2025 IIHF Women's World Championship update:
USA takes top spot in Group A, Sweden finishes atop Group B,
Hungary relegated after winless preliminary round
For the second-straight year, the U.S. Women's National Team went 4-0 in preliminary round play at the IIHF Women's World Championship, notably defeating Canada 2-1 on Sunday along with wins over Finland (7-1), Czechia (4-0), and Switzerland (5-0). The Canadians finished second in Group A after also defeating Finland (5-0), Switzerland (4-0) and Czechia (7-1). The Finns earned the third spot thanks to a 4-2 victory over Czechia and a 2-1 win over the Swiss, while the Czechs defeated Switzerland 3-0 on the tournament's opening day. The Swiss are now winless in their last 9 World Chammpionship preliminary round games, dating back to the 2023 tournament.
Sweden continues to make improvements, this year taking the top spot in Group B with a perfect 4-0 record of their own after wins over Germany (5-2), Hungary (2-0), Japan (2-0), and Norway (8-0). Japan earned victories over Norway (5-2), Hungary (2-0), and Germany (1-0) to take second place in the group, though their top forward, Akane Shiga, left the contest against the Germans yesterday with a lower body injury which appeared serious. The Germans earned wins over Norway (5-2) and Hungary (4-1) to finish third and advance to the playoff round. However, the Norwegians and Hungarians, newly promoted for 2025, will be relegated back down to Division I Group A for 2026 (Norway defeated Hungary, 3-0, in their head-to-head contest).
The preliminary round results set up the follow quarterfinal matchups tomorrow (Thursday, April 17 – higher seeds listed first):
Finland vs. Sweden – 3:00 a.m. U.S. Central Time
USA vs. Germany – 6:30 a.m. Central
Czechia vs. Switzerland – 10:00 a.m. Central
Canada vs. Japan – 1:30 p.m. Central
Television coverage continues on NHL Network in the U.S. and on the TSN family of channels in Canada. Quarterfinal winners will advance to Saturday's (April 19) semifinals at 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon Central Time; the teams will re-ranked for the semis.
Gophers at the tournament – The representatives of the Minnesota Women's Hockey program made waves on the tournament's opening day on April 9, as eight Gophers in action that day earned points. Two others have subsequently gotten on the scoresheet.
Notably, alumna Kelly Pannek leads all Gophers with 5 points on 2 goals, 3 assists, and a +6 plus-minus rating for Team USA. After sitting out the 2024 tournament, Lee Stecklein has lit the lamp twice in her return to the American squad, including opening the scoring against Canada. Emma Kreisz has the dubious distinction of netting Hungary's only goal of the tournament, though it did prevent them from being completely shut out. Other performances include:
Abbey Murphy (USA) – 2 goals, 1 assist
Josefin Bouveng (SWE) – 1 goal, 2 assists
Taylor Heise (USA) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Nelli Laitinen (FIN) – 1 assist
Natálie Mlýnková (CZE) – 1 assist
Krista Parkkonen (FIN) – 1 assist
Grace Zumwinkle (USA) – 1 assist
Through the preliminary round, Tereza Plosová (CZE) and Chloe Primarano (CAN) have yet to score.
We wish those still in action continued success. We'll have a playoff round recap next week.
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