At both the 2021 Women's Worlds and 2022 Olympics, Canada won the gold medal, the U.S. silver, and Finland bronze.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
The 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Denmark marks another big milestone in hockey history. Both the timing of the tournament and the hosting rights put us into uncharted territory.
The 10 participating national teams are focused – not only on success in Herning and Frederikshavn – but also on evaluating young talent and comeback bids earlier than ever before on the road to the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy. It’s a complex situation.
So we’ve continued the IIHF.com tradition of assembling a panel of top hockey journalists to provide their insights on the games that are getting underway and the state of women’s hockey in general.
Our media panelists come from the nations that won gold (Canada), silver (U.S.), and bronze (Finland) at both the 2021 Women’s Worlds in Calgary and the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. The opinions expressed by the writers are their own and do not reflect any official views of the IIHF.
Alex Azzi (U.S.) is the editor of NBC Sports’ On Her Turf blog, where she writes about a variety of women’s sports, including hockey. She previously worked as one of NBC’s Olympic researchers and covered women’s hockey in the lead-up to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
Annu Ruotsalainen (Finland) is a managing editor at Jatkoaika.com, where she mainly covers the Finnish Naisten Liiga and the women’s national team. She reported from the 2019 Women’s Worlds in Espoo. The Kuopio native played hockey for KalPa Akatemia in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Hailey Salvian (Canada) is a national writer at The Athletic, where she covers women’s hockey and the NHL. She recently hosted a national Olympic hockey show for CBC and worked as an analyst throughout the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
For you, what is the significance of seeing the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship held for the first time in an Olympic year and in Denmark?
Hailey Salvian: It’s hugely significant. Having a world championship in an Olympic year is a great way to get more eyeballs on elite women's hockey. Having the tournament in Denmark for the first time shows a commitment by the IIHF to continue to grow women’s hockey globally. The Danish women’s team made its first-ever appearance at the Olympics and won a game in its group. It’s easy to imagine the elite women’s game growing even more after that performance and with a major tournament being hosted in the country.
Alex Azzi: Given how few programming opportunities exist in women’s hockey at the elite level – especially with the recent cancellations of the Four Nations Cup – it’s huge to have a Women’s World Championship in the same year as the Olympics. While I know some players were disappointed to see the tournament scheduled for August, given what that meant for their training schedule, it’s still a great step forward.
Annu Ruotsalainen: It is very interesting since it has only been six months since the Olympics! There have been a few changes among the coaches, and six months is a short time to get everything worked out.
Who are some players you’ll be watching closely at these Women's Worlds?
Azzi: The U.S. and Canadian rosters have pretty familiar veteran cores. While I hope we never take for granted the gift of being able to watch players like Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight, I’ll focus on some younger athletes here. For the U.S., I hope we actually get to see them on the ice as the American bench really wasn’t utilized in Beijing. I’d love to see more reliance on Caroline Harvey, who’ll start her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin upon returning from Denmark. Abby Roque has a lot of untapped potential that wasn’t on full display in Beijing due to an injury-ridden lead-up to the Games. Hopefully we get to see a start from goalie Aerin Frankel, who was on last year’s World Championship roster, but didn’t play. As for the Canadians, it’s hard to believe Sarah Fillier is as young as she is (22), given her impact at the Olympics, but I’m excited to see how she continues to develop. I’m also thrilled to see Meaghan Mikkelson on the ice again. At age 37 with three Olympic medals, she certainly isn’t a young player, but she was among the final cuts from Canada’s 2022 Olympic roster after suffering a major knee injury in May 2021.
Salvian: As Alex mentioned, there are the usual suspects like Poulin and Knight, who is making her 12th World Championship appearance. I’m intrigued by Jessie Eldridge (Canada) who is making her Worlds debut and has scored in each pre-tournament game. I think this is the year of the Abby Roque breakout, and I’ll be watching to see how the U.S. youth movement – Harvey, Hannah Bilka, Grace Zumwinkle, and more – perform under new head coach John Wroblewski. He’s an experienced coach with a track record of working with young players. Finland’s Petra Nieminen and Switzerland’s Alina Muller are must-watch players too.
Ruotsalainen: I'll be watching Finland's Kiira Yrjanen. She is a 20-year-old attending her first Women's Worlds. I hope she gets the opportunity to be on the ice, not just as the extra forward. Susanna Tapani is also an interesting player. She hasn't played hockey as much as she used to in the past couple of years, but she’s still on fire every time she hits the ice. From Canada, Sarah Fillier is an interesting player. Some people say she is a generational talent, and that’s something I’m eager to witness in person. She is the same age as Yrjanen, so it’ll be fun to see how different they are as players.
Which national team, in your opinion, has the best chance of pulling off a major upset in Denmark?
Ruotsalainen: I have to say Team Denmark! It's their home ice and fans. I'm guessing they will have all the love and support. Nothing is impossible on home ice, as we saw in Espoo in 2019 when Finland won the silver medal. Czechia could also pull off a huge surprise. The Czechs played two pre-tournament exhibitions against Finland and actually won one of them. For Finland, it was a great reminder to focus all the time and not underestimate your opponents.
Azzi: It was really fun to watch the Czechs compete in their Olympic debut in February. They have a new coach leading them in Denmark – two-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist Carla MacLeod – and I’m excited to see what they can do.
Salvian: I cannot wait to see what Switzerland looks like. They finished fourth at the last Worlds and the Olympics. Can they push Finland off the podium? There might be a chance!
The state of professional women's hockey in North America is evolving rapidly, with the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) and the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) making recent announcements. There has also been significant movement related to European players and leagues. What are the most intriguing developments that you're tracking?
Azzi: I think things in this space are moving both quickly and slowly, which can be disconcerting for some fans. Many people expected the PWHPA would have announced concrete plans for a league by now. But last week, the association instead said it would hold its fourth Dream Gap Tour this season, essentially quashing reports that a potential PWHPA-led league would launch in January 2023. Although this might seem like a setback, something I’ve learned from talking with PWHPA members is that, just because they aren’t making public announcements, it doesn’t mean things aren’t happening behind the scenes. They’re committed to making sure all the pieces are in place before they officially hit go. That hasn’t always been the case in women’s hockey history. While I’m sure they would have loved to have their new league launch in January 2023 – or January 2020, for that matter – they’re also in it for the long haul.
Salvian: Several top European players have signed with the PHF, which is good to see. Personally, I’m most intrigued by the PWHPA. When will that Dream Gap Tour become a league? And will that league get even more global players in one spot? The latter scenario —having the world’s best playing in one league — is critical for the growth of the game.
Ruotsalainen: There have been some issues between the PHF and PWHPA, and hopefully everything gets resolved. It’d be really interesting to follow a pro women's hockey league that also features many European players. In the future, I hope such a league achieves its full potential. One key reason it could attract Europeans is giving them the chance to just play hockey – not work at the same time, but just focus on playing and getting better.
Canada returns with Troy Ryan behind the bench, while the U.S.'s John Wroblewski and Finland's Juuso Toivola will make their debuts as Women's Worlds head coaches. What are the toughest choices that the coach from your home country will need to make?
Salvian: For Troy Ryan, it’s probably finding the right ways to rework the lineup in view of some of the significant players missing from this roster. Who plays with Sarah Fillier on the second line without Melodie Daoust and Natalie Spooner? How do you replace the offence from defender Claire Thompson? And how do you do all that without messing with chemistry that Ryan knows already works, like the top line with Poulin, Sarah Nurse and Brianne Jenner? Perhaps the toughest task for the Canadian coaching staff is improving on a dominant Olympics and staying on top.
Azzi: I’m curious to see how John Wroblewski handles the U.S. goaltending situation. For the first time since 2015, Alex Cavallini (who started all three Olympic knockout games in February) isn’t on the U.S. Roster, as she recently announced she is pregnant. Still, Team USA has three extremely talented goalies in Maddie Rooney (who backstopped the U.S. to Olympic gold in 2018), Nicole Hensley (the go-to goalie at Worlds in 2017 and 2021), and Aerin Frankel (the 2021 Patty Kazmaier winner who just graduated from Northeastern).
Ruotsalainen: For Juuso Toivola, I think the toughest choices are during the first two games where Finland faces the U.S. and Canada. What kind of game plan is needed in order to beat those two? Who will guard the net? With two tough games at the start, we may see two different goalies. Of course, there are also some player personnel changes. After the Olympics, forward Tanja Niskanen retired, and she was an important part of the national team. Minttu Tuominen took a pass on this tournament, and she was a really big part of the defence. So Toivola has to figure out how he will fill these big holes during the tournament. And it won't be easy.
Women's sports are undergoing tremendous growth worldwide. Based on what you've seen with other sports and their leagues and federations, what are some lessons that women's hockey can take to build and promote the sport to greater heights?
Azzi: I love this question because there is so much that different women’s sports and leagues can learn from each other. I think women’s hockey can learn a lot from the WNBA’s recent marketing push, which is still in its early stages. It operates on a pretty simple premise: you have to spend money to make money. You can’t expect potential women’s hockey fans to show up to games or tune in on TV if they don’t know there’s a tournament happening. And that awareness doesn’t happen automatically – it takes marketing and promotion. Right now, I think women’s hockey players still carry a lot of the burden of selling their sport off the ice, while simultaneously being expected to put out an elite on-ice product. I don’t think that is an equation for long-term growth and success.
Ruotsalainen: I agree. Better marketing and promotion is needed – not just some player updating the Instagram account. You need a real professional to make the most of it. Some rule changes could also make the game more interesting. The SDHL has taken a first step by allowing bodychecking for this upcoming season. If it works, it could potentially bring more fans to the rinks. And the more viewers you get, the easier it is to get sponsors – the proverbial positive feedback loop.
Salvian: More investment in the game at the grassroots level. More investment from the governing bodies – I think Canada and the U.S. are prime examples of that. They have more training camps, resources, and infrastructure. The more countries and teams that make that kind of investment in the game, the better. Taking cues from other leagues with things like proper marketing, ticket sales, and other business staples of men’s pro sports is also critical.
Who will win the medals at the 2022 Women's Worlds?
Ruotsalainen: Maybe not in this order, but I would put my money on the U.S., Canada, and Finland. These three nations have been in their own league for a few years now. Of course, there is always room for surprises, but it would take a really big one in order to change my mind about this.
Salvian: I’d concur that the betting favourites are Canada, the U.S., and Finland. But, again, look out for Switzerland.
Azzi: Gold for Canada, silver for the U.S., bronze for Finland. I feel like that’s the expected answer, so it would be exciting if at least one of those picks is wrong!
The 10 participating national teams are focused – not only on success in Herning and Frederikshavn – but also on evaluating young talent and comeback bids earlier than ever before on the road to the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy. It’s a complex situation.
So we’ve continued the IIHF.com tradition of assembling a panel of top hockey journalists to provide their insights on the games that are getting underway and the state of women’s hockey in general.
Our media panelists come from the nations that won gold (Canada), silver (U.S.), and bronze (Finland) at both the 2021 Women’s Worlds in Calgary and the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. The opinions expressed by the writers are their own and do not reflect any official views of the IIHF.
Alex Azzi (U.S.) is the editor of NBC Sports’ On Her Turf blog, where she writes about a variety of women’s sports, including hockey. She previously worked as one of NBC’s Olympic researchers and covered women’s hockey in the lead-up to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
Annu Ruotsalainen (Finland) is a managing editor at Jatkoaika.com, where she mainly covers the Finnish Naisten Liiga and the women’s national team. She reported from the 2019 Women’s Worlds in Espoo. The Kuopio native played hockey for KalPa Akatemia in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Hailey Salvian (Canada) is a national writer at The Athletic, where she covers women’s hockey and the NHL. She recently hosted a national Olympic hockey show for CBC and worked as an analyst throughout the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
For you, what is the significance of seeing the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship held for the first time in an Olympic year and in Denmark?
Hailey Salvian: It’s hugely significant. Having a world championship in an Olympic year is a great way to get more eyeballs on elite women's hockey. Having the tournament in Denmark for the first time shows a commitment by the IIHF to continue to grow women’s hockey globally. The Danish women’s team made its first-ever appearance at the Olympics and won a game in its group. It’s easy to imagine the elite women’s game growing even more after that performance and with a major tournament being hosted in the country.
Alex Azzi: Given how few programming opportunities exist in women’s hockey at the elite level – especially with the recent cancellations of the Four Nations Cup – it’s huge to have a Women’s World Championship in the same year as the Olympics. While I know some players were disappointed to see the tournament scheduled for August, given what that meant for their training schedule, it’s still a great step forward.
Annu Ruotsalainen: It is very interesting since it has only been six months since the Olympics! There have been a few changes among the coaches, and six months is a short time to get everything worked out.
Who are some players you’ll be watching closely at these Women's Worlds?
Azzi: The U.S. and Canadian rosters have pretty familiar veteran cores. While I hope we never take for granted the gift of being able to watch players like Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight, I’ll focus on some younger athletes here. For the U.S., I hope we actually get to see them on the ice as the American bench really wasn’t utilized in Beijing. I’d love to see more reliance on Caroline Harvey, who’ll start her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin upon returning from Denmark. Abby Roque has a lot of untapped potential that wasn’t on full display in Beijing due to an injury-ridden lead-up to the Games. Hopefully we get to see a start from goalie Aerin Frankel, who was on last year’s World Championship roster, but didn’t play. As for the Canadians, it’s hard to believe Sarah Fillier is as young as she is (22), given her impact at the Olympics, but I’m excited to see how she continues to develop. I’m also thrilled to see Meaghan Mikkelson on the ice again. At age 37 with three Olympic medals, she certainly isn’t a young player, but she was among the final cuts from Canada’s 2022 Olympic roster after suffering a major knee injury in May 2021.
Salvian: As Alex mentioned, there are the usual suspects like Poulin and Knight, who is making her 12th World Championship appearance. I’m intrigued by Jessie Eldridge (Canada) who is making her Worlds debut and has scored in each pre-tournament game. I think this is the year of the Abby Roque breakout, and I’ll be watching to see how the U.S. youth movement – Harvey, Hannah Bilka, Grace Zumwinkle, and more – perform under new head coach John Wroblewski. He’s an experienced coach with a track record of working with young players. Finland’s Petra Nieminen and Switzerland’s Alina Muller are must-watch players too.
Ruotsalainen: I'll be watching Finland's Kiira Yrjanen. She is a 20-year-old attending her first Women's Worlds. I hope she gets the opportunity to be on the ice, not just as the extra forward. Susanna Tapani is also an interesting player. She hasn't played hockey as much as she used to in the past couple of years, but she’s still on fire every time she hits the ice. From Canada, Sarah Fillier is an interesting player. Some people say she is a generational talent, and that’s something I’m eager to witness in person. She is the same age as Yrjanen, so it’ll be fun to see how different they are as players.
Which national team, in your opinion, has the best chance of pulling off a major upset in Denmark?
Ruotsalainen: I have to say Team Denmark! It's their home ice and fans. I'm guessing they will have all the love and support. Nothing is impossible on home ice, as we saw in Espoo in 2019 when Finland won the silver medal. Czechia could also pull off a huge surprise. The Czechs played two pre-tournament exhibitions against Finland and actually won one of them. For Finland, it was a great reminder to focus all the time and not underestimate your opponents.
Azzi: It was really fun to watch the Czechs compete in their Olympic debut in February. They have a new coach leading them in Denmark – two-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist Carla MacLeod – and I’m excited to see what they can do.
Salvian: I cannot wait to see what Switzerland looks like. They finished fourth at the last Worlds and the Olympics. Can they push Finland off the podium? There might be a chance!
The state of professional women's hockey in North America is evolving rapidly, with the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) and the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) making recent announcements. There has also been significant movement related to European players and leagues. What are the most intriguing developments that you're tracking?
Azzi: I think things in this space are moving both quickly and slowly, which can be disconcerting for some fans. Many people expected the PWHPA would have announced concrete plans for a league by now. But last week, the association instead said it would hold its fourth Dream Gap Tour this season, essentially quashing reports that a potential PWHPA-led league would launch in January 2023. Although this might seem like a setback, something I’ve learned from talking with PWHPA members is that, just because they aren’t making public announcements, it doesn’t mean things aren’t happening behind the scenes. They’re committed to making sure all the pieces are in place before they officially hit go. That hasn’t always been the case in women’s hockey history. While I’m sure they would have loved to have their new league launch in January 2023 – or January 2020, for that matter – they’re also in it for the long haul.
Salvian: Several top European players have signed with the PHF, which is good to see. Personally, I’m most intrigued by the PWHPA. When will that Dream Gap Tour become a league? And will that league get even more global players in one spot? The latter scenario —having the world’s best playing in one league — is critical for the growth of the game.
Ruotsalainen: There have been some issues between the PHF and PWHPA, and hopefully everything gets resolved. It’d be really interesting to follow a pro women's hockey league that also features many European players. In the future, I hope such a league achieves its full potential. One key reason it could attract Europeans is giving them the chance to just play hockey – not work at the same time, but just focus on playing and getting better.
Canada returns with Troy Ryan behind the bench, while the U.S.'s John Wroblewski and Finland's Juuso Toivola will make their debuts as Women's Worlds head coaches. What are the toughest choices that the coach from your home country will need to make?
Salvian: For Troy Ryan, it’s probably finding the right ways to rework the lineup in view of some of the significant players missing from this roster. Who plays with Sarah Fillier on the second line without Melodie Daoust and Natalie Spooner? How do you replace the offence from defender Claire Thompson? And how do you do all that without messing with chemistry that Ryan knows already works, like the top line with Poulin, Sarah Nurse and Brianne Jenner? Perhaps the toughest task for the Canadian coaching staff is improving on a dominant Olympics and staying on top.
Azzi: I’m curious to see how John Wroblewski handles the U.S. goaltending situation. For the first time since 2015, Alex Cavallini (who started all three Olympic knockout games in February) isn’t on the U.S. Roster, as she recently announced she is pregnant. Still, Team USA has three extremely talented goalies in Maddie Rooney (who backstopped the U.S. to Olympic gold in 2018), Nicole Hensley (the go-to goalie at Worlds in 2017 and 2021), and Aerin Frankel (the 2021 Patty Kazmaier winner who just graduated from Northeastern).
Ruotsalainen: For Juuso Toivola, I think the toughest choices are during the first two games where Finland faces the U.S. and Canada. What kind of game plan is needed in order to beat those two? Who will guard the net? With two tough games at the start, we may see two different goalies. Of course, there are also some player personnel changes. After the Olympics, forward Tanja Niskanen retired, and she was an important part of the national team. Minttu Tuominen took a pass on this tournament, and she was a really big part of the defence. So Toivola has to figure out how he will fill these big holes during the tournament. And it won't be easy.
Women's sports are undergoing tremendous growth worldwide. Based on what you've seen with other sports and their leagues and federations, what are some lessons that women's hockey can take to build and promote the sport to greater heights?
Azzi: I love this question because there is so much that different women’s sports and leagues can learn from each other. I think women’s hockey can learn a lot from the WNBA’s recent marketing push, which is still in its early stages. It operates on a pretty simple premise: you have to spend money to make money. You can’t expect potential women’s hockey fans to show up to games or tune in on TV if they don’t know there’s a tournament happening. And that awareness doesn’t happen automatically – it takes marketing and promotion. Right now, I think women’s hockey players still carry a lot of the burden of selling their sport off the ice, while simultaneously being expected to put out an elite on-ice product. I don’t think that is an equation for long-term growth and success.
Ruotsalainen: I agree. Better marketing and promotion is needed – not just some player updating the Instagram account. You need a real professional to make the most of it. Some rule changes could also make the game more interesting. The SDHL has taken a first step by allowing bodychecking for this upcoming season. If it works, it could potentially bring more fans to the rinks. And the more viewers you get, the easier it is to get sponsors – the proverbial positive feedback loop.
Salvian: More investment in the game at the grassroots level. More investment from the governing bodies – I think Canada and the U.S. are prime examples of that. They have more training camps, resources, and infrastructure. The more countries and teams that make that kind of investment in the game, the better. Taking cues from other leagues with things like proper marketing, ticket sales, and other business staples of men’s pro sports is also critical.
Who will win the medals at the 2022 Women's Worlds?
Ruotsalainen: Maybe not in this order, but I would put my money on the U.S., Canada, and Finland. These three nations have been in their own league for a few years now. Of course, there is always room for surprises, but it would take a really big one in order to change my mind about this.
Salvian: I’d concur that the betting favourites are Canada, the U.S., and Finland. But, again, look out for Switzerland.
Azzi: Gold for Canada, silver for the U.S., bronze for Finland. I feel like that’s the expected answer, so it would be exciting if at least one of those picks is wrong!