2025 U18 Women’s World Championship Preview

The New Year means one of the most exciting tournaments is about to begin, the 2025 U18 Women’s World Championship! The tournament will be running from Jan. 4, 2025 to Jan. 12, 2025 in Vantaa, Finland. It’s the future players who everyone will be cheering or booing in three to four years when they make their senior teams. In the case of some of the non-North American countries some of these players are already on their senior national teams. This is a tournament that once featured players such as Natalie Spooner, Marie-Philip Poulin, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Hilary Knight, Grace Zumwinkle, Susanna Tapani, Denisa Křížová, etc. The point of course being that if you want to see the stars before they’re stars, come watch the U18 WJC’s!

What makes it also a fun tournament to watch is the same reason why people love watching the men’s U20 WJC: you have a bunch of young, talented players who can turn things chaotic in an instant. It’s why the last two U18 WJC Gold Medal Games HAVE NOT been USA vs Canada which is what most people expect. 2023 was Canada vs Sweden and 2024 was USA vs Czechia. With the emergence and maturing of Nela Lopušanová, Slovakia is suddenly looking like a threat. Finland with Kerttu Kuja-Halkola has come close to two upsets of their own in the semi-finals as well and with her coming back for a third tournament is this when Finland makes their first appearance in the Gold Medal Game? Then of course there’s the big overarching storyline of Canada looking for revenge after their most talented team in a while in 2024 were shockingly upset in the semi-final by Czechia.

Unlike the Women’s World Hockey Championship, the U18 WJC’s have the more traditional tournament pool set-up in that after you play the round robin it’s the typical cross over of 1A vs 4B, 2B vs 3A, etc. If you’re in Canada all the USA and Canadian games will be broadcast on TSN.

Pool A

USA

Last Tournament’s Results

The USA went into the 2024 U18 WJC with one goal in mind, get back to the Gold Medal Game and win. It was mission accomplished for the US who had a few scary moments where it looked like Finland and Czechia might take away their victory but ultimately the USA prevailed to win Gold. This was the first time that Canada and the USA did not see each other at all in the tournament as they started in opposite pools with Canada not making it to the Gold Medal Game.

Expectations

It’s the USA, the expectations are Gold. It’s to defend their Gold Medal though they’re only bringing back eight players from last year’s Gold Medal winning team. One of those players is Mary Derrenbacher who finished with eight points in six games which was tied for fourth on the team in points. As usual they’re bringing a very talented roster and possibly the most talented of which is Bella Fanale. She scored two points in four games at the 2024 U18’s however at the 2024 USA U19 Tier One Nationals she finished with 12 points in six games only second to teammate Nela Lopušanová who you might have heard of.

Keys To Victory

The USA has the edge over every team in this tournament not named Canada. The key for them is to play their game and get the depth scoring to overwhelm every team in their path that they’re capable of getting. As mentioned earlier they have Bella Fanale on the team and she needs to be an offensive leader. On the backend they have Megan Healy and Sloane Hartmetz who are going to be expected to lead the blueline offensively to get pucks to the forwards so they can do their thing. They have the talent and they need to use it. What they’re going to need to avoid is getting cut off and trying to out talent the whole rest of the opposing team. One vs one most of their players can match up well against their opposition but where they’ll find themselves in trouble is thinking they can do things by themselves. Whether you’re coaching the USA or Canada the job is keep the team focused or else we’ll be seeing the USA miss the Gold Medal Game for the second time in three years.

Finland

Last Tournament’s Results

It’s got to be getting annoying for Finland at this rate. Second year in a row they’ve been ousted in the semi-final and forced into the Bronze Medal Game against an angry North American team hellbent on leaving with a medal. Finland gave the US a great fight but ultimately fell 4-2 in the semi-final and then they ended up against a very upset Team Canada losing 8-1.

Expectations

At the bare minimum Finland is going to be expected to do what they’ve done for the past two years now and at least provide a legitimate scare to either the USA or Canada in the semi-final should they make it there. Those are the least of their expectations because they are bringing back 11 players from last years roster including some big contributors such as Abigail Byskata who was second on the team with eight points in six games. Of course, there’s also their star goalie Kerttu Kuja-Halkola who I know her numbers don’t look great however when you watch her play Finland isn’t winning games without her. She’s going completely under the radar as to how good she is. This is a team that is built and plays well enough to be the team this year to steal a game in the semi-final.

Keys To Victory

For a team like Finland there’s a few parts of their game that need to go right to win that spot in a Gold Medal Game. You need great goaltending and they have that with Kerttu Kuja-Halkola. You need solid team defence and if that isn’t the defining feature of Finnish teams then I don’t know what is. What they also need is someone who can score goals. Last year they had Emma Ekoluoma who had eight goals and 11 points in six games. As mentioned above Abigail Byskata was second on the team in points last season however she only had two goals and while having a respectable year in the     Auroraliiga (Finland’s top women’s league) with 15 points (7G, 8A) in 25 games it’s not the show of goal scoring talent you’d get a lot of excitement from. If there’s someone on the team though with intriguing goal scoring ability it’s Eva Lamberg. She has 12 goals in 25 games in the Auroraliiga and in U18 non-tournament international play this season she has 10 points in nine games. One final piece to the puzzle is going to the PP. An important part of the Finnish PP last year was Tuuli Tallinen and Nelly Andersson. Tallinen has aged out however Andersson is coming back and someone to keep an eye on is Elli Pohjanaho to take the Tallinen role.

Sweden

Last Tournament’s Results

After being the second best team and getting a well deserved Silver at the 2023 U18 WJC’s, Sweden came into the 2024 U18 WJC looking to continue their momentum. That didn’t happen as they were ousted out in the quarter-finals by Czechia, the eventual Silver Medalists of 2024. It was a disappointing finish for a team that looked ready for a second run to the Gold Medal Game. The goaltending and scoring weren’t there when it was needed unlike in 2023.

Expectations

The goal is very clearly to get back into the medal round at least with ending up in the Gold Medal Game as maybe a bit more of a loftier goal but still a very realistic one. Eight players from last years team are coming back though the highest scoring of the returnees was Moa Johannesson who put up two points in five games at the 2024 U18’s. So on the U18 stage this is a relatively unknown group of players but have the second oldest group of players with an average age of 16.52. The other aspect going for them is a lot of them play in the SDHL, the best women’s league in Europe filled with a lot of national team talent and NCAA/USports players who couldn’t find a place in the PWHL. So, these Swedish U18 players are playing against much older and still skilled players. They should be handle playing at the U18 level against skilled players their age.

Keys To Victory

This is going to be a running theme among teams but first things first they’re going to need goaltending. Maja Helge is going to have to show she can carry this team. They don’t need her to be at the level of Felicia Frank, just a step below. Make that one extra save an average goalie wouldn’t. They didn’t get that last year which is why they ended up in the fifth place game instead of fighting for a medal. Believe it or not more important than goaltending though they need to find some scoring. They’re proving they can keep up with both Canada and the USA in the shots department better than any other team in the tournament. What they haven’t shown is they can score when it matters which sunk them last year vs USA (4-0L) and against Czechia in the quarterfinal (4-2L). That task is going to fall to Edit Danielsson of Frölunda HC who has a modest 10 points in 24 games but having watched her play she’s impressive. Last piece of the puzzle is who can be paired with Danielsson to help her flourish and it’s looking like it’ll be either Lovisa Engström or Tilde Sundnäs Grillfors.

Japan

Last Tournament’s Results

The good news is the last U18 tournament Japan was in they won five games and had a goal differential of +17. The bad news is that was at the U18 WJC Division 1A tournament so it doesn’t really have a whole lot of bearing on this coming 2025 U18 WJC apart from the fact that teams being promoted to this tournament typically struggle.

Expectations

They have just been promoted after being relegated in 2023 and their history is a roller coaster ride of being the best team in D1A then getting relegated the very next tournament. The expectation here is clearly to avoid relegation. The tough part about being promoted is trying to keep that momentum and especially trying to keep that momentum when you only have eight returning players from the roster that got you here. The upside is that three of the five top scorers for Japan at the 2024 U18 WJC D1A tournament are coming back for this go around: Umeka Odaira, Azumi Numabe, and Kika Terauchi along with goaltender Haruka Kuromaru who had a 0.962 SV%.

Keys To Victory

They need their best players to be great and their goaltending to be elite. I keep mentioning that teams that get promoted have a hard time staying up for a reason. It’s very difficult unless significant effort is put into funding your U18 program. The scary part is losing your best players due to them aging out but that hasn’t happened here. Umeka Odaira and Azumi Numabe led Japan in points to earn promotion. They’re not only going to be back for this tournament but the next one as well. The toughest part of staying in the Top Division is scoring. If those two can be the offensive threats they were when Japan earned promotion we could be seeing the start of a nice U18 run from Japan.

Pool B

Czechia

Last Tournament’s Results

The Czechia U18 program has been on the rise for years and in 2023 they almost made it to the semi-final for the first time since 2015. Then finally they not only make it to the semi-final in 2024 with a win over the reigning Silver Medalists in Sweden but beat the reigning Gold Medalists in Canada to earn a spot in the Gold Medal Game courtesy of Aneta Senkova and Adela Sapovalivova. They would fall to the USA 5-1 in the Gold Medal Game though that would only come about due to a third period collapse from Team Czechia as they went into the third period only down 2-1.

Expectations

They finished second at the 2024 U18’s so the expectation is at least get back into the medal round. I’d say the expectation should be get back into the Gold Medal Game as they won Silver and are coming back to this tournament with 12 returnees. The good news is that those 12 returnees know what it takes to beat Canada and the USA. They have the gameplan and the experience. The bad news is the highest scoring forward coming back is Linda Vocetková who had one point at least years tournament though blueliner Aneta Paroubková did have four points. They also aren’t going to see the return of standout Aneta Senkova who was elite for Czechia in 2024. They’re coming into this tournament with known experience but unknown potential which makes them exciting.

Keys To Victory

They need the endurance to keep up with the USA and Canada most importantly. Being able to skate with Canada prevented Canada from creating holes in the Czech defensive structure which prevented Canada from scoring easy goals. They almost kept it up against the USA but after 40 minutes they couldn’t keep up anymore. Secondly, they need a new top line that can recreate what Adela Sapovalivova, Tereza Plosová, and Anezka Cabelova brought to the table. If Czechia is going to pull off another upset my guess is it’s going to come from Linda Vocetková, Julie Jebousková, and Magdaléna Felcmanová. Last but not least is they need a goalie to at least be steady and be ready to move around a lot. If the experience of Czechia translates to this tournament then a performance like the one from Senkova shouldn’t be necessary however they are going to need someone who can make save after save and not be tired. I think this team is in a good enough place that they don’t need to be last years team but they can’t be too far off on the goal scoring or the goaltending.

Canada

Last Tournament’s Results

After having a ridiculously good 2023 U18 WJC, Team Canada was walking into the 2024 U18’s with potentially one of the most talented rosters the country had seen in a long time. A decent portion of that team might be winning Olympic Gold with Canada in the future. They were looking like they’d repeat too but then the semi-finals happened and the scoring dried up as they’d lose 4-2 to Czechia to end up in the Bronze Medal Game. They swept away Finland 8-1 but the win was bittersweet.

Expectations

It’s without a doubt that the expectation is not just get back to the Gold Medal Game but win Gold as well. That’s not just because it’s Team Canada. It’s a Canadian team whose only loss in the summer showcase to the USA was in a shootout. It’s a Canadian team with the best U18 player in the world in Chloe Primerano who looked like she belonged on Team Canada in the Rivalry Series. They have Stryker Zablocki who might be the best player on a team that also features Bella Fanale and Nela Lopušanová. They have an extremely low amount of returning players with only five coming back from the 2024 Bronze Medal team. They’ll be lacking experience down the line-up but that shouldn’t matter. This team is skilled and out for revenge.

Keys To Victory

There’s simply one key to victory, put Chloe Primerano on the first PP unit. Don’t get cute and put her on the second PP unit because you think you might be a genius. She’s the best U18 player in the world right now, let her cook. Other than that this Gold Medal is going to depend on the coaching. The coaching last year couldn’t corral the team into refocusing versus a tough defensive Czechia squad and they didn’t adjust either. Down a goal and on the PP they have Primerano sitting on the bench. The coaching staff couldn’t ask for a better group of goal scorers and speed, except for last year, so the coaches will need to make sure this team is always playing to its strengths. They’re teenagers but the other teams have teenagers too and you have the easiest motivation possible, revenge.  

Slovakia

Last Tournament’s Results

I think it’d be fair to say that that last year’s U18 WJC result was disappointing as the team finished sixth. They were an OT away from having to play in the relegation game as well. After finishing second in Pool B at the 2023 U18’s, and Nela Lopušanová going off leading to her being named tournament MVP, expectations for 2024 were at least that they’d be competitive because of all the goals Lopušanová was scoring. That didn’t happen leading to playing in the fifth-place game where they’d lose 4-1 to Sweden.

Expectations

They had a disappointing 2024 U18’s and despite that the expectation this year should be they make into the semi-final. The only acceptable early out for Slovakia is losing in OT in the quarterfinal. It’s the third oldest team in the tournament, by a hair over the USA, but the point remains in that it’s one of the older teams here. Lopušanová still has another year to go but this is Ema Tothova’s last year at the U18 level. The team last year also showed themselves to be competitive as the tournament went on. Kept Switzerland to one goal, kept Finland to two goals, and kept Sweden to four goals after previously losing to them 6-3. To me that says this is a team who, while not going to outright win a game through team skill, can win a game through good team play. Along with what many people considering to be the best U18 player in their opinion in Nela Lopušanová, Slovakia needs to do something memorable here.

Keys To Victory

It starts and ends with Nela Lopušanová. She has to be the best player on the ice every time she’s on the ice. She scored 11 goals in three games at the Olympic Qualifiers and while those teams were just overmatched by Slovakia in general it was Lopušanová leading the way as her next highest teammate only had three goals. If she’s scoring anything is possible. If Slovakia can bring their late tournament defensive game from last year that’s going to keep the game in range for Slovakia. Yes they’re also going to need goaltending because that’s how it works when you’re a team like Slovakia. However to go along with Lopušanová they need one more player to provide some sort of secondary scoring and it has to be Ema Tothova. She leads the EWHL’s HK PSRZ Bratislava with 12 goals in 14 games. At the end of the day they need to score more than seven goals in five games.

Switzerland

Last Tournament’s Results

Switzerland hosted last year’s 2024 U18 WJC’s and they avoided the complete disaster of being relegated on home ice. It’s no secret that Switzerland is very up and down with their hockey programs as a whole. Every so often they get an influx of talent and excite everyone. This time around they didn’t have that as they narrowly beat Germany in the relegation game 2-1 to earn their place in this year’s tournament.

Expectations

They narrowly avoided relegation last year and that’s really their goal again this year. If you were to ask the coaches, I’m sure they have the Slovakia game circled on the calendar. It was a 2-1 OT loss to Slovakia in 2024 that sent Switzerland to the relegation game. They should be looking for revenge this time around, the question is do they have the means to pull it off? They’re bringing 10 players from their 2024 team back for this tournament though none stood out on the score sheet last year except for maybe blueliner Sonja Inkamp who lead Switzerland in goals with two goals in two games. What Switzerland has going for it is the majority of their players either play in the top Swiss women’s league or have spent a decent amount of time in it. That’s games against older, bigger, and quite a few skilled players such as Lara Stalder as well as Michaela Pejzlová to name a few. In the same vein as the Swedish team playing in the SDHL, it’s the same thing with Switzerland where it’s an experienced team but we have no idea what they’ll bring to the table offensively.

Keys To Victory

Plain and simple they need offence. They scored a grand total of five goals at the 2024 U18’s and that was with future star Ivana Wey on the team. You’re hoping Elisa Dalessi, Naemi Herzig, and Norina Müller can be those offensive catalysts but it’s a hope at this point. They’re showing they can score in the PostFinance Women League (Switzerland’s top women’s league). We just have no way of knowing if that will translate. If you look back in Swiss U18 history their top scorers are typically close to point per game scorers in the Swiss league. Dalessi (14 points in 20 games) and Müller (13 points in 18 games) are the closest on this roster but even they aren’t posting numbers you’re feeling very excited about. Now there was a lone bright spot when it came to the 2024 Swiss U18 team and that was Talina Benderer. She’s not back for this year but if they get goaltending to what she brought last year Switzerland will avoid relegation and maybe get their revenge on Slovakia.