Sweden knocked off Czechia in the Olympic women's hockey quarterfinals, and they'll enter believing they can do it again. This is the same team that took Canada to overtime at the 2024 World Championships, the same year Canada won gold at the event. 

Two years later, Sweden is a stronger, deeper team than ever, although they are up against a team being dubbed the best American women's hockey team ever.

The last time these two teams faced off, it was at a 2024 Six Nations tournament were development squads from both nations played. USA's roster included Caroline Harvey, Abbey Murphy, Tessa Janecke, Haley Winn, Laila Edwards, Joy Dunne, Rory Guilday and Ava McNaughton, who are all key contributors on their current Olympic roster. Sweden also had a chunk of their current roster including Sara Hjalmarsson, Hannah Thuvik, Hilda Svensson, Sofie Lundin, Ida Karlsson, Lisa Johansson, Thea Johansson, Ebba Hedqvist, and Ebba Svensson Traff. That game ended in a 5-0 USA win with USA outshooting Sweden 33-16. USA didn't have their veterans, but Sweden was also without their best, while USA had their current core driving domination at the Olympics.

USA has turned into a women's hockey monolith. They can score in so many ways. You can bet, although the team will come first, that there will be some interest in getting Hilary Knight her record setting goal and point to become the all-time Olympic leader for the United States. Alongside veteran forwards such as Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Kelly Pannek, the veteran core is ready, but it's their youth including Murphy, Janecke, Hannah Bilka, and Dunne driving the scoring up front. What's more dangerous for the Swedes is USA's blueline featuring Megan Keller, Winn, Edwards, and Harvey. Harvey is USA's leading scorer, and Edwards was the 2024 World Championship MVP as a forward who has used her lethal shot at will in this tournament. They can score in so many ways, seemingly at will.

This all comes against Ebba Svensson Traff, Sweden's 21-year-old netminder. She didn't play in that Six Nations game against the United States, and in fact, Svensson Traff had never started for Sweden at the World Championships, or Olympics, prior to this tournament. In four starts in Italy, she has posted a 0.50 GAA, .976 save percentage, and two shutouts. She did it all after winning Sweden's starting job away from PWHL alumni Emma Soderberg, NCAA alumni Tindra Holm, national team veteran Ida Boman, and back-to-back NCAA National Goaltender of the Year semifinalist Lisa Jonsson. 

If Svensson Traff has one significant thing going for her, it's three straight seasons as the starter on a losing team, where she continuosly gave her SDHL club, Linkoping, a chance to win. She's used to the puck being in her end for considerable periods of time, facing defensive gaps, and still coming out with strong numbers. Only one starter in the SDHL has better numbers this season, and that's Switzerland's Andrea Brandli. Brandli however is on the first place Frolunda, with 22 team wins. Svensson Traff has posted a .933 save percentage on a six win team while playing significantly more than any other netminder and facing hundreds of shots more than any other netminder in Sweden.

NCAA women's hockey fans will be well aware of this rivalry. Harvey, who plays for Wisconsin, and Jungaker who plays for Ohio State, have met several times before. They are two of the best defenders in the world right now featuring dynamic puck skills, incredible skating and edge work, and a fierce and physical compete level. Jungaker has arguably been Sweden's best player, and at only 20, with two seasons in the NCAA remaining before she heads for the PWHL, she's getting better by the game. Harvey is closing out her college career, is the consensus top pick for the 2026 PWHL Draft, and is already considered the best defender in the world, a title Jungaker wants to draw into question.