Jason La Rose
GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. SWEDEN (NOV. 6)
Let’s go! The IIHF Women’s World Championship has made the move to a new slot in the international hockey calendar and the 2026 edition of the tournament gets underway Friday as Canada’s National Women’s Team opens Group B play against Sweden.
Last Game
Canada finished with a split of its two-game pre-tournament series against the United States with a 4-0 loss to the Americans last Friday in Plymouth, Michigan. Ève Gascon was terrific in a 28-save performance, but the Canadian offence couldn’t build on a 5-3 win over the U.S. in the exhibition opener in Windsor.
Sweden closed out the Lidl Hockey Games with a 2-0 win over rival Finland in Södertälje on Halloween. Mira Hallin broke open a scoreless game late in the second period and Sara Hjalmarsson added insurance midway through the third in support of Ebba Svensson Träff, who posted a 29-save shutout as the Finns outshot the Swedes 29-18.
Last Meeting
The Canadians and Swedes last clashed in the quarterfinals at the 2024 Women’s Worlds in New York, a 5-1 win for Canada. Renata Fast led the charge with a pair of goals and 11 different players recorded points for the Canadians, who held Sweden to just nine shots on goal over the final 40 minutes.
What to Watch
The kids have arrived for Canada. With an average age of 26 years, two months and 22 days, this is the youngest roster Canada has iced at Women’s Worlds since 2013, with more than 1,000 games of international experience gone from the Olympic roster last February. How young are we talking? Of the nine youngest players to represent Canada in the history of the IIHF Women’s World Championship, three are debuting in Denmark—Rosalie Tremblay (fourth-youngest), Hayley McDonald (eighth-youngest) and Sara Manness (ninth-youngest). The oldest player on the roster is 32-year-old goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens, who earned her 46th career victory in the win over the U.S. in Windsor, surpassing Charline Labonté for the third-most in Team Canada history—only Kim St-Pierre (64) and Shannon Szabados (51) have more. And let’s not forget co-captains Renata Fast and Laura Stacey, who bring a combined 261 games of international experience (81 of them at Women’s Worlds) to the lineup. There are plenty of possibilities for new head coach Kori Cheverie, who takes the reins at her first world championship after serving as an assistant under Troy Ryan at five Women’s Worlds from 2021-25.
Sweden burst back onto the international scene in at Milano Cortina 2026, reaching the semifinals at a major event for the first time since the 2014 Olympics and coming agonizingly close to its first medal since the 2007 Women’s Worlds, falling in overtime to Switzerland. Thea Johansson (4-3—7) and Hilda Svensson (1-6—7) both finished in the top 10 of Olympic scoring, and the Scandinavians have a bit of a youth movement of their own—five players (Hallin, Hedqvist, Jungaker, Raunio, Svensson) helped Sweden to its best-ever finish at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, a silver medal in 2023, and 18-year-old Tilde Grillfors had seven points (4-3—7) in six games as the Swedes reached the bronze medal game at the 2026 U18 Women’s Worlds in Nova Scotia. And let’s not forget the experience behind the bench; new head coach Erika Holst was a staple of the Swedish lineup for almost two decades, appearing in four Olympics (including a silver medal at Torino 2006) and 11 Women’s Worlds between 1996 and 2012, and serving as national team captain from 2001-12.
A Look Back
While the faceoffs between the foes haven’t been as frequent in recent years, the Canadians and Swedes have a history. This will be the 84th time they have met, dating back to the inaugural Women’s Worlds in 1990.
The last three meetings have all come in quarterfinals at the world championship, including one in Herning; at the 2022 Women’s Worlds, Jocelyne Larocque, Sarah Potomak and Erin Ambrose provided the offence, Desbiens made nine saves for the shutout and Canada advanced with a 3-0 win.
All-time record: Canada leads 80-2-1 (1-1 in OT/SO) Canada goals: 514 Sweden goals: 71