Way-too-early Olympic medal predictions — News around the hockey world

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Looking ahead — like, way ahead

With Worlds wrapping up on Sunday, and with the United States winning its 11th title at the championships, I thought it would be interesting to do the thing most people either love or hate — make way-too-early predictions on the next major tournament. 

That next major tournament just so happens to be the Olympics, set to kick off in under 10 months in Milan, Italy. Canada, who came in second at the 2025 World Championships, are the current reigning Olympic gold medalists from Beijing in 2022. The U.S. won the silver medal, while Finland secured the bronze. 

So, in the spirit of medals and championships and the excitement that’s starting to build as the Olympics approach, let’s make my way-too-early guesses for which country will win the medals up for grabs in Milan. 

Bronze — Czechia 

As the host nation for the 2025 Worlds, Czechia had a solid tournament overall, up until the second half of the bronze medal game — where it blew a 3-0 lead. 

Yikes. 

For the second time in as many years Finland used overtime to its advantage to knock off Czechia and claim third place. Now, I’m not saying Finland doesn’t also have a strong shot to repeat its finish from 2022, it’s more that I think Czechia is going to use the back-to-back bronze medal losses at Worlds as fuel heading into Milan. 

Outside of the disappointing finishes the last few years, the talent continuing to develop on the Czech roster should also help push the team further. NCAA standout — and top PWHL prospect — Kristýna Kaltounková scored against Finland alongside Natálie Mlýnková, another top NCAA name. The biggest contributor however was netminder Klára Peslarová, who has long been one of the top netminders in the world. Peslarová finished with a .914 save percentage in Czechia, and I’d expect that to be even better in Milan as well. 

Czechia has never won an Olympic medal, and was eliminated by the United States in the quarterfinal round of the Beijing Olympics. I think this upcoming cycle is where that changes, and I’ll be rooting for them to prove me right. 

Silver – United States

Look — I know this is somewhat blasphemous considering that the Americans just won the World title, but there’s a couple of factors that I think point to them not grabbing the gold. 

The main one has to do with Canada’s roster, so I’ll save that for their blurb. However, if you look at some of the metrics for the United States at Worlds this year, there are some question marks. The Americans had just the fourth highest shooting percentage at the tournament at 9.7%, down from last year’s 11.8. The team scored nine fewer goals in the same amount of games played in 2025, and their power play percentage dipped slightly from one year to the next. 

One thing I will say in their favor which could cause this to be completely wrong is the steps their younger players took from last year to this year, especially the names out of the NCAA. Caroline Harvey is a star in every sense of the word, and she’s joined by players like Laila Edwards, Joy Dunne, Abbey Murphy and golden-goal scorer Tessa Janecke — amongst others. There are also the netminders, which should be a little more sure. If you watched Gwyneth Philips come into the game on Sunday in relief for Aerin Frankel — both names can step in and handle business when needed. 

It’s just a gut feeling however that the U.S. is going to repeat in the silver medal spot once again. Mainly because of the expectations I have for Canada which we’ll hop into now. 

Gold – Canada 

The Canadian team is the standard, as displayed by their five Olympic golds, 13 world titles and overall excellence. They’ve been trading back and forth with the U.S. for decades at this point, and I’m sure the loss in overtime in Czechia stings. 

What I will say about the loss in Czechia however is that I don’t believe Canada was operating at full strength. Starting netminder Ann-Renée Desbiens was injured a few weeks before the tournament began and was still getting her feet back under her as it concluded. And then there’s Natalie Spooner, last season’s top scorer in the PWHL, who was healthy scratched in the last two games of the tournament as she still works to get back to her full potential on the ice. Both of these players should be performing at their top levels next year if all goes to plan, and considering they were a goal away from the gold, that makes them even scarier. 

The biggest cheat code for the Canadians however is their captain, and she’s captain clutch for a reason. Marie-Philip Poulin is lights out every time she touches the ice, and that gets even more pronounced in the Olympic tournament. Combine that with the loss in Czechia, and the continued development of the young guns on this roster — every Canadian that scored in the gold medal game was 24 or younger — I find it pretty hard to not put my trust in this team. 

They’re the reigning Olympic champs for a reason, and I find it hard to not expect them to continue that. Just maybe don’t gift the puck away in overtime in the defensive end next year. 

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Links from the hockey world

PWHL expansion comes at the right time — The Ice Garden

With the news of expansion in the PWHL (more on that below), TIG writer Melissa Burgess takes a look at how this is the right time for the growth of the league in her latest on our website now.  

PWHL announced Vancouver expansion franchise ahead of 2025/26 season — Just Women’s Sports

The first ever expansion franchise in the PWHL is set to hit the ice in 2025-26, as the league heads to the West Coast for the first time. JWS has a focus on Vancouver, the team that was announced on Wednesday. 

2025 Worlds report card — The Ice Garden 

To close out the 2025 World Championships, at TIG we’re doing a series grading the performances of all of the teams at the top level. Mike Murphy got us started off with Norway, and the rest of our report cards are rolling in. Check it out for more on the tournament! 

Olympic hockey stock watch: Risers and fallers from Women’s World Championships — The Athletic 

We already know I don’t think it’s too early to talk about the Olympics, which is why I’m adding in a piece from Hailey Salvian focusing on the Canadian and United States rosters for Milan in 2026. Hailey took a look at those who saw their stock rise over the weeks in Czechia, and those who’s stock very much didn’t. 

King’s down under perfection leads Australia — The IIHF

The top division wasn’t the only one in action for Worlds over the last few weeks, and if you’re a fan of goaltenders, there’s a name to keep an eye out for: Sasha King. For more on how King and the Australians climbed their way to Group A in Division II, check out the piece above.

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