Last year's Women's Worlds was a long time ago, back in April of 2025, and it was run in the familiar format the tournament has used for some time. This year marks a new structure so gone are the days of two groups weighted by ranking; instead the format is like the Men's Worlds or WJC tournaments. Also gone is the spring schedule. The event will be in November from now on to accommodate both the Olympics and the PWHL schedule.

In the old format, Canada and USA always played in the preliminary round. This year, that won't happen.

The event is in Denmark with Group A starting in Esbjerg. This group is made up of:

  • USA
  • Czechia
  • Switzerland
  • Germany
  • Austria

Group B is in Herning and they are:

  • Canada
  • Finland
  • Sweden
  • Japan
  • Denmark

While the groups are sorted out by points from the prior year and should be balanced, this year's teams might shake out to be very different to who they were then.

Since the event is in Denmark, the games are on during the morning or early afternoon in Toronto. Canada takes to the ice tomorrow at 9 am Toronto time against Sweden. Nominally the third-place team in the group, the Swedes have a new coach and a new attitude, and they are not here just to participate.

Each team plays each other team in their group, and that process takes until November 11. At that time the relegation game between the two last-place finishers sorts out that issue and the quarterfinals proceed in the standard IIHF crossover format. Teams are then reseeded for the semifinals.

Of note, the IIHF always puts the home team in the main arena for quarterfinal or semifinal games. So any game featuring Denmark will be in Herning even is they are the lower ranked and therefore "road team".

This format changes the calculus of lower-ranked teams where there is no longer a contest to get into the fifth spot in the top group anymore and no one can avoid the juggernaut teams. Because the tournament uses serpentine seeding, The USA and Canada would have to be holding the first and fourth spots on the ranking list to end up in the same pool.

Team Canada will be very different to their Olympic roster. Marie-Philip Poulin is recovering from surgery, Sarah Nurse has had some back issues, and Blayre Turnbull is on maternity leave.

The team is younger, and has a lot of rookies as well as some familiar faces. Sceptres' Renata Fast and Ella Shelton will both be there. As this story lays out there are three teenagers from the NCAA on the roster.

Also new is the staff. Kori Cheverie replaces Troy Ryan and Alison Domenico, Caroline Ouellette and Kris Sparre are assistants. Danièle Sauvageau is now the GM of the women's team.

Other Sceptres in Denmark are newly drafted and signed Kristen Simms on Team USA and Sara Hjalmarsson will be on the Swedish team. Michelle Löwenhielm of Sweden has been invited to the Sceptres training camp which will take place after worlds.

TSN is the sole broadcaster in Canada for the games.

Hockey Canada is in some sort of dispute with the IIHF over commercial rights and is not going to be allowed to use their own jersey design. I have no idea what the real issue is here or why this has dragged on long after it should have been resolved. Seems like egg on all faces on this file.

Okaaay. Maybe a Nichushkin trade is coming along... but otherwise... I'm not sure what they are doing here.

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That's it for today. The Leafs are not practicing today, so you get the day off too!

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