2025 Women's Worlds Preview: Canada

It's that time of year again! We're onto the last week of PWHL hockey before the international break, which means it's time to preview the Women's World Championships, starting April 9 in Czechia.

Team Canada returns to the tournament as the reigning gold medalists after defeating Team USA 6-5 in overtime.

2024 Worlds

Canada had a strong start to last year's tournament, defeating Finland 4-1 before shutting out Switzerland and Czechia. Their first stumble came against the Americans in the last round robin game, losing 1-0 in overtime.

But that loss didn't hurt their stride. They defeated Sweden in the quarterfinals and Czechia in the semis. They traded goals back and forth with the Americans in the gold medal game, with neither team leading by more than one goal all game. Ultimately, it was Danielle Serdachny who scored Canada's overtime winning goal on the power play, winning Canada their 13th world championship gold medal.

Canada ranked second in scoring efficiency, eighth in power plays, third in penalty kills, and second in save percentage.

Now the team prepares to win their second straight gold medal, taking on Finland, Switzerland, the US, and Czechia in the round robin games.

Player to Watch

Team Canada heads back to Worlds with 17 of the players who helped to win gold last year. Six players join the team who've never skated at this tournament, including UMD's Eve Gascon (G) and Sceptres standout Hannah Miller. Notable absences include Emerance Maschmeyer (injured), Corrine Schroeder, and Ashton Bell.

Note: Hockey Canada has now announced that the IIHF has blocked Hannah Miller's request to play for Team Canada, stating that it hasn't been two years since Miller last played for Team China. Julia Gosling will join the team in Miller's absence.

Danielle Serdachny is my player to watch for this tournament. She had a good 2024 tournament, putting up two goals and two assists, including the overtime winner against the Americans to bring home the gold medal.

Her rookie season in the PWHL certainly hasn't gone to plan. The strong points getting prowess that earned her 61 points in 40 games at Colgate last year has been nowhere to be found this season. She's only put up 7 points this season in 25 games. Naturally, there will be a fall off when a college player comes to the PWHL because the competition is higher and the goaltenders are better. Still, it hasn't been the best rookie season for Serdachny, who sits twelfth in rookie points.

I'm excited to see if the bigger ice and faster, less physical play at the international tournament can bring back the Danielle Serdachny that we've seen in the past.

Additionally, I'm looking forward to watching Chloe Primerano in a Team Canada jersey at this level. She put up 26 points at the U18 championships for Team Canada, and I fully expect her to carry on that way with the senior team, even though she's the youngest player to join Team Canada since Marie-Philip Poulin. Pretty good company.

Storylines

Unfortunately, we have to talk about it. Goaltending.

We know that the usual goaltending tandem of Ann-Renée Desbiens and Emerance Maschmeyer won't be taking the ice in Czechia. With 13 world championship medals between them, this is a huge loss for Team Canada.

Maschmeyer sustained an injury against Minnesota on March 11, and the team announced she'd be placed on LTIR shortly after. Desbiens went down one week later. She is on the official Team Canada roster, but her injury situation is not publicly known. While she might be ready to start on April 10th, she won't have played hockey for nearly a month.

If Desbiens can't play, Kristen Campbell and Ève Gascon will be waiting in the wings, although neither of them have played any games at this level. Needless to say, some Canadians are a little worried about the goaltending situation.

Another storyline that's on my mind is the impact of the NCAA players. Of the released rosters thus far, Canada is tied for the second-fewest number of NCAA players on their roster with Germany. Only Japan has fewer, with zero. The US has nine and Finland has seven.

In the Rivalry Series, it's been clear that Team USA's NCAA players add a lot of talent to their team, with many of their wins coming during the NCAA portion of the tournament. And last year, Laila Edwards, a forward at Wisconsin, was named the tournament MVP at Women's Worlds.

It will be interesting to see if having a younger roster with NCAA players pays off more than an older, more experienced team.

Prediction

It hurts my Canadian heart to say this, but I think Team Canada will not take home the gold medal this year. I predict they'll win a silver or settle for bronze.

With the goaltending uncertainty, I'm skeptical of the team's ability to keep the opposing team off the score sheet. I think Campbell is a great goaltender, but I'm not sure what to expect. There are some really strong scorers coming to this tournament across all of the teams Canada will have to face.

Equally, I'm not certain that the older and more established approach that Troy Ryan likes to take will pay off in this tournament. It will be a good test to see if Canada can afford to keep their mainstay roster for the Olympics or if they'll need to increase their young talent like some of the other teams have.

This team does usually find a way to surprise me, though, so I'll be happy to see them prove me wrong and take home the gold medal.