Jessie Eldridge scored twice and added an assist as Canada defeated Sweden 5-1 Friday in its women’s world hockey championship opener in Herning, Denmark.
Eldridge started on Canada’s top line and ably filled the void left by injured captain Marie-Philip Poulin and star forward Sarah Fillier.
The 28-year-old, from Barrie, Ont., who recently signed a two-year contract with the Professional Women’s Hockey League champion Montréal Victoire, made her only other appearance at the women’s world championship in 2022, where she had two points in seven games.
Defender Kendall Cooper had a goal and an assist for Canada, while Emily Clark and Rebecca Leslie also scored.
“As a team, it was a great start to the tournament,” Cooper said. “We have new players, and I’m one of them getting my feet wet. It was fun to be a part of it.”
Hanna Thuvik had Sweden’s only goal.
Ann-Renée Desbiens made 11 saves for Canada. Ebba Svensson Traff stopped 33 shots for Sweden.
Canada next faces Japan on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Canada is playing in its first international tournament without Poulin on the roster since she made her national team debut in 2009. The 35-year-old, who also captains the Victoire, had knee surgery in July to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn meniscus in her right knee and could miss the entire PWHL season.
Defender Renata Fast and forward Laura Stacey are sharing Canada’s captaincy in Denmark.
First game in generic jerseys
Fillier is on the roster and is expected to play in the tournament at some point. She was injured in Canada’s 4-0 pre-tournament loss to the United States last week.
Despite the altered leadership group and less international experience on a much younger roster than the one that took silver at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Canada showed early in this tournament that they will remain a favourite.
“We wanted to come out hard. We’re excited to be here and represent Canada,” Cooper said. “I think that was a reflection of it on the ice.”
Canada played its first game wearing jerseys mandated by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The jerseys feature Canada’s red and white colours but lack the iconic Maple Leaf that has long been part of Canada’s branding at international tournaments. The Canadians and Americans wear generic jerseys that were designed by IIHF supplier True Hockey.
Hockey Canada and USA Hockey have their own apparel and jersey contracts with Bauer and CCM, respectively.
The two have been suing the IIHF over the dispute at a Swiss court.
Both Canada and the U.S. have been mandated by the International Ice Hockey Federation to wear generic jerseys designed by the IIHF and its jersey supplier, True Hockey.
Canada has 13 world championship gold medals, compared to 11 for the United States. But the Americans are the defending champions after defeating Canada 4-3 in the gold-medal game last year in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia.
Eldridge opened the scoring just under seven minutes into Friday’s game when she tipped a Rosalie Tremblay shot from the blue line past Traff.
Clark made it 2-0 on a power play at 10:13 when she got her stick on a Darryl Watts shot and chipped the puck over Traff’s shoulder.
Leslie gave Canada a 3-0 first-period lead at 18:43 when she picked up a loose puck in front of Sweden’s net and beat Traff with a nifty move.
Cooper scored the only goal of the second period on a power play. She converted from close range on an assist from Eldridge midway through the frame.
After Sweden got on the board early in the third period on a power play, Eldridge capped the scoring at 13:44 of the period when she tucked a rebound past Traff.
In Group A, the Czech Republic had to rally to beat Austria 4-1. Austria is playing in the top division for the first time. Katerina Mrazova led the Czechs with two goals and an assist.
In Group B, last year’s bronze medalist Finland cruised past host Denmark 4-1.
U.S. 7, Switzerland 0
Hilary Knight scored as the United States launched its title defence by routing Switzerland in Esbjerg.
Playing at her 16th worlds, the 37-year-old Knight increased the U.S. lead to 6-0 halfway through the four-goal final period and improved her record worlds tally to 68 goals and 121 points in 88 games.
Hannah Bilka and Laila Edwards scored twice each, Casey O’Brien and Kirsten Simms netted one apiece and Caroline Harvey recorded three assists.
Aerin Frankel needed to save only eight shots for the shutout as the U.S. with 20 players from the Olympic gold medal team dominated the Group A game.
The U.S. improved its record against Switzerland, which won bronze at this year’s Olympics, to 14-0.
Sarah Fillier left the pre-world championships exhibition game early with injury, and the Americans scored a pair of power-play goals defeating Canada 4-0.
North America’s rivalry
The U.S. and Canada are the tournament favourites, continuing a long-standing cross-border rivalry. Canada has won 13 world titles followed by the U.S. with 11 spanning the previous 24 championships.
The Americans have won 10 of the past 14 worlds and claimed the 2025 title in the Czech Republic and the Olympic gold medal at the Milan-Cortina Games in February, beating Canada in overtime in both finals.
Finland is the only other team apart from Canada and the U.S. to reach the final, doing so in 2019.
The 11-day, 10-nation tournament in the Danish cities of Esbjerg and Herning is the first to take place in November after the IIHF moved it to open before the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
Rather than having the top five teams grouped together as before, the field has been split into two groups of five based on rankings, with the U.S. leading one group and Canada the other.
The top four from each group qualify for the playoffs with the final set for Nov. 16.
The bottom two will play a relegation game.
Source: www.cbc.ca
