When Kristýna Kaltounková was selected by the New York Sirens at the PWHL Draft this past June, she knew the moment was bigger than herself.
The 23-year-old hard-shooting Czech forward was the first European taken with the first overall draft pick.
That may not seem like a big deal in a league that’s only existed since 2023. But in a women’s hockey ecosystem where Canada and the United States have long reigned supreme, it’s a sign of a shift.
“I think it just breaks that ice, breaks that barrier between North America and Europe a little more,” Kaltounková told CBC Sports last month.
Every four years when the Olympics are on TV, the same narrative emerges, sometimes from people who only tune in to women’s hockey during the Olympics: How do we close the gap between Canada, the United States and the rest of the world? No other country has won an Olympic gold medal or world championship.
But that doesn’t tell the full story. Even though Canada and the U.S. continue to win, growth has been happening beyond North America. The PWHL has created one league for the best players across the world to train and play, and a new dream for the best players across Europe.
Earlier this week, 35-year-old Michelle Karvinen, who has played professionally in Europe and on the Finnish national team for many years, shared a picture with her PWHL Vancouver jersey. Karvinen was the team’s first-round draft pick back in June.
My first pro hockey jersey 🤩<a href=”https://twitter.com/thepwhlofficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@thepwhlofficial</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/PWHL__Vancouver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@PWHL__Vancouver</a> <a href=”https://t.co/she2wQMSYV”>pic.twitter.com/she2wQMSYV</a>
“My first pro hockey jersey,” she wrote on X.
Or Kaltounková’s home country as an example. In the past five years, the Czech Republic has qualified for its first Olympic women’s hockey tournament, won a medal at the top division of the world championship for the first time (and the second time, too), and hosted the world championship for the first time.
This past spring, the Czechs nearly took down the Americans in the semifinals at worlds on home ice, keeping the game tied 1-1 until U.S. forward Kelly Pannek scored the go-ahead goal in the third period.
“The game in Czech is growing rapidly,” Kaltounková said. “I think the world championship at home helped tremendously with that growth. I think we gained a lot of new fans and lovers of women’s hockey.”
The PWHL has also made the game faster, which can obscure some of the progress European countries have made. Everyone is getting better, all at once.
Troy Ryan has seen the shift up close, particularly at the last two world championships.
“I think there’s been a huge change,” said Ryan, who is head coach of both the Canadian women’s national team and the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres.
“It felt like anything could have happened in both of those events. If that’s a sign of things to come, I think that the PWHL in general has just made the game globally much better.”
It’s welcome news for Canada. The journey to the final isn’t supposed to be easy. In Ryan’s estimation, it’s getting harder to get there.
“I don’t think it’s because we’re getting worse,” he said. “I think it’s because other teams are getting better.”
Canadian forward Blayre Turnbull has noticed it, too.
“I think it’s been really impressive especially over this last quad to see the European teams really step up and improve,” the Toronto Sceptres captain said during the league’s media day last month.
“They’re all contenders now at world championships and will be contenders at the upcoming Olympic Games, too. It’s really cool to see how much those players have developed. It’s great to have some of the top players now playing in the PWHL.”
But what comes next? While European countries can challenge Canada and the U.S. and sometimes even win a game, they’ve yet to reach the top of the mountain at a major tournament.
That’s not lost on Kimmo Oikarinen, the general manager of the Finnish women’s and national junior hockey teams.
“The gap is still there and we all need to work on how to become more competitive and raise the level of playing,” Oikarinen told CBC Sports.
One step is to get more girls playing the sport, Oikarinen said.
Finland has 6,551 registered female hockey players, compared to more than 108,000 in Canada and more than 93,000 in the United States, according to figures published by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 2024.
Earlier this fall, the IIHF introduced a new tournament aimed at growing the sport in Europe.
The new European women’s hockey championship is set to begin in 2027, with the goal of “creating more opportunities for elite international competition, ensuring the development of women players throughout the entire season, and elevating visibility for women’s hockey across Europe.”
“The introduction of the European Women’s Championship is another meaningful advancement for the international growth of the game,” the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations, Jayna Hefford, said in a statement.
More details are to come on how exactly it will work, but it’s likely to involve non-PWHL players. In the future, Hockey Canada hopes it could include college-aged or development teams from Canada and the U.S. Right now, there’s no World Juniors-aged championship for players between the under-18 and senior levels, a clear programming gap.
“It does provide an opportunity for younger athletes that are in position to push for a permanent position on their national team,” Canadian GM Gina Kingsbury said about what the new tournament could do in Europe.
“It opens up more roster spots. As soon as you open up roster spots and you provide opportunities for a larger number of athletes to compete internationally, I think it enhances the number of athletes that get the experience and it grows the game.”
Oikarinen and the Finnish federation are awaiting more details on what the new tournament could look like.
In the meantime, they’re focused on the Euro Hockey Tour, which saw development teams from Canada and the U.S. face off against European teams at one event last year.
They welcome any opportunity for “tough games” against Canadian and U.S. players, Oikarinen said.
“The structure sounds good and we believe this format will give positive energy all over Europe for the female players.”
