Watching The Other Tournament

The 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship got underway today with Sweden, USA, and Czechia all recording wins on the opening day of the tournament. Canada will play tomorrow against Finland at noon CT, so check your local listings for that game if you want to watch. I didn't spend a lot of time watching the other countries play today, but I did keep an eye on one game that had some U SPORTS flavour. The 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I, Group B tournament is being played at the same time as the top level of the women's game, and there were two players skating for Italy against Slovenia today who once played for U SPORTS teams!

The goaltender shown above is Martina Fedel who stopped pucks for the OUA's Guelph Gryphons this season, and she could potentially return for one more season if she chooses. I'm not sure if that's in the cards as she will likely be one of the goaltenders chosen to represent Italy at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games, and today was a reminder of why she's important to an improving Italian team that ran roughshod over Slovenia in the opening game for those teams.

The game in Dumfries, Great Britain saw Italy jump out to a 3-0 lead through the opening period before adding five more goals in the second period and four additional goals in the third period for a one-sided 12-0 victory over Slovenia. The final shot total was a ridiculous 70-12 in favour of the Azzurre as the Italians had no trouble in this one. Fedel's shutout wasn't one of big saves, but she had to be sharp for the few times that the Slovenians put pucks on net.

Italy will square off against the recently-promoted Kazakhstan women tomorrow, and both teams come into the game with 1-0 records after the Kazakhs shocked the Koreans with a 4-2 win today. They'll meet the 1-0 Latvians on Wednesday after Latvia plays Slovenia tomorrow, so we could see two 2-0 teams meeting for control of the tournament in that Latvia-Italy game!

Fedel will be an important player for the Italians as the pressure rises, but she's been one of the best in U SPORTS for a while now. She can win games on her own, and she likely will be in the running for the tournament's top netminder award. Italy looked very good against an improving Slovenian team today as they were buzzing for the entire sixty minutes, and their goal is to win the Division I, Group B tournament to add their name as one of the top-twelve women's hockey nations entering the Olympics in front of their country.

Joining her on the Italian team is former McGill Martlets forward Kayla Tutino. Tutino had reportedly retired from professional hockey in 2018, but she found her way back to the rinks in Italy where she's been playing. The Canadian-born Tutino opted to join the Italian national team, and she'll likely be skating for Italy in next year's Olympics as well. Tutino had no points today, but she was in on a number of scoring chances that the Italians created.

Two other Canadians to keep an eye on with the Italians are Kristin Della Rovere, formerly of the Ottawa Charge, and Kristen Guerreiro, formerly of St. Lawrence University. Both players were all over the ice today, and they appear to be solid additions to the Italian team. Guerreiro had an assist in the win today while Della Rovere was held off the scoresheet, but both players had their opportunities as well.

One U SPORTS player who is skating with the Italians this week in Dumfries is former Calgary Dinos netminder Gabriella Durante. Durante, as you may recall, left the University of Calgary at the start of the 2024-25 season to play professionally in Italy with the goal of gaining entry into the Italian Ice Hockey Federation where she can play for their national team. She has completed one of the two required seasons of play in Italy, and she'll likely have the opportunity to join the national squad in time for the Olympics in 2026, giving Italy another solid goaltender for their Olympic debut.

I'm going to be watching a lot of this Division I, Group B tournament in order to keep track of Fedel and Tutino as they aim to push the Italians into the Division I, Group A tournament in 2027. If you missed today's game and want to watch the Italians lay a beating on Slovenia, the game is on YouTube in its entirety. I have posted the video here for convenience. All rights belong to the IIHF.

I'm hopeful that Martina Fedel can backstop the Italians to a gold medal at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I, Group B tournament. She's off to a great start with a 12-save shutout, but the real tests will come over the next couple of days. If Italy can get the same effort from their players as seen today, they may be the class of the tournament which should lead to some excitement for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympiad! Andiamo, Azzurre!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!