The United States and Canada will participate in the women’s EHT tournament in Tampere. According to the North Americans, the Europeans have been able to narrow the level difference between the national teams.
The women’s ice hockey world championship has been played for more than 30 years, but only Canada and the United States have celebrated World Cup gold.
Finland has come the closest, which won silver in its first and only World Cup final in 2019, when the United States celebrated the championship. Only the North Americans and Finland have played in the finals at all.
The United States and Canada will participate in the EHT tournament in Tampere this week with teams made up of university players.
Many female lions also play puck at North American universities. How does the work behind the rapako differ from Finland and Europe?
A defenseman in his third season at the University of Minnesota Nelli Laitinen says that the USA and Canada invest more in individual skills than in Finland.
– There are many personal trainers. Personal skills are developed much more than in Finland. That is perhaps the biggest difference compared to Finland, Laitinen says.
Canada’s head coach Alison Domenico admits that North Americans often invest in personal skill.
– On the other hand, some of the Europeans coming to North America have already developed their skills from a young age. Now that the countries have more resources to develop women’s hockey from the young age groups, the difference in level between the national teams has narrowed significantly, says Domenico.
Speed into everyday life
Head coach of the Women’s Lions Juuso Toivola estimates that the advantage of North Americans is rooted in high-quality everyday life and fast-paced training. You get an advantage from a small rink.
– There, the pace increases and situations come faster, and they get used to a faster game. We have to be able to respond to that everyday life and gain similar experiences and reach the kind of speed that this international game requires, says Toivola.
According to Toivola, the Women’s Lions are not behind the North Americans in skill level or skating speed. However, there is enough work to catch up with the top countries.
– We must take into account and sharpen the fact that the game requires stopping, faster spurts, starting with and without the puck, i.e. such situational speed play. It emphasizes the skill of speed, that you can do all the existing skills at that speed.
– We need to get those stimuli. In these games we get to measure them.
Does PWHL even out the differences?
Last season, women’s ice hockey got a new finish, when the new professional league PWHL began operations in Canada and the United States. Three Finns play in the new top league: Susanna Tapani, Nora Tulus and Ronja Savolainen.
According to Juuso Toivola, Finland will benefit from the experience the players have gained in the professional league.
– It is currently the leading series, which has been awaited for a long time. It’s a welcome change. We’ll see how it develops from there. Of course, it would be great to see more Finnish players there. At the moment, it’s certainly the most sought-after place that players aspire to, says Toivola.
– But I’ve said before that it doesn’t matter where you play and what shirt you wear. What is significant is how you can meet the challenges needed at the top in everyday life. Players then make their own choices. Some progress in one direction and some in another.
The defender who won the world championship with the USA in the spring of 2023 Caroline Harvey estimates that the new professional series and the universities will help in equalizing the level differences between the national teams.
– I think the Europeans are on the right track, especially when they go to the PWHL and the college leagues. Many Swedes and Finns play in universities. It’s a great thing for their national teams, says Harvey.
– They certainly do a lot of right things. They are very skilled at skating and handling the puck. You just have to keep playing and training at a hard level. Thus, they remain competitive and develop.
In addition to Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, Canada and the USA are participating in the EHT tournament played in Tampere’s Hakametsä.
In group A, Finland, Switzerland and the USA play.
Canada, Sweden and the Czech Republic are in Group B.
The program of the female lions:
Wed 11.12. Finland–USA at 7 p.m
Fri 13.12 Switzerland–Finland at 7 p.m
Saturday 14.12. the pairs of matches to be played are determined based on the initial groups (A3 – B3, A1 – B2 and B1 – A2).
Sunday 15.12. the jumbos of the initial blocks meet again at 11:30. The bronze medal match will be played at 3 pm and the final match of the tournament at 7 pm.