Witten by: Frank Mills
Women’s Hockey Scout, Neutral Zone
Another chapter in the historic rivalry between the United States and Canadian women’s national teams played out in Czechia this year at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championships. The two teams fought to a tie, as Canada came from behind twice to even the score. However, the Americans prevailed in overtime when Taylor Heise connected with Tessa Janecke for the golden goal.
Penn State’s Janecke finished the tournament with three goals and three assists playing on the top line with Alex Carpenter and Hillary Knight. Her performance in the final game, along with goals from the University of Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy and Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey, showcased the contributions from the nine NCAA players on the national team roster.
Canada’s roster, with the exception of Chloe Primerano (Minnesota) and Eve Gascon (Minnesota-Duluth), was loaded with veteran PWHL talent. The top line of Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, and Jennifer Gardiner recreated the chemistry they’ve honed playing for the Montreal Victoire, combining for 12 goals in the tournament. In the final game, it was Canada’s younger PWHL stars who had the scoring touch, with goals from Danielle Serdachny, Jennifer Gardiner, and Sarah Fillier.
For both teams, the lead-up to the final game was marked by consistent offensive production from veteran players. Hillary Knight led her team with 9 points, with Kelly Pannek and Alex Carpenter following with 8 points each. Poulin led her team and the tournament with 12 points, followed by Gardiner with 10, and Stacey and Renata Fast with 8 points.
The final game also saw two of the best goaltenders in the world going head to head. Ann-Renee Desbiens faced 95 shots on goal in the tournament, stopping all but seven and posting a 1.64 goals against average. Aerin Frankel allowed only five goals on 91 shots posting a 1.05 goals against average. In the gold medal game, Canada outshot the Americans 47 to 30.
Tournament Take-Aways and Observations
- Marie-Philip Poulin passed Hayley Wickenheiser to become Canada’s all-time scoring leader at the world championships. She was named tournament MVP for the second time in her career.
- Finland’s Michelle Karvinen became her country’s all-time leading scorer in world championship play.
- Finland battled back from a 0-3 deficit to beat Czechia in the bronze medal game.
- Alex Carpenter was a beast on the faceoff dot, winning 69.85% of her draws.
- Ella Shelton and Jennifer Gardiner led the tournament in plus/minus with +13.
- The US finished fourth in Scoring Efficiency (27 goals on 279 shots) behind Canada, Czechia, and Sweden.
- Germany scored on 40% of its power-play opportunities, tying Canada for the tournament lead.
- Renata Fast led all skaters in time on ice with 166.06 minutes.
- Hungary skated with a 15-year-old, three 16-year-olds, and three 17-year-olds. Germany skated a 15-year-old and three 16-year-olds.
- NCAA representation at the tournament: University of Minnesota (7 players), St. Cloud State (6 players), University of Wisconsin (5 players), University of Minnesota-Duluth (3 players), Mercyhurst University (3 players), Lindenwood University ( 3 players), Ohio State University (2 players), Boston University (2 players). Single-player representation: Dartmouth, RPI, Colgate, St. Thomas, Union, Clarkson, Penn State, Maine, and Providence.
- Youth Hockey Representation for Team USA: Bishop Kearney (5), Chicago Mission (4), Pens Elite (3), Shattuck St. Mary’s (2), NAHA (2), East Coast Wizards (2), Minnesota High Schools (5).
- Czechia set a new record for attendance at an IIHF Women’s World Championship with 122,331 fans.