From THN On The 'E': EBUG Story of the Ages, Josh Manisacalco and More. THN.com/podcast Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk0OTg3NTUyNTk0MjA3OTQz/2023-iihf-w-u18_1.jpg] The 2023 U-18 women’s World Championship is set to drop the puck from Jan. 8 to 15 in Ostersund, Sweden, featuring the world’s next wave of talent. Canada edged the United States last year in the gold medal game, but the gap between the pair of powerhouse nations in women’s hockey appeared to be narrowing, with Finland, Sweden, and Czechia showing strength in the tournament. Canada and the USA are again expected to battle for gold, with each nation returning seven players from the 2022 tournament. Their challengers bring a mixture of youthful stars and veterans with World Championship and Olympic experience to the table. Joining the top group at this year’s tournament is Japan which was promoted from the Division 1-A grouping. Here is a look at who to watch from each nation competing at the 2023 U-18 women’s World Championship. CANADA Canada will look to repeat as champions. The backbone of this team will be their two returning blueliners Ava Murphy, who scored a point per game last year to lead Canada in scoring, and Piper Grober, who watched her role increase game-by-game in 2022. Up front, returning forwards Jordan Baxter, Alex Law, Alexia Aubin, Emmalee Pais, and Jocelyn Amos will all be counted upon. Aubin had five points in five games in 2022, and Baxter emerged as one of the tournament’s best shooters. The group will be joined by several high-scoring newcomers, including Caitlin Kraemer, one of the top scorers in the OWHL U-22 Elite playing with the K-W Rangers. Morgan Jackson leads the CSSHL in scoring, totalling 33 points in 14 games with Shawinigan Lake School. The OWHL is heavily represented on this year’s Team Canada, featuring 14 players from the league, including five players - Pais, Amos, Abby Stonehouse, Shelby Laidlaw, and Keira Hurry - from the London Devilettes. USA Similar to Canada, seven players return to the silver medal-winning Team USA. Perhaps the biggest player, physically and significantly, is goaltender Annelies Bergmann who was stellar last year for USA. Up front, Finley McCarthy played a crucial role for USA in 2022 in generating secondary scoring and checking top lines. Also returning for the USA are Cassie Hall, Molly Jordan, Ava Lindsey, Maggie Scannell and Josie St. Martin. Hall and Scannell will both get opportunities to play more prominent roles offensively for the Americans this time around. Team USA will attempt to capitalize off pre-existing chemistry as five players on the roster play together with Minnetonka High School, and seven play for Selects Academy. Other familiar last names include Joy Dunne, younger sister of senior national team stalwart Jincy Dunne, and Rose Dwyer, whose sister Grace was a standout last year for USA’s U-18 team. Despite being a first-time member of USA’s U-18 team, Dunne was voted team captain. FINLAND Sanni Vanhanen, Pauliina Salonen and Tilli Keranen, Finland’s top three scorers from last year’s U-18 tournament, are all back. Vanhanen remains one of Finland’s top players at any level, bringing multiple senior national tournaments of experience, including the Olympics and World Championships in 2022, to the table. With HIFK in Finland’s Naisten Liiga, Vanhanen is currently scoring at more than two points per game, while Salonen is also scoring more than a point per game in Naisten Liiga with TPS. Keranen is coming off a strong performance in a recent three-team international U-18 warm-up competition, leading the tournament in scoring ahead of another returning forward, who the Finns hope to see a significant boost from, Julia Schalin. Returnee Sinna Varjonen will quarterback the blueline for Finland. The real question mark for Finland is who will replace Emilia Krykko in net. Krykko was last year’s top goaltender in the tournament, helping Finland win bronze. The top candidates are Venla Varis, who is currently backing up Krykko in Naisten Liiga with Team Kuortane, and TPS Turku netminder Suvi Saarinen. SWEDEN Mira Markstrom and Mira Jungaker are the cornerstones of Team Sweden. Jungaker, a blueliner, had five points in six games for Sweden’s senior national team at the 2022 World Championship tournament and was an assistant captain for Tre Kronor at last year’s U-18 tournament. She has the ability to transport the puck from her own zone and regularly activates as a scoring threat. The same could be said for fellow returning defender Jenna Raunio who tied Jungaker for third in team scoring last year. Up front, Markstrom flashed her hands and offensive creativity at last year’s tournament, regularly serving as Sweden’s top-scoring threat. Her puck skills are elite, resulting in her topping Swedish forwards in scoring in 2022. Joining Markstrom up front are returnees Ebba Hedqvist and Stella Lindell, who need to elevate their games to take pressure away from Markstrom. If her recent performance at a Four Nations tournament is any indication, newcomer Hilda Svensson could provide an offensive boost. Svensson scored eight points in three games to lead the tournament in scoring and is currently tied for the most points by a U-18 forward in the SDHL. CZECHIA After narrowly missing promotion to Group A, Czechia will be a favorite, alongside Switzerland, to emerge to the quarterfinals. Leading the way for Czechia is dynamic forward Adela Sapovalivova. Sapovalivova represented Czechia’s senior national team, helping her nation to a historic bronze at the 2022 World Championship, competing as a 16-year-old and scoring three goals in seven games. She’ll line up alongside Tereza Plosova, who topped the 2022 U-18 tournament in scoring with 10 points, and Tereza Pistekova, Czechia’s top goal-scorer last year. Perhaps the most important returnee who can steal games for Czechia is netminder Michaela Hesova. Finishing the 2022 tournament with a 1.05 GAA and .944 save percentage, Hesova plays at Selects Academy alongside some of the best in the world, including seven members of Team USA. On the blueline, Klaudie Slavickova is the top scoring U-18 player in Czechia’s women’s league, and fellow returning defender Eliska Hotova will also be relied upon heavily. SWITZERLAND The strength of the Swiss team this season will be on the blueline. Alessia Baechler finished second in scoring on the team at last year’s U-18 tournament before representing Switzerland’s senior national team at the World Championship. She will be Switzerland’s leader both on and off the ice, and will be joined on the blueline by Alena Lynn Rossel, another returnee with offensive upside. Elena Gaberell will also be a key figure on the Swiss back end. Without Alina Marti up front, the Swiss will need to find scoring from others. Switzerland will count on returning players Chiara Eggli and Naemi Herzig, who both play in the Swiss league with ZSC Lions Frauen, to pick up the scoring slack. Eggli and Herzig are the top two U-18 scorers in Switzerland’s women’s league. Switzerland’s starter Margaux Favre is back in net after a solid performance at last year’s U-18 tournament. SLOVAKIA While Slovakia’s top scorers from last year’s tournament are gone, a wave of youth will compete in 2023. Slovakia’s top returning forwards will be 16-year-old Tatiana Blichova, who is absolutely scorching Slovakia’s women’s league with ZHK Sarisanka Presov, and 15-year-old Ema Tothova, who scored a pair of goals last year for Slovakia. Another youthful newcomer, 14-year-old Nela Lopusanova, was Slovakia’s leading scorer in a Four Nations warmup tournament and is currently scoring more than four points per game in Slovakia’s top women’s league. From last year’s U-18 entry, Slovakia is returning both netminders and a full blueline, including Alexandra Mateickova and Liana Tomastikova. JAPAN Japan earned a promotion from the Division 1-A tournament to the main bracket of the U-18 World Championship this year, following in the footsteps of the senior national team, who surprised many in 2022. However, Japan will face stiff competition as they’ll be without forward Makoto Ito and goaltender Riko Kawaguchi, who both represented Japan at the World Championships and have aged out after leading their nation to promotion. So has University of Vermont commit Hina Shimomukai, who led Japan in scoring at the Division 1-A tournament. Eleven members of their qualifying team are eligible for this tournament, with defender Kohane Sato, who also played for Japan at the World Championship, back as their top player. Up front, Nagomi Murakami will be asked to take a central role in Japan’s attack.
