Canada back on top of women's hockey world, but work continues to stay there

Canada's women's hockey team starts the world championship remembering the words of a man who climbed Mount Everest twice.

Jamie Clarke, a Canadian adventurer who reached the top of the world's highest mountain in 1997 and 2010, spoke to the women's team twice in the weeks leading up to February's Olympic Games in Beijing where the Canadian women reclaimed gold.

"He talked about conquering Mount Everest. One of his messages was, you're only on top for a split second," head coach Troy Ryan said.

A world championship just six months after the Olympic final has the Canadian women battling for international supremacy again. Canada is the reigning world and Olympic champion, having won both titles in the last year.

"Jamie Clarke, when he spoke to us, he really connected with that," Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin said.

"He had that whole process to get to the top. It's so rewarding when you get there, but it's about two seconds and then you're back at the bottom and you're back to trying to get back on top.

"We had a great year, we had the world championship, we had the Olympics, we had a moment where we celebrated, but now we're back to work."

The 2022 women's world championship in Herning and Frederikshavn, Denmark, is the first to be held in the same calendar year as an Olympic Games.

WATCH | Marie-Philip Poulin seals 2021 world gold medal win for Canada:

Defending champion Canada opens Thursday against Finland at KVIK Hockey Arena in Herning, which is a city of 50,000 people 300 kilometres west of Copenhagen.

The IIHF deemed international women's hockey deep enough to make the world championship a truly annual event instead of skipping it every four years during an Olympics. Another reason for the change is to