Canada skates for redemption at Women’s World Championships

The GIST: The 25th Women’s World Championships begin today in Denmark, with the planet’s best women’s hockey teams chasing gold. While the jerseys may not be trophy-worthy, the play certainly will be. Let’s do that hockey.

⚙️ The details: For the first time, Worlds will take place before the puck drops on the PWHL season, meaning most players are healthy and chomping at the bit for on-ice competition. As always, the tournament features 10 teams, split evenly into Groups A and B. The top-ranked Americans headline Group A, while the No. 2 Canadians feature in Group B.

• It hasn’t always been this way though: Previously, the five top teams were placed in Group A, and all of them advanced to the knockout round after the four-game round robin. Now, the groups are balanced, with the top four teams in each group advancing.

🌶️ The spiciest rivalry on ice: Since the first Women’s Worlds in 1990, every single edition has been won by Canada or the U.S., though the Canadians boast a slight advantage with 13 golds, compared to the Americans’ 11. If history has taught us anything, it’s that a gold-medal showdown is almost inevitable: Every title game (save one in 2019) has featured the forever foes.

🇨🇦 Team Canada’s shot at redemption: Hearts shattered during the Olympics gold medal final earlier this year, but Canada’s back, younger and hungrier than ever. While captain Marie Philip-Poulin’s absence will be felt, the Canucks are embracing their youth with four teenagers (including 19-year-old phenom Chloe Primerano) and 10 players under 25 on the roster.

• Time will tell if the new-look squad, headlined by a ready-to-rock Sarah Fillier, can return Canada to icy glory. All signs point to another championship clash with the U.S. on November 16th — but first, today’s 9 a.m. ET tourney opener vs. No. 6 Sweden. Drop that puck.