2025 Worlds Preview: Czechia

One year after their hopes for a bronze medal threepeat were dashed in a painful fashion, the Czech women’s national team will host the Women’s World Championships in České Budějovice.

In 2021, the Czech women made history when they won the bronze medal, Czechia’s first medal at the tournament. In 2022, they went back-to-back and proved that their success was not a flash in the pan. Last year, the team lost the chance to earn their third medal in a row when they fell to Finland in a bronze medal match shootout.

Competing on home ice for the first time since 2014, the Lionesses will have a hefty list of tasks: reclaim a position on the podium; put on a worthy show for their home fans; and prove to a warming Czech hockey market that women’s hockey deserves just as much attention as men’s hockey.

The roster

With nine players coming from the PWHL, nine from the SDHL, four from the NCAA, and one from the rising SWHL, the Czech roster is one of the most loaded in this tournament.

Players to watch

Striker Tereza Vanišová comes to Worlds on the heels of becoming the first player to notch two hat tricks in the same PWHL season. With six goals and an assist in her last four games, expect to see Vanišová on Czechia’s top line– and in the goals column.

Kristýna Kaltounková’s Colgate University may have lost in the NCAA Quarterfinals last month, but ‘Kalty’ will finish her collegiate career as the Raider’s all-time top goal-scorer, along with second-place finishes in assists, points, and penalty minutes. Keep an eye on the Patty Kazmaier Top-Ten forward, who will likely be taken in the first round of this summer’s PWHL Draft.

Playing behind Goaltender of the Year candidate Aerin Frankel with the Boston Fleet hasn’t given Klára Peslarová much opportunity to show her skill, but the 2022 SDHL Goalie of the Year and Beijing Olympics All-Star Goaltender should not be underestimated. Czechia’s medal hopes will rely on their longtime starter playing to the level they already know she can reach.

Storylines to watch

Injuries: Last year, top Czech players in Kateřina Mrázová and Dominika Lásková were forced to watch from the sidelines due to injuries as their team fell in the bronze medal match. This year, both players will join the team on the ice, but Mrázová is still on LTIR with her club team, and center Michaela Pejzlová is also coming off an injury. If Mrázová or Pejzlová are limited, the Czechs will have to hope that Kaltounková can step up in her first IIHF tournament with the senior team.

Home crowd: The last time the Czechs hosted an IIHF women’s tournament, the Division 1A championship in 2014, their audience was a lot smaller. Czechia’s games averaged 1,738 fans, while games not involving the home team averaged 170 spectators. This year, the tournament in Czechia has already sold over 70,000 tickets. The appetite for women’s hockey has grown since the Lionesses claimed back-to-back bronze medals. PWHL games are broadcast on a major sports network and players report that the climate for female athletes has improved. Hosting this tournament will be a lot of pressure, but pressure is its own reward: it means you’re going somewhere worth being.

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Prediction

I’m not going to bet against the home team. Last year’s roster was missing several key pieces. This year they’ve added a serious offensive threat in Kaltounková, Lásková and Mrázová will be back, and they’ll have the immeasurable addition of sold-out stadiums behind them. I predict Czechia will take their third WWC medal, but I won’t go so far as to predict what color it’ll be.