Despite eventually winning 9-1, Canada actually got off to a slow slow start in its quarterfinal game against Japan at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Canada did eventually leave the period with a two-goal lead, thanks to a goal and an assist from defender Claire Thompson.
“Honestly, the first period was not our best,” Thompson said after the game. “We addressed some things we wanted to change going into the second and third and we were happy to build off of that in the later periods.”
This is Thompson’s third World Championship and her game-opening goal at 13:47 was her first at the Worlds (although she scored twice in the 2022 Olympics). Then she added an assist less than three minutes later on Jennifer Gardiner’s 2-0 goal.
A graduate of Princeton University, Thompson did not play hockey in 2023-24 as she focused on her medical school studies at NYU. This season, she decided to pause her studies to return to play hockey, as she explained in this interview with The Hockey News’ Ian Kennedy.
“It’s been great so far,” Thompson said of her first season with the PWHL’s Minnesota Frost. “I’ve got to play with a lot of new teammates this year. They’ve been super welcoming and it’s been a lot of fun.”
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Defenders accounted for both of the USA’s goals in a 2-1 win over
Canada on Sunday night at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
Several of her Minnesota teammates are in České Budějovice for this World Championship, including six on the U.S. team and two on Czechia.
“Sophie Jaques is on the Canadian team so I’ve been with her a lot, but I think when we come to international tournaments, we’re friendly and say hi but my focus is on the Canadian team.
“It’s always an honor to represent my country and I’m always so grateful to be back with the women on this team,” the Toronto native said. “They’re the reason I came back and I’m so glad that I get to spend every day with them.”
Looking ahead to the semifinal, Thompson said, “Finland’s a great team. They’ve shown that they’ve improved throughout the tournament. We’ll go back and watch how their later games were and then go back and focus on what we can do to bring our best going into these next games.”