They’ve been described this week as the most physically imposing European team to ever play in the Women’s World Championship and that was on full display in Czechia’s convincing 7-0 victory over Switzerland in the quarterfinals of the 2025 IIHF Women’s Worlds. After an evenly played first half of the opening period, the Czechs killed off Switzerland’s first power play and then went to work, scoring five goals in a span of 8:01 to effectively put the game away. The Czechs, in fact, only recorded 10 shots on goal in the first period but won all the puck battles in the Swiss zone, with the Swiss defenders seemingly unable to hold them back. “We said we were gonna go hard to the net, have players in front and try to get those rebounds, which worked for us,” said Tereza Vanišová, who scored a goal and had two assists in the opening period. Kristýna Kaltounková: 'My Priority Was Getting Back With The Team Once I Was 100% Ready' [https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/5f391b4a-ee3c-4ac0-a09f-b3c4ad263e00/thumbnail] Kristýna Kaltounková: 'My Priority Was Getting Back With The Team Once I Was 100% Ready' 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. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/kristna-kaltounkov-my-priority-was-getting-back-with-the-team-once-i-was-100-ready] For fans of any team that she’s played for know – be that the University of Maine, the Boston Pride, Leksands IF in Sweden, the Toronto Six or the PWHL teams in Ottawa and Montreal – Vanišová thrives when the game gets physical. “I think hockey should be a physical game,” she said. “It’s too bad the refs are calling (so many) penalties because some of them are just not penalties, it’s just hockey. I think the bodychecks should be allowed, for sure. I think that’s hockey.” Vanišová is one of several 1996-born players that have played on the Czech national team for a long time. That group won bronze at the 2014 U-18 Women’s Worlds and later that year, played for the senior women’s national team as 17-year-olds in the Division I Group A tournament on home ice in Přerov. Natalie Mlynkova On USA: ‘We’re Coming For Them’ – On Finland: ‘We Want To Prove That We’re The Best Team In Europe’ [https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/96003aed-e1aa-40e5-8561-1ac2ded28787/thumbnail] 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. [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] In addition to Vanišová, the other ‘96ers are Vendula Přibylová, defenders Aneta Tejralová and Dominika Lásková and goaltender Klára Peslarová. Denisa Křižová and Kateřina Mrázová, who are a bit older, were also on the national team back in ‘94. “We’ve been through a lot, actually, as a team,” she said reminiscently when reminded of how far the group has come. “We have a core of players who’ve been on the national team for so many years. We’ve been through it together and … I think we’re getting better each year.” Looking ahead to the semifinals, she said, “Well, the USA has a really good team and we obviously lost the game against them in the group. I don’t know, we’ll try are hardest and see.” Adela Sapovolivova 'Not The Biggest Player But Not Afraid To Play Against Anybody' [https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/8dfd0784-d4b1-47de-a4e4-a407da5167ca/thumbnail] Adela Sapovolivova 'Not The Biggest Player But Not Afraid To Play Against Anybody' Adéla Šapovalivová, who made a name for herself in international hockey with a couple of brilliant performances for Czechia at the U-18 Women’s World Championships, is showing that she has the skills and drive to compete among the best players in the world at the current IIHF Women’s Worlds in České Budějovice. On Monday, she scored her team’s only goal in <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/womens/international/third-period-ex">a 7-1 loss to Canada</a> – a game that was actually much closer than the final score suggests as it was just 2-1 after 40 minutes. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/adela-sapovolivova-not-the-biggest-player-but-not-afraid-to-play-against-anybody]
