Team USA aiming to rinse and repeat at Women’s World Championships

The GIST: The 25th Women’s World Championships begin today in Denmark, with the planet’s best women’s hockey teams chasing gold. While the jerseys may not be trophy-worthy, the play certainly will be. Let’s do that hockey.

⚙️ The details: For the first time, Worlds will take place before the puck drops on the PWHL season, meaning most players are healthy and chomping at the bit for on-ice competition. As always, the tournament features 10 teams, split evenly into Groups A and B. The top-ranked Americans headline Group A, while the No. 2 Canadians feature in Group B.

• It hasn’t always been this way though: Previously, the five top teams were placed in Group A, and all of them advanced to the knockout round after the four-game round robin. Now, the groups are balanced, with the top four teams in each group advancing.

🌶️ The spiciest rivalry on ice: Since the first Women’s Worlds in 1990, every single edition has been won by Canada or the U.S., though the Canadians boast a slight advantage with 13 golds, compared to the Americans’ 11. If history has taught us anything, it’s that a gold-medal showdown is almost inevitable: Every title game (save one in 2019) has featured the forever foes.

🇺🇸 Team USA’s recent surge: The youth-powered Americans enter the tournament as the reigning Worlds and Olympic champs, and they’ll be skating to rinse and repeat in Denmark. The red, white, and blue have proven that the kids are indeed alright, leaning on the stellar play of forward Abbey Murphy, and defenders Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards.

• And it seems our northern neighbors have taken note, opting for a younger and faster roster of their own. All signs point to another championship clash on November 16th — but first, today’s 1 p.m. ET tourney opener vs. No. 4 Switzerland. Drop that puck.