Tessa Janecke is one of Team USA's rising stars. She was the youngest player to make Team USA this year.
Tessa Janecke is one of Team USA's rising stars. She was the youngest player to make Team USA this year.
When Team USA cut five veteran members of their senior national team heading into the 2023 women’s World Championships, it marked a shift. While there’s no such thing as a rebuild in international hockey, USA definitely got younger and brought a new look to the tournament.
Two teenagers, Tessa Janecke and Haley Winn, made their senior national team debuts for Team USA, but the team also included 20-year-olds Rory Guilday, Caroline Harvey, Lacey Eden, and Abbey Murphy. Beyond this group, Hanna Bilka (22), Taylor Heise (23), Gabrielle Hughes (23), and Abbey Levy (23) round out the burgeoning core of youth for Team USA.
“You want them to get their first goal, their first assist, their first game, their first win, there’s a lot of firsts for us, we’re a really young team,” said veteran captain Hilary Knight at the onset of the tournament, who was playing in her 13th World Championship with the USA. “It’s awesome, we’ve got everyone bringing energy. It’s definitely a challenge when you have that many new faces in the room, but how people step up and slot into spaces, they’re doing great.”
USA coach John Wroblewski was happy with how his young players performed as a group as well. He wants to encourage them to play to their strengths, and despite their youth, be fearless.
“None of them waited around, they went right out from their first shift…they just went out and played their game, fearless,” he said. “That’s something we want to instill with them, even though they might not get the results that they’re looking for, to just keep playing a fearless style and keep trying the things that have made them good up until this point, and try to enhance those things and keep testing the boundaries of what their limits might be. We’ll keep infusing that fearless style with them and hopefully we can retain it.”
For Janecke, who was named the NCAA Rookie of the Year, getting the opportunity to join her childhood idols was a special moment.
“Special to be a part of this team and get to learn from these players on and off the ice everyday,” said Janecke. “To have that opportunity is something I don’t take for granted.”
Janecke was a standout for USA’s U-18 roster and proved she could dominate against older players with Penn State in the NCAA this season scoring 22 goals and 47 points in 38 games. While this is another step up, Janecke is not reinventing the wheel, instead she’s focusing in on what she’s done at every level.
“I’m taking what I knew before, and bringing my strengths to this team, but watching my teammates everyday, and just trying to learn from them and my coaches everyday.”
While Janecke and Winn are prominent names on USA’s roster already, the next wave is promising as well, including NCAA national champions with Wisconsin Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards, and Claire Enright, and a deep pool of blueliners challenging to earn an opportunity with the senior national team.
“For a long time to come we’re going to have a lot of younger players like myself stepping into these roles and at some point in their career be really dominant at this level,” said Janecke. “I think it’s really special to see that we have so many options…to grow the team, grow the community, and win for USA Hockey.”