Kristýna Kaltounková is playing in her first IIHF Women’s World Championship and she’s added a goal-scoring element that has sometimes been lacking on the Czech women’s national team. Through three games, she has scored two of the team’s five goals and her rocket from the point on the power play late in Saturday’s game against Finland got everyone’s attention.

Unfortunately for “Kalty” and the Czechs, that game went down as a 4-2 loss, putting the team’s record at one win and two losses.

“Personally, you could be saying that it feels good to score a goal because it’s so difficult to do in this tournament,” she said. “It feels good to know that we got something going on during the power play.”

Kaltounková was a phenomenal teenage player, making the Czech U-18 team as a 14-year-old, but despite putting up some big offensive numbers with Colgate University over the past five seasons, she has not represented her home country in a World Championship and not at all over the last four seasons.

“I’ve been with the U-18s but it’s so different,” said Kaltounková, now 22. “It’s great here. The atmosphere is awesome, I’m having a lot of fun and all the girls are great. It’s definitely special to be at home and an honor to be playing in such a high-stakes tournament playing against some of the best players in the world.”

Ronja Savolainen On Finn-Czech Rivalry: 'I Loved To Make (The Fans) Quiet' It’s become <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/natalie-mlynkova-on-usa-were-coming-for-them-on-finland-we-want-to-prove-that-were-the-best-team-in-europe">the big rivalry in European women’s hockey</a> over the past few years, and so it felt good for the Finns to beat Czechia 4-2 on Czech ice in the third game for each team at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

For reasons that have been kept private, she has not played for the Czechs over the past few World Championships or in the 2022 Winter Olympics, when she was clearly good enough to be on the team and her scoring touch would have surely helped. Despite this, the Czechs have managed to capture a couple of bronze medals and would be in the medal conversation again even without Kaltounková. With her, and playing on home ice, the Czechs were considered on paper to be the strongest European side heading into the tournament.

“That wasn’t the priority to me,” she said about mending fences in time to play at home. “The priority was getting back with the team. It was just a bonus that it was at home, for sure, but it was not the goal to come back for a World Championship just because it was at home. I think that’s important to know.

“My priority was to get back with the team once I was feeling 100 percent ready to be back and once we communicated that with the staff, once both sides were ready. It’s definitely exciting, but (playing at home) wasn’t the key to me coming back.”

Although this is her first senior-level World Championship, she goes back a long way with several players on the team. Her power-play goal against Finland was assisted by Aneta Tejralová and Kateřina Mrázová, who were both teammates in her first U-18 tournament.

“There’s a lot of them on my team but also on some of the other teams,” she nodded. “We always bump into each other and say hi, and I think about the good times back in the U-15, U-16, U-18 days.”

In her first U-18 tournament, which was also played on home ice in Přerov, 14-year-old Kaltounková scored two goals in five games. She also made a lasting impression in a very physical quarterfinal game against Russia by standing up for a teammate by picking a fight with Russian captain Nina Pirogova – three years her senior.

“I definitely remember that,” she chuckled. “Now when I see Nemo (Noemi Neubauerová) going into some battles, I’m ready on my toes. That was me and her because Natálie Mlýnková was getting punched in the face, so that couldn’t fly with us.

Natalie Mlynkova On USA: ‘We’re Coming For Them’ – On Finland: ‘We Want To Prove That We’re The Best Team In Europe’ After opening with a 3-0 win over Switzerland, Czechia dropped its second game of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship 4-0 to the USA despite being without Kateřina Mrázová, Michaela Pejzlová or starting goaltender Klára Peslarová.

“But you know, I remember again, a great home crowd, a lot of support from family and friends, that’s what I remember.”

Although this tournament hasn’t gone exactly as the Czechs would have liked, nothing has been lost and the important games are still ahead.

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter too much,” she said about the loss to Finland. “I personally hate losing so it’s a blow to me, but I’m going to do my best to bounce back mentally and physically, so I’m ready for the games that actually matter on paper.

“We shouldn’t underestimate anybody but we’ll bounce back as a team and be ready on Monday.”

Ann-Renée Desbiens: ‘I Was Pretty Confident’ About Getting A Chance To Play She’s been Canada’s starting goalie for the last few years, but when Ann-Renée Desbiens suffered a lower-body injury in a PWHL game on March 18, her status was unclear heading into this year’s IIHF Women’s World Championship, with the door possibly opening for 27-year-old Kristen Campbell or 21-year-old Eve Gascon to audition for the job.