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
