Czechia Makes Their Path Harder, Switzerland’s New Stars, And Japan’s Hopes

Czechia’s younger players including Kristyna Kaltounkova, Sara Cajanova, Natalie Mlynkova and Adela Sapovalivova all came to play, but their veteran core of PWHL players including Tereza Vanisova, Katerina Mrazova, and Denisa Krisova were largely invisible in the loss. Czechia’s competitive advantage by this stage in the nation’s women’s hockey development was supposed to be the wealth of players they have at the PWHL level, or having PWHL experience, but they were simply outworked and outcompeted by a more cohesive, focused Swiss team.