The women's junior ice hockey world championship is a long way off

“This is the missing piece to our puzzle right now,” said Katie Million, director of women’s national team programs for USA Hockey.

“We have our really strong under-18 championship program and the women’s world championships, but there’s a period of four to six years where we don’t see those players again and have the kind of touchpoints that they do with the men.”

The Junior World Championship for men or under 20 years old occupies a large place in the ice hockey landscape. It takes place over Christmas break and runs through early January and is like college bowl season for hockey fans.

It attracts millions of viewers to the screens and thousands to the arenas, especially when it takes place in Canada, making it profitable through corporate sponsorship. It's also an NHL scouting bonanza.

Canada's general manager Gina Kingsbury, who is also Toronto's GM in the new Professional Women's Hockey League, wears both club and international hats in her push for a junior women's tournament.

“I think this new league is even more important in many ways. “You can almost create what the men’s junior world championship is, a pre-NHL tryout for everyone,” Kingsbury said.

“Fans and people who follow women's football can predict that one or two from Europe will probably go first in the standings because they destroyed the Junior World Cup and look at all these prospects coming into this professional league will get in.”

“I would hope that the league expedites this process. This has been on the agenda at the IIHF for several years.”

Canada and the United States host camps for their U22 women's teams and play each other in a three-game series each summer.

A lack of funding and a small player pool in countries outside North America are hampering the immediate establishment of a women's junior tournament, says Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer, chairwoman of the IIHF's women's committee.

“I would say not in the next five years, but we will get there,” she said.

A women's junior tournament for the top countries requires the IIHF to hold a corresponding tournament for countries in lower divisions.

There are ice hockey associations that are struggling with financial difficulties after the COVID crisis, and the women's division 3 Ukraine and Israel play for countries that are currently in geopolitical conflicts, Kolbenheyer emphasized.

“There are also concerns that, with the exception of the top four countries, they have enough players to not play the same players in all three tournaments,” she said.

“Of course the US and Canada have enough players to play against different players, but would that also be the case for other European or Asian countries?”

Japan's head coach says his country has the player strength for an under-20 team.

“We really wish we had someone under 20,” Yuji Iizuka said through an interpreter. “It’s really difficult to retain these younger players after the U18 category. There’s such a big gap.”

Swedish national team director Anders Lundberg raises concerns that young women could drift away from the game during this break.

“If I compare it to the men's team, there's the U16, 17, 18 and U20 juniors, the world juniors, there are these little steps where you say, 'Hey, I can take the next step' , but when the gap is there The difference between the U18 and the senior national team is so big. . . For some players it happens quickly, but for most players it could take ten years, from playing in the U18 World Cup to getting their first cap at senior level,” Lundberg said.

“That’s also a big role in keeping the girls going and having something to strive for.”

20 players aged 18 or younger will take part in the Women's World Cup in Utica, New York, spread across squads from the Czech Republic, Switzerland, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan and Sweden.

You're dealing with 30-year-olds at a time when there's more leniency when it comes to body checks in women's hockey.

“We have on the male and female side in the lower divisions. . . “The same players play for the U20 and U18 youth as well as the senior tournament,” said Kolbenheyer. “It shouldn’t be our goal to give the same players three tournaments a year.”

Whether the women's junior tournament will be held under 20, under 21 or even under 23 has yet to be decided.

Another hurdle is adding another women's tournament to the calendar. The date for the U18 World Cup is early January so that the players don't miss too much school.

Million believes the ideal time is December, just before the holidays, when colleges and universities take a break.

Nicole Gosling, the youngest player on the Canadian team at 21, believes young women deserve more chances to play for their country at a World Cup.

“If you look at hockey players, some people peak at different times, so I think it gives more players in that age group, say in college, the opportunity to represent their country if they haven't had success at under-18 level team,” said the defenseman from London, Ont.

“If you look at the men’s world junior team: If someone played in the world junior team, it’s always in their biography.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2024.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press