If you haven't already read our tournament introduction post, you should probably do that first. You'll find format and group information, plus how to watch.
The story of Group A may be the tale of the goalies. Team USA has a relatively young and inexperienced group of backstops while Finland, Sweden and Japan will all be counting on building on their solid goaltending to make moves in this tournament.
United States
After two disappointing tournaments in 2022 and 2023 where they finished 2nd and then 3rd, the Americans found their way back to the top in 2024. They were a well-balanced team that didn't rely too much on any one player, got contributions up and down the line sheet and played a consistent, steady tournament where they were perfect, winning each game in regulation time.
That being said, the nature of this tournament is to have a lot of roster turnover and most of the scoring players from the tournament in Zug have aged out. There are eight returners on this roster and USA will need them to step into bigger roles after contributing last season. Keep an eye on Mary Derrenbacher, who was the youngest player on last year's roster and is still only 16. She was tied for second on the team with eight points (2g, 6a) and was immediately noticeable on the ice. Natalia Dilbone is the only goalie on the roster with experience - she played one game in the 2024 tournament, making seven saves against Switzerland. The Averill sisters made history in 2024 and will now be coached by their mom's former teammate in Courtney Kennedy.
Of the newcomers, Madelyn Kimbrel is small but crafty, finding space where there didn't seem to be much. Ella Johnson is strong and solid, using her long reach well, holding space along the boards and fighting for room in the center of the ice. It felt like last year's roster was quite young, but this year's skews even younger, with five 15-year-olds. I'd have to imagine how Derrenbacher handled herself last year opened the door for some of the players this year.
Liz Keady Norton returns for her second year as head coach. She brings along Kennedy, a legend as a player who was an assistant at Boston College and with the senior national team in the past few years. She's a massive talent and resource for this team. New Bemidji State coach Amber Fryklund makes her international coaching debut as an assistant as does LIU assistant coach Shelly Picard, who's the coach intern with this team.
Finland
Going into the 2024 tournament, the concern for Finland was scoring, but that was quickly answered. Emma Ekoluoma was the breakout star of the 2024 tournament, scoring eight of Finland's 14 goals. She has since aged out and the Finns will be hoping another player can have that kind of standout performance on home soil. One obvious candidate is Abigail Byskata, who was second on the team last year with eight points (2g, 6a). This will be her third U18's and she has shown tremendous growth. She has played with a number of different teammates and managed to be adaptable. She sees the ice well and is great at dishing the puck, but hopefully she lets go of her shot a bit more often this time around.
The main thing that gives Finland an edge in this tournament is returning starting goalie Kerttu Kuja-Halkola, who played all but 30 minutes of the 2024 tournament and all but 56 minutes of the 2023 tournament. She was outstanding in both and was given the Directorate Award for Best Goalkeeper last year. Not only does she keep them in games, but the poise and confidence she plays with set the tone for the team and help them believe that they can have a strong forecheck, press into the neutral zone and take a few more risks.
To win a medal, a team cannot sit back and hope to steal a goal or two. Finland took a big step last year thanks to Ekoluoma, moving from a team that eked out wins to one with multiple hat tricks. Kuja-Halkola is the foundation they build from. The host team usually gets a boost and I expect that to happen here, as well. Women's hockey has been in the spotlight quite a bit in Finland the last month with various tournaments and there's another opportunity here for exposure - to young girls who may want to play hockey, to sponsors, to new fans. The team knows they have a window here and they don't want to waste it.
Sweden
After taking silver on home ice in 2023, the Swedes were incredibly disappointed with their fifth-place finish in 2024. They were one of the causalities of Czechia's push to the silver last tournament and Andreas Karlsson was frustrated with his team's sloppy play. He felt they lost a lot of 50/50 battles - in the faceoff circle, along the boards and in front of the net and felt like maybe it was a tough but necessary lesson his team needed to learn - that a bad game in the quarterfinals was the difference between playing for a medal and finishing in the bottom half of the tournament. At the 2025 tournament, we'll see if his team learned from the letdown they felt on the final day in Switzerland last January.
There are eight returners on the roster, but many of the biggest and most recognizable names from the past two tournaments have aged out. This will be a new-look team for the first time in several years, but it means there is massive room for players to break out and step into bigger roles. I like Edit Danielsson, Tilde Grillfors and Lovisa Engstrom as likely candidates. All three have had solid starts to the SDHL season, playing professionally in Sweden. Danielsson has shown a knack for scoring while Grillfors and Engstrom have been very good at dishing the puck. On defense, Tillie Ytfeldt brings Youth Olympics experience, where the team won gold. I like her size and how she uses it not just to win puck battles, but for positioning and angling.
Japan
Japan returns to the top tournament after winning the D1A group in Italy in 2023. Ten players on this year's roster were a part of that team, including Umeka Odaira, who was second in the D1A tournament with nine points, including three goals and two assists in the final game to secure promotion over Italy, the home team. In net, they have Haruka Kuromaru, who was virtually unbeatable in that tournament, stopping 97 of 101 shots faced. Azumi Numabe was tied for third over the tournament with seven points.
That being said, this is an overall young team. There are just two 17-year-olds on the roster, with 11 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old. And they're fighting a severely uphill battle. Promotion and relegation trends aren't very clean between the pandemic and the disqualification of Russia, but over the past few seasons, Japan and Germany have been trading off positions as the top team in D1A and the bottom team in the top division. The top tier comes with a huge jump in the level of competition and for a few years now, no one has seemed to be able to make enough of a leap to make the promotion stick.
This team scored 20 goals last tournament and had eight players with double-digit shot totals. They also played a very clean game. Not spending too much time at a player advantage and getting pucks to the net will be necessary if this team is going to break the relegation trend. Kuromaru has the skill to shut down offenses, but Japan still has to score. If they can play with the same intensity and confidence they did in winning promotion, I think they have a very good chance of staying in the top group.
