United States rout Switzerland 7-0 in Esbjerg to open Women’s World Championship amid jersey dispute
The United States beat Switzerland 7-0 in Esbjerg, Denmark on Friday to begin their defence of the women’s ice hockey world championship. Hannah Bilka and Laila Edwards scored twice each as the Americans pulled away, while Caroline Harvey supplied three assists.
Bilka opened the scoring nine minutes into the game before Swiss goaltender Andrea Brändli kept the scoreline level for the rest of the first period. The U.S. seized control in the second period when Casey O’Brien doubled the lead and Edwards converted a power play just 15 seconds after a Swiss penalty; the Americans outshot Switzerland 15-3 in that frame. Four more goals arrived in the third, including Bilka’s second and a solo effort from Kirsten Simms, and Hilary Knight added a late strike. Aerin Frankel recorded the shutout, stopping all eight shots she faced, as the United States improved to 14-0 all-time against Switzerland, who were bronze medallists at February’s Olympics; all but one member of the American roster, forward Joy Dunne, plays in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
Canada opened Group B in Herning with a 5-1 victory over Sweden, fielding what the report described as their youngest team since 2013 with an average age of 26. Canada led 3-0 after the first period courtesy of goals from Eldridge, Emily Clark and Rebecca Leslie, and Kendall Cooper added a power-play goal midway through the second. Sweden’s Hanna Thuvik pulled one back on a power play in the final period before Eldridge completed her brace to finish the scoring. Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 13 shots for Canada in the Group B match.
In Group A, the Czech Republic rallied to beat Austria 4-1, with Katerina Mrazova contributing two goals and an assist; the match was Austria’s first appearance in the top division. The report noted Finland were scheduled to face hosts Denmark in Herning later on Friday.
Tournament organisers have scheduled an 11-day, 10-nation event across Esbjerg and Herning after the IIHF moved the championship to November to begin ahead of the PWHL season. The teams are split into two groups of five based on rankings, with the United States topping one group and Canada the other; the top four from each group advance to the playoffs while the bottom two will contest a relegation game, and the final is set for 16 November.
The preview included a summary of recent title history: Canada have won 13 world championships and the United States 11 across the previous 24 tournaments, with the Americans having won 10 of the past 14 and arriving in Denmark as reigning world and Olympic champions after claiming the 2025 world title in the Czech Republic and gold at the Milan-Cortina Games in February, beating Canada in overtime in both finals. Finland were identified as the only other nation, besides Canada and the United States, to have reached the final, doing so in 2019.
The opening day was overshadowed by a jersey dispute that left Canada and the United States wearing generic shirts without national logos mandated by the IIHF and supplied by True Hockey. Hockey Canada and USA Hockey have their own apparel contracts with Bauer and CCM respectively, and both federations are suing the IIHF in a Swiss court over the matter.