attack, while Josephine Asperup (Malmo Redhawks) brings veteran know-how on the back end.

Goaltender Cassandra Repstock-Romme (Hvidovre IK) will be under siege again. But if the Danes can simply put on a good show or even nab a surprising quarter-final spot, it’ll be a huge selling point for women’s hockey in a country whose passion for the men’s game has grown recently with stars like Nikolaj Ehlers, Lars Eller, and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Right now, the spotlight is deservedly on the female game, with more than 20 Danish journalists accredited to cover these Women’s Worlds alongside their international counterparts. May the excitement build on and off the ice as we get going in Herning and Frederikshavn!

Germany

Talk about a family feeling in the dressing room. As well as the veteran Eisenschmid sisters (Tanja on defence, Nicola at forward), the Germans will ice a pair of twins who’ll suit up for the University of Maine this fall after finishing 1-2 in club scoring for Mad Dogs Mannheim in the Frauen Bundesliga last year: Lilli and Luisa Welcke.

Head coach Thomas Schadler needs this group to become a family quickly and bring a full defensive effort if Germany is to reverse its recent decline. It’s gone from a fourth-place Women’s Worlds peak in 2017 to a disappointing eighth place in 2021.

In Calgary, Katarina Jobst-Smith – born in North Vancouver like Connor Bedard – was a pillar on defence, averaging a team-high ice time of 23:31. Forward Nina Christof, still just 19, set the right tone in the opening 3-0 win over Hungary with a pair of goals.

The Germans aren’t close to challenging for a medal, as shown by a 7-0 quarter-final loss to Canada in which they were outshot 52-3. But returning to the quarter-finals is doable if they get decent goaltending and offence by committee.

Hungary

The Hungarians return for their second straight year in the elite division, and they’re keen to make more history. Hungary’s recipe for success remains similar to its 2021 debut in Calgary.

First, get quality netminding from starter Aniko Nemeth, who posted a 2.67 GAA and 87.9 save percentage last year. Second, ride the offensive contributions of dipsy-doodler Fanni Gasparics, who led the Magyars in Calgary (4+1=5), and her linemate Kinga Jokai-Szilagyi (1+3=4), plus Alexandra Huszak, a 27-year-old with a shoot-first mentality: she accumulated 101 goals in 125 games over four seasons in Russia. Third, get solid defending from veteran blueliners like Franciska Kiss-Simon and Sarah Knee and hope for the best.

New head coach Pat Cortina brings a remarkable breadth of experience. Since 2001, the 57-year-old Montreal native coached Italy, Germany, and Hungary at the men’s Worlds. The addition of Delaney Collins as an assistant coach further boosts Hungary’s hopes. Collins was an all-star defender for Canada at the 2007 Women’s Worlds in Winnipeg, where she won one of her three WW gold medals. The female hockey ambassador for the Nashville Predators also served as a head or assistant coach with three Canadian U18 Women’s Worlds teams.

The Hungarians have enough flair to give other Group B teams headaches and keep themselves afloat. Certainly, their 5-1 win in Calgary over 2022 host Denmark sent a strong message. But relegation is also a possibility for this group.

Sweden

Returning to the elite division of the Women’s Worlds is a relief for Sweden, last sighted here in 2019. However, a return to the glory days of the mid-2000s – including the surprise 2006 Olympic silver medal in Turin – is still a ways off. The Swedes qualified for Beijing, but started off with a tough 3-1 loss to Japan and exited with an 11-0 quarter-final shellacking against Canada.

For head coach Ulf Lundberg, getting big performances out of the University of Minnesota’s star goalie Emma Soderberg and incoming ace Josefine Bouveng – twice a 24-goal-scorer with Brynas Gavle – would make a big difference.

The blue line is anchored by Maja Nylen Persson, already a two-time Olympian at age 21. She had a career-best 47 points with Brynas last year. Another intriguing prodigy to watch is Mira Jungaker. Barely 17, she led HV71’s SDHL rearguards with 35 points in 2021-22 and is a real go-getter, as she showed with three points in three playoff games at June’s U18 Women’s Worlds.

With that said, the decision to exclude seasoned veterans like goalie Sara Grahn and forward Emma Nordin – Sweden’s Olympic flag-bearer at the Beijing opening ceremonies – may pay dividends in terms of giving youngsters valuable experience, but hurt in the immediate term.

The Swedes have a shot at a quarter-final berth. Yet they can’t take anything for granted, or they could find themselves staring down relegation again.