Win Or Lose, Czechia Continues To Get Closer
Czechia might fall in the IIHF women's World Championship semi-finals. They might not even win a medal. However the tournament ends for Czechia, the nation is here to stay on the women's hockey stage, and continues to get better.
When Czechia won their first bronze at the 2022 World Championships, it was a monumental moment for their program. When they repeated in 2023, it was a sign that Czechia had firmly moved alongside Finland to form a new second tier behind only Canada and the USA.
In the past, this is where nations have stopped their climb. Whether it was Finland, Sweden, Russia, or Switzerland, climbing beyond bronze has been impossible aside from Finland's aberration in 2019.
But Czechia could be more. Czechia could soon be the first real challenge to Canada and USA.
This season, there were nine members of Czechia's national team in the PWHL. It includes forwards Katerina Mrazova, Tereza Vanisova, Denisa Krizova, Klara Hymlarova, and Noemi Neubaurova; defenders Aneta Tejralova, Dominika Laskova, and Daniela Pejsova; and goaltender Klara Peslarova.
Next year, Kristyna Kaltounkova and Natalie Mlynkova will join the PWHL as top draft picks, and within a few seasons defenders Sara Cajanova and Tereza Radova could join too. The same goes for Andrea Trnkova, Adela Sapovalivova, Tereza Plosova, and Michaela Hesova who will all be in the NCAA next season.
Czechia may not gain in numbers at the PWHL level next year as it would not be surprising to see Peslarova or Neubauerova return to Europe to get playing time in an Olympic year, but PWHL expansion could change that.
Ideally Tereza Pistekova joins Plosova and Sapovalivova, and a growing cohort of Czechia hockey players in the NCAA. Within the next two seasons, that list will also include Anezka Cabelova, Linda Vocetkova, Aneta Senkova, Adela Pankova, Julie Jebouskova, and Barbora Juříčková.
When you go even further, young players like Klara Sramkova, Rozale Sale, Adela Mynařikova, Dana Březinova, Ellen Jarabkova, Lucie Sindelarova, Adela Křenkova, Nikola Skokanova, and Ester Skálová-Rosenbaumová show the waves of reinforcements are not slowing down.
Sometimes a special cohort pulls a nation up, but sustainable development doesn't keep them there. Czechia looks to be more than a singular group.
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