The IIHF World Championship round robin is over. USA finished atop Group A while Sweden won Group B. The the deck of our initial power rankings has been shuffled heading into the medal round. We also know now that Norway and Hungary are heading to Division 1A after being relagated.
Here’s a look at Dub Hockey’s IIHF World Championship power rankings heading into the medal round:
1. USA
The Americans easily handled the competition, including Canada, in preliminary round play. They’ve combined the youth and speed of Abbey Murphy, Tessa Janecke, and Caroline Harvey with the veteran savvy of players like Lee Stecklein and Hilary Knight to perfection.
2. Canada
They haven’t looked sharp for three periods in any game, but the tools are all there. The additions of Daryl Watts and Jennifer Gardiner, alongside captain Marie-Philip Poulin have powered the offense through this tournament. They’ll need to defend better as a team, and get a few key saves to get by USA, and to avoid a scare in the semis.
3. Finland
After beating Czechia and Switzerland, Finland firmly placed themselves in third in this tournament. They rely heavily on their forward depth, including defensively. Their goaltending has been up and down but is highly capable and due to steal a game. Defensively, beyond their top three, there remains question marks. It’s their bronze to lose.
4. Czechia
Watching Czechia in their first two periods against Canada, you’d believe they are close to that upset. Watching Czechi against Finland and USA, and you’d believe there’s a long way to go. The addition of Kristyna Kaltounkova and the emergence of Adela Sapovalivova have been significant boosts for Czechia. Now it’s about come up with a game plan to face the big nations, systems that attack their weaknesses or vulnerabilities, and satisfying consistent.
5. Sweden
There have been a few hiccups, but there’s nothing to show Sweden isn’t going to cause problems in the quarter-finals. They are fast, they are skilled, and they have better depth than any nation outside the top 3-4 teams in the world. It hasn’t all come together as hoped yet, and perhaps the absence of Maja Nylen Persson had a bigger impact than expected. This team is going to continue to get better as their young core develops.
6. Switzerland
The Swiss showed more competitiveness this time around than expected. Alina Muller and Lara Stalder continue to drive this program forward, and they have world class goaltending in Andrea Brandli. It’s unlikely the Swiss can upset a team for a medal, but Muller and Stalder both have game breaking potential, and they’ve getting consistency from every aspect of their lineup from the moment the puck drops until the final buzzer.
7. Japan
Japan continues to compete hard. Their roster has good team speed, but the loss of Akane Shiga in their final round robin game is a significant hit to their chances. This team can buzz around the offensive zone and takes away time and space defensively, but they lack scoring, and Shiga was their best threat. Nonetheless, it’s already been a good tournament for Japan.
8. Germany
Germany competes hard, has a number of quality players like Laura Kluge and Nina Jobst-Smith, but there is no firepower here. It’s a top to bottom roster of quality two-way players who lack scoring ability
9. Norway
They didn’t earn the right to stay being relegated back to Division 1A, but they did beat Hungary and show glimmers of a nation that could be on the rise.
10. Hungary
Things couldn’t have gone much worse. It took Hungary until their final round robin game to score a goal. In the end they were outscored 11-1 and are heading back to Division 1A
