Sweden seeks to build on silver, USA want to get back to the final

It’s just two days until the opening action at the 2024 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship. This year, Group B offers Team USA a chance to avenge last season’s shock semi-final exit to Sweden, while everyone is looking forward to seeing what Slovakian sensation Nela Lopusanova can do. Host nation Switzerland completes the quartet.

Sweden

Silver in 2023

Last year’s hometown heroines managed to separate the North American giants. A memorable semi-final win over the USA saw Sweden to its second gold-medal game in this tournament. No other European nation has managed better than bronze. Two of the stars of that SF – goalie Felicia Frank and goalscorer Mira Jungaker – are too old this time. Nonetheless, much of the silver team is back in Zug: head coach Andreas Karlsson can call on 11 familiar faces in a bid to continue to unsettle Canada and the USA.

Those returnees include Hilda Svensson, who led her team in scoring in Ostersund with 6 (4+2) goals. The HV71 hotshot then plundered 11 points for the senior women’s team at April’s World Championship and continued her good form at December’s warm-up tournament in Chomutov. On that occasion she had 8 (3+5) points in wins over Slovakia, Finland and the Czech host nation. Her burgeoning partnership with centre Isabelle Leijonhielm helped Sweden dominate there, giving Karlsson plenty of optimism ahead of the worlds.

United States

Bronze in 2023

Sweden’s success denied team USA a place in the WW18 final for the first time ever. The American program is used to great success at this tournament and will surely be determined to get back to the gold-medal game this time. Liz Keady-Norton, assistant coach a year ago, returns as head coach and she has recalled seven players from the 2023 team. Of those, forwards Maggie Scannell and Josie St. Martin are heading to their third WW18 tournament hoping to add gold to silver (2022) and bronze (2023). Scannell was her team’s scoring leader in Ostersund, collecting 8 (4+4) points.

U.S. preparations were not ideal. The annual U18 select series against Canada in August brought a trio of heavy losses – 0-4, 1-6 and 2-5. However, despite a slow start to the contest, the Americans proved more competitive in the last of those three games. It’s all shaping up for a big battle in the final game of the group stage, when the USA faces Sweden on Jan. 10.

Slovakia

6^th in 2023

In a tournament dominated by North American players, Nela Lopusanova broke the mould last year. The Slovak forward was selected MVP for her stunning scoring – 12 points in five games, including the first “Michigan” by a female player in IIHF play. All at the age of 14. That made her a viral sensation, and this year she’s back with a reputation further bolstered by more highlight reel goals. You’ve seen the Michigan, but Nela, now playing with Bishop Kearney Selects in the USA, has a habit of making the spectacular look ordinary.

As one of just four foreign-based players on a team largely recruited from the Slovak national championship, Lopusanova is something of an outlier. Her colleagues from outside the domestic league are also returning after last year’s tournament – goalie Livia Debnarova, defender Alexandra Mateikova and forward Michaela Paulinyova. In total, 14 players are back from last year.

Meanwhile, there are changes behind the bench. Gabriela Sabolova, whose first experience of international coaching came in 2012/13 as an assistant on the U18 roster, takes over from Miroslav Mosnar. She took her team (minus Lopusanova) to last month’s four-team tournament in Chomutov and took Finland to overtime in the strongest performance at that event. Overall, Sabolova felt that poor finishing hurt Slovakia: “We can see progress, but the tournament also showed some minor shortcomings that we want to focus on.”

Switzerland

7^th in 2023

The Swiss have been ever-present in the top division since winning promotion in 2014. That said, in every season but one it’s taken a relegation playoff to preserve that status. The big task for Melanie Hafliger’s team this year is to try to escape another survival struggle on home ice in Zug.

Switzerland’s class of 2024 has plenty of tournament experience. Eleven players have been here before, and four of them are back for a third time. Moreover, Alena Lynn Rossel, Naemi Herzig and Ivana Wey have already played on the senior women’s team. With home ice advantage as well, Halfliger hopes that this can be a breakout tournament that inspires a new generation of young Swiss players.

“I am convinced that playing the World Championship in our own country will provide an extra boost for women’s ice hockey,” she said. “We are a very hungry an ambitious team ... we put together a roster that live 100% of our identity and will represent our country with a lot of passion and energy.”