Inside an arena in Tampere, Finland in mid-December, the PWHL's top prospect of the future was facing a tournament final.
At the Women's Euro Hockey Tour (or Six Nations Tournament), the Canadians faced an American roster full of senior national team talent, including Lacey Eden, Abbey Murphy, Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards.
A Canadian squad with less international experience was involved in the game until the final minutes, when the Americans pulled ahead on a Murphy goal for an eventual 5-3 victory. Canadian goaltender Ève Gascon had 33 saves in the loss, putting up a performance her coach described as “amazing”.
“The results against the USA weren't necessarily what we were hoping for, but we're very proud of what our team did during the tournament,” Canadian national development team head coach Alison Domenico said in an interview. by CBC Sports.
“In that last game only to come back, being down a couple, it could have been easy to put in.”
Even though several players on either side of that final will likely be high draft picks in the PWHL in the next few years, the contest was not televised in Canada, nor was it televised by Hockey Canada.
While many Canadians will watch the NHL's best prospects at the men's under-20 world junior hockey championship, which begins Dec. 26, there is no world championship for women of the same age.
There is a world championship for women under 18, which will be held in Finland in January and will be broadcast nationally on TSN.
But there are few international opportunities between that competition and the senior national team, creating a development gap as women aim to reach the highest level of the sport.
For fans, it also means fewer opportunities to see and be excited about future PWHL stars. Most of the under-18 tournament will go on to play in the NCAA, but those games aren't always easy to find in Canada, either.
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Earlier this year, the IIHF said a women's world junior championship is on the horizon, but unlikely to happen for several years, the Canadian Press reported.
Growing the player pool
In Europe, the problem is that there are not enough female players to fill the under-18 teams, senior national team and other age groups in between, according to Mike Helber, director of hockey operations for Swedish Ice Hockey . Association.
“What will eventually happen is that our best players will play in at least two of the tournaments, maybe even all three,” Helber said in an interview with CBC Sports.
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On the flip side, it's hard for players to improve without opportunities to play against top players. Helber's goal is to increase the number of Swedish players between 19 and 24, and to get more of those players coming to North America for college.
These players grow playing against the top Canadian and American prospects, and bring what they learn back to Sweden when they return to their national team, said Helber.
“We need to bring more players over to North America to see how good the players are,” said Helber, an American who played collegiate hockey at the University of Michigan. “They're shocked at times.”
As soon as the number of players grows, Helber would be open to seeing a world championship for college-age players.
In the meantime, he still wants to see Swedish players get opportunities to compete against other countries.
He liked the format of the Six Nations tournament, and is also looking for opportunities for the Swedish team to compete against American college teams.
“They need to see the level at which North American athletes are,” he said. “The best way to do that is to find ways to play against them.”
A look at future PWHL talent
Nations were not limited to sending players of a certain age to the Six Nations tournament. The PWHL took a break at the tournament but most European PWHL players chose to stay with their club teams, with a few exceptions, such as Boston Fleet goaltender Emma Söderberg (Sweden).
Like the United States, Canada sent its development team, which has very few opportunities to compete each year. The team also played a three-game series against the Americans last summer, which the United States won two to one.
Some players on the development squad could be a big part of Canada's senior national team at the 2030 Olympics and beyond, including world championship-winning defender Nicole Gosling the senior team in April, and Caitlin Kraemer, Canada's all-time leading scorer at the women's under-18 world championship.
Without a different world competition for these players, it is important to find ways to keep them international exposure, Domenico said.
“At least we can get them to play in other countries and even just get used to going abroad, getting the jet lag plan,” she said. “It's really important to ' go through all those experiences when you get to that next level.”
For the PWHL, there could be several benefits of having the best college age players competing against each other.
It could help teams to look at the prospects. It could also help introduce a player like Kraemer to more fans before he gets drafted into the PWHL, just like the world junior championship did for top young players like Macklin Celebrini or Connor Bedard.
“The PWHL is supportive of the development of women's hockey at all levels, including events that provide more opportunities for player development and continue to grow the game globally,” said senior vice president league hockey operations, Jayna Hefford CBS Sports.
