Weekend talking points from Vantaa

The first weekend of the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship is done, and there’s plenty to ponder during the tournament’s first rest day. IIHF.com’s resident reporters Risto Pakarinen and Andy Potts pick out some of the details that caught their eye through the first eight games in Vantaa.

Busy goalies

Scoring goals is hard, and you can blame the teams’ great defensive work, and the goalies for that. 

Slovakia’s Mariana Sumegova was the busiest goalie during the tournament’s opening weekend. She faced 111 shots and made 99 saves. Switzerland’s Amaya Iseli clocked the second-most minutes (121:33). Finland’s Kerttu Kuja-Halkola played 57 seconds more – while also facing two shots shy of 100. She made 91 saves against Czechia and Canada. That gives the Finnish starter an impressive 92.86 save percentage. 

Three other goalies played all of their teams’ games: Sweden’s Maja Helge, Czechia’s Daniela Novakova, and Team USA’s Morgan Stickney, who has yet to allow a goal in the tournament. (RP)

Dangers of inactivity

The more shots you face, the more goals you allow, right? Well, maybe not always. While many goalies have come under heavy fire, minding the Canadian net has not been the most strenuous duty to date.

Yet when Switzerland scored on Canada midway through the second period on Sunday, the Canadians had allowed 3 goals on just 11 shots in less than two games. A goaltending crisis in the offing? Maybe, but it’s early to jump to conclusions. 

First, we’re looking at a tiny sample size: by the end of the Switzerland game, Amelia Wilkinson had 10 saves and a respectable save percentage of 90.9. More important, perhaps, most goalies will tell you that maintaining focus in one-sided games can be tougher than facing a regular amount of shots. We can expect the numbers to improve as the tournament progresses and Canada faces more challenging opposition. (AP)

The gap is closing

Sure, the North Americans still rule the roost here. The U.S. and Canada are unbeaten through their opening games and it would be generous to say a shock was ever in the cards. But, unlike the earliest editions of the U18s, where double-digit blowouts were not unusual, the favourites were made to work in each game. 

Moreover, there are signs that the lower ranked nations are more competitive among themselves: witness Switzerland coming close to beating Czechia, last year’s silver medallist, or Japan giving host nation…