Sweden have no chance in the World Cup opener against Canada

Sweden knew that the WC start in Herning, Denmark, could be really tough - and it was.

If Sweden could threaten the Olympic silver medalists Canada, who together with the USA dominate the women's hockey world, it would have required a maximum performance from all Swedish players.

They did not succeed in that. Canada had full control of the match from start to finish, although the Swedish players responded to a better finish than the start.

After Canada lost last year's World Cup final to arch-rivals the United States, and earlier this year lost the Olympic final to the United States, something needed to change. A generational change with seven WC debutants was the solution.

Something that was also new in the World Cup premiere was Canada's match shirt. A rights dispute between the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Canadian Federation means that the Canadian players during the World Cup, for reasons of unusualness, do not play with the characteristic maple leaf on the shirt.

But even if the match shirts were unusual - and the average age lower than in many years - everything else was pretty much as usual when the Canadian ladies took their place on the WC ice.

Even in advance, Damkronorna's new national team captain Erika Holst talked about how important the start of the match would be.

Canada usually set top speed immediately after landing, and true to their habit they did so in Herning as well. The Canadian players immediately put pressure on the Swedish goal, and after seven minutes of play came the payoff.

An obscured Ebba Svensson hit in the Swedish goal was forced to concede a shot from Jessie Eldridge that gave Canada a 1-0 lead.

When Canada got to play a power play a few minutes later, well then Canada's 2-0 goal came. When Rebecca Leslie then increased the lead to 3-0 with less than two minutes left in the period, the match felt almost decided.

- Maybe it was a bit of nerves, Damkronorna's Lina Ljungblom told SVT about the weak Swedish start to the match.

In the middle period, Sweden made a series of expulsions, some obvious others more questionable.

- The refereeing level is incredibly uneven, said an irritated Mira Jungåker to SVT.

The third period was Sweden's best in terms of play. Then came the first Swedish goal in this year's WC tournament.

At the beginning of the period, Sweden had to play a power play for the second time in the match, and Hanna Thuvik was able to reduce to 4–1.

However, the Ladies' Crowns did not come any closer than that.

On Sunday, Sweden faces Finland in the second group stage match. An important match before the continuation of the championship.

For the first time since 2009, the five highest-ranked teams are not in one group, and the five lowest-ranked in the other. Instead, there are two even groups where the top four in each group advance to the quarter-finals.