It Starts Monday
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Canada and the US squaring off for the gold medal at LaBahn Arena on June 13 as the two nations have met for the IIHF's top prize in twelve of thirteen competitions. 2018 was the only year where the two North American teams didn't meet in the final as the US trounced Sweden 9-3 in the final after the Canadians lost 4-3 to the Americans in a shootout in the semifinal. Both teams are aiming for that gold medal, but it doesn't mean we can write off the other six nations at the event.
The Finns have a few weapons in Sanni Vanhanen, Anna-Kaisa Antti-Roiko, and Siiri Yrjola, but they're going to have to play at or above their collective potential if they hope to challenge for a gold medal. Finland will be good as they always play within a strong system backed by solid goaltending, but they'll need some players to emerge in this tournament if they want to find themselves in the final.
Sweden should be a team that pushes everyone to be better. They may not have the star power that some of the other nations do, but Sweden will get solid performances out of Nicole Hall, Mira Jungaker, and Ebba Hedqvist. Of the four Group A teams, Sweden likely will need an all-world effort from their players, but the Swedes need to be opportunistic in capitalizing on their chances. It's not out of the realm of possibility for the Swedes to finish in the top-three, but their game against Finland likely will determine their group-play finish.
Group B's teams include Czechia, Switzerland, Slovakia, and Germany, and it seems all four teams will be building for the future, both in their senior women's programs and at the U18 level. That's not to say that there won't be players to watch, though, and with no Russia at the event it might be a good idea to keep an eye on these countries as they look to bolster their future international finishes.
Czechia might be a fun team to watch as they could surprise a team that underestimates them. The Czechs won't outskate or outscore many teams if things open up, but the Czechs always seem to play a tight defensive game that keeps them in the battle. They'll have to find some scoring outside of Adela Sapovalivova who played extremely well for the Czechs in Finland at the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival, but if the likes of Klaudie Slavickova and Zikmunda Mazancova can light the lamp like they did during the Festival, the Czechs could give a few teams fits.
Switzerland is another interesting team in that they boast some decent scoring, but they never seem to break out in a big way at the U18 Women's World Championship. This year's squad has a few good players - notably Alina Marti and Chiara Eggli - but they'll need Rink Hockey Academy's Margaux Favre to come up big in this tournament after faltering in the European Youth Olympic Festival. If Favre can play as well as she did at the season-ending Female World Sport School Challenge, there's good reason to believe the Swiss may be dangerous as an underdog in this tournament!
Slovakia hasn't seen the same success some of the other European countries, but that doesn't mean they won't give everyone a run for their money. Tatiana Blichova was Slovakia's top goal scorer at the European Youth Olympic Festival while Emma Donovalova tied for the lead in points, but a big tournament out of goaltender Laura Medvidova would help the Slovaks avoid another eighth-place finish this year. It might be a big ask, but this Slovakian team has enough talent to remain in this top-eight group if they can find a few points in this tournament.
The Germans may have the toughest task at this tournament when it comes to earning points. Annabella Sterzik and Katharina Hackelsmiller should provide some scoring for the Germans, but Sara Brammen will have to be at her very best for the Germans in the crease. With Japan already knowing they're being promoted for the 2023 event, the Germans are looking to avoid relegation by possibly defeating Slovakia or surprising the Swiss. In both cases, the Germans will have to find some secondary scoring to bolster their chances while weathering the storms they face.
I'm not really going to drop a lot of Canadian and American names on you in this article because those names should be players you already know. If you don't, you need to start getting out to watch more games at the prep level, the AAA level, and the JWHL level. As we stated over and over again at the 2022 Female World Sport School Challenge, these are the names of the women who are the next stars with the Canadian and American Olympic teams.
That being said, it is June so seeing them play live right now is a tough ask. Instead, you should be watching the games this week as the 2022 U18 Women's World Championship gets underway! Here's the schedule for the games in Canada as TSN's Kenzie Lalonde and Cheryl Pounder bring you all the action from Madison!
I can already hear some of you saying, "Yeah, but I don't get those channels, Teebz", and I'm here to tell you that I have you covered. I use a website called OnHockey.tv where they find free streams for any and all hockey games, and the 2022 U18 Women's World Championship should have a stream on there. And we're not just talking about the Canadian or American games - there should be a stream for all games.
Just a word of warning, though, as the redirects on that site are maddening, so I usually use Chrome in Incognito mode to watch games on OnHockey.tv. I've also taken the liberty to block most of the redirects via the Chrome browser, but I can say that once you finally land on the site and are able to watch games, it's like watching them directly through your TV.
With that, you're set for watching games even if you can't get the channel you need to see the games. Keep an eye on some of these players because there's a very good chance these are the women you'll see playing and hear about playing in 2026 at the Milano Cortina Olympics. I'm excited to see Madison host an amazing event, so let's hope Canada can win gold!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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