There’s no question that USA and Canada remain the teams to beat at the IIHF Women’s World Championships. Czechia and Finland are the other medal contenders, with Sweden on an exponential upward path. Here’s a look at Dub Hockey’s power rankings for each nation ahead of the 2025 women’s IIHF World Championships.
- Canada – Canada enters as reigning World Champions, and their roster looks stronger, faster, and more skilled than last year. The additions of Daryl Watts, Claire Thompson, Sophie Jaques, and Jennifer Gardiner gives Canada new layers in their attack. It also gives them a boost in their skill and skating in those high flying games against USA. It’s Canada’s crown to lose.
2. USA – With how hot veterans Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Taylor Heise, and Aerin Frankel have been in the PWHL, coupled with the power performances of Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms, and Laila Edwards in the NCAA, USA comes in firing on all cylinders. For their own sake, American fans should hope John Wroblewski snaps out of his experiment with Edwards on the blueline and puts his blue chipper, the reigning World Championship MVP, back up front where she belongs. These strategic choices will be the difference in gold or silver.
3. Czechia – This team enters with nine healthy PWHL players, along with Kristyna Kaltounkova and Natalie Mlynkova in tow. It’s two full lines of players at the top level of world play. Their depth has continued to improve with solid pros from the SDHL, and NCAA talents joining the mix. This could be the year we see an upset.
4. Finland – They have veteran talent in Susanna Tapani, Michelle Karvinen, Petra Nieminen, and Noora Tulus. They have ever improving NCAA players like Nelli Laitinen and Sanni Ahola. And yes they have a layer of next generation stars like Elisa Holopainen, who had a breakout season as the SDHL’s MVP. Still, Finland has been trending down and needs to find a way to rapidly change course in the lacking development at the youth levels for girls to begin producing a new wave.
5. Sweden – Make no mistake, Sweden is now capable of beating Finland and Czechia and challenging for a medal. Their only issue is, Sweden is the fifth best nation, but finds themselves trapped in Group B meaning their path is more difficult. Missing Maja Nylen Persson is a huge issue, but Sweden’s youth and depth are propelling this nation forward. There’s no question they have jumped over traditional members of Group A.
6. Germany – Germany lakes star power. Unlike the other nations at this tournament, they haven’t developed an offensive weapon. Nina Jobst-Smith is headed to the PWHL, and Laura Kluge has emerged as a solid two-way player. They’ll need solid goaltending from Sandra Abstreiter, but look ready to move past Switzerland who they outplayed last year before falling in overtime.
7. Switzerland – No nation has continue to fall as fast and hard as Switzerland. They’ve started to turn the ship domestically with more focus on the PostFinance Women’s League, but they now need to attract more North American talent to the league to increase competition for their players. There’s a trend for Swiss players to stay in the country, but it has hurt their national program development without their best young players developing against better players. This team will only achieve what Alina Muller, Lara Stalder, and Andrea Brandli can achieve. Their is a youth wave coming, but not fast enough.
8. Hungary – Hungary has better depth than in recent seasons. They bring a group mixing European pros and NCAA prospects. The bottom three in this tournament all have a legitimate chance to be relegated, or avoid relegation. It would not be surprising to see Hungary avoid that fate and send Japan down for the first time in nearly a decde.
9. Japan – Last year it looked like Japan was turning the corner, finally sending their players to stronger leagues. This year, only two players, including star Akane Shiga, played outside Japan. Shiga will be the focal point, but Japan continues to sit in neutral while other nations work to get their women’s hockey programs into gear and moving forward.
10. Norway – The last time Norway played at this level was in 1996-97. Only one player, Andrea Dalen, on Norway’s roster was alive at that point. It’s very possible Norway beats someone at this tournament. With two teams going up and down, avoiding relegation won’t be easy, but with Ena Nystrom in net, and their mix of talent up front, Norway could surprise. With their move to allow body checking in girls’ and women’s hockey, Norway is getting serious about their women’s hockey development.
