Tougher women's hockey competition looming despite North American dominance

In women's hockey, there's Canada and the U.S. — and then there's everyone else.

Slowly, but surely, everyone else is catching up.

At the 2022 world championships, Finland, ranked No. 3, missed out on the medal games for the first time ever. Worse yet, it lost the fifth-place game to Japan and was relegated to Group B for the current tournament in Brampton, Ont.

The relegation matters a great deal. All five Group A teams automatically qualify for the quarterfinals, but only the top three from Group B advance.

It also moves Finland into the same tier as rival Sweden. The two faced off on Sunday at the CAA Centre, with Finland erasing a 2-0 deficit after two periods to win 4-2.

Petra Nieminen, the 23-year-old two-time Olympic bronze medallist who scored the winning marker in the third, said she was just happy to escape the rivalry game against Sweden.

"It's always good [to beat Sweden]," she said with a smirk. "It's really nice."

The win puts Finland in control of Group B at 3-0, while the Swedes fall to 1-2. Germany (1-1) plays France (0-2) later on Sunday.

At the moment, it's near impossible to imagine the North American teams being threatened like Finland. But the fall came swiftly for the Nordic country — it was only 2019 when the Finns stunned Canada in the world semifinals and came within a disallowed OT goal of beating the U.S. for gold.

Months prior to the 2022 collapse at worlds, Finland won Olympic bronze. No one would be surprised if Finland returned to the podium in Brampton, but the team is certainly on its toes.

Nieminen said getting out of Group B provides plenty of motivation.

"That's our first thing that we want to do is go back in Group A so I think every girl just wants to win those games and battle hard