A Desire to Play

 

The 2022 Women’s Under 18 International Hockey Tournament has been nothing far from disappointing from what has been observed thus far, and there is more to continue for the next week.

 

From the dominating U.S. Women’s hockey team to the heartfelt resilience of the Slovakian Women’s team to the ever-so-true representation of the game by the Canadians and Swedes to the fierce gameplay by the Fins, it has been masterful, to say the least, and not by far a missed moment for those that look to the future of the game.

 

An invite you see because for the U.S. they have all the tools for a well-equipped onslaught that is quite relentless in general, that also has a blue line of defense men that contributes with the for-check, giving the team that added depth that is hard to defend against.

 

Canada’s team, however. They did lose to the U.S. but did have marginal wins in the tournament against the majority of the teams that are participating, even though they lost to Finland. The team is maturing, finding their entity, and establishing their offense against a U.S. team. This will be a great match-up if both teams meet in the finals.

 

Sweden, on the other hand, is a young team and is still finding its way, defining the role of its team, entering the game, and learning the roots of international play. The team has quick hands and is well coached, where they closely managed to contend with Canada but won the next two contests after losing the first two.

 

The Czech Republic was dominant as well in the opening tournament but fell just short in the opening round of the quarterfinals against Sweden. From what was reported, they are a very well-coached team and had a combination of duo’s line-ups that were scoring in the preliminary round of the tournament.

 

 

Finland managed to squeak by into the semi-finals to face Canada, defeating Canada in the preliminary round, but losing 2 games after that. Their game-play and dedication towards the puck movement will dictate how well they can come with the game.

 

Slovakia and Switzerland did their best with their respective gameplay, with Slovakia being eliminated and Switzerland still have a game at hand. It will be interesting to see how the Swiss match up against the Germans, who did not fare that well at all either like Slovakia, but did show promise and played with poise to look forward to for the future.

 

 

A side note, during the outbreak this past January, this tournament was postponed and stalled at best and the girls were not given an opportunity to play. This is to show support and encourage other countries worldwide to engage in a sport that is becoming prevalent to those who are foreign to the game, especially women.