Finland's Ronja Savolainen and Czechia's Tereza Vanisova are among the rapidly increasing number of European players making an impact in the PWHL.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / MATT ZAMBONIN
Want to beat the best? Go seek them out and learn from them. That’s the message from the growing cohort of European PWHL players representing their countries in international play.
The 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship highlights the PWHL’s expanding international reach. This year, 18 European players came to Ceske Budejovice from the North American pro league, up from just six last year. Czechia, Finland, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland all have player from the competition on their rosters.
And those early adopters hope that their compatriots will soon join them.
“The PWHL is a gamechanger,” said Finland’s Ronja Savolainen. She joined Ottawa Charge in the summer – her first experience across the Atlantic after many years in Sweden. This season, she’s played 25 games and collected 11 points from the blue line. Now she wants the encourage the import invasion.
“When I came back [to Team Finland], I wanted to try and get a lot more people to come over next season,” Savolainen said. “I’m enjoying my game and I hope more people will come here because they will get so much better too.”
Savolainen was speaking after her team’s game against Czechia. With nine PWHLers, the Czechs have the strongest North American accent among the European nations. Klara Hymlarova graduated from St. Cloud State University and joined compatriot Denisa Krizova at Minnesota Frost this season.
“It’s an interesting experience,” she said. “The hockey is very different but I’m enjoying every moment of being there. I’m playing with the best, it’s fun, I like the physical game and it’s good, fast hockey.
“I enjoy it every time I’m on the ice, whether it’s practice or a game.”
After routinely being a leading scorer in college hockey, Hymlarova’s productivity has dropped at this level – but responding to that is part of the challenge that motivates her. And for club and country, the experience is making her a stronger player.
“It’s a great environment to test yourself,” she added. “It’s not easy for me and the other Czech girls over there but we have to deal with it. We want to play with the best and play against the best, that’s how we’re going to get better.”
One potential challenge for PWHL recruits is securing ice time. Czech goalie Klara Peslarova, for example, has played just one game for Boston Fleet this season, while her Swedish colleague Emma Soderberg is also in a back-up role to Team USA’s Aerin Frankel.
But in Peslarova’s view, reduced game time is a sacrifice worth making for the chance to experience a new hockey environment.
“I wanted to go and try something new,” she said. “It’s been a bit different because I’m not playing, but it’s not stopping my progress.
“All of a sudden I’m on the ice every day with people like Hilary Knight and Alina Muller, really awesome players. It’s a bit of a privilege to practice with them but also it’s my job and I need to understand that I deserve to be there as well.
“I’m still working hard. I’m enjoying every single day and I’m pushing myself in practice and I feel like I’m prepared when I come here.”
While the rest of the world might be the most immediate beneficiaries of this upswing, it doesn’t do the North American stars any harm either. Reflecting on how Team USA is able to stay a step ahead of improving international opposition, Kelly Pannek pointed straight to the impact of the PWHL.
“It’s huge for all of us after college, and even for the players still in college it’s really fun when they come back to camp and they’re tuned into the league, they’re excited about the games,” she said following the Americans’ opening game win over Finland.
“And for us, we’re playing against each other all the time. We get to play against some of the best in the world regularly and then we’re able to bring that here. That’s big for us as well.”
The 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship highlights the PWHL’s expanding international reach. This year, 18 European players came to Ceske Budejovice from the North American pro league, up from just six last year. Czechia, Finland, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland all have player from the competition on their rosters.
And those early adopters hope that their compatriots will soon join them.
“The PWHL is a gamechanger,” said Finland’s Ronja Savolainen. She joined Ottawa Charge in the summer – her first experience across the Atlantic after many years in Sweden. This season, she’s played 25 games and collected 11 points from the blue line. Now she wants the encourage the import invasion.
“When I came back [to Team Finland], I wanted to try and get a lot more people to come over next season,” Savolainen said. “I’m enjoying my game and I hope more people will come here because they will get so much better too.”
Savolainen was speaking after her team’s game against Czechia. With nine PWHLers, the Czechs have the strongest North American accent among the European nations. Klara Hymlarova graduated from St. Cloud State University and joined compatriot Denisa Krizova at Minnesota Frost this season.
“It’s an interesting experience,” she said. “The hockey is very different but I’m enjoying every moment of being there. I’m playing with the best, it’s fun, I like the physical game and it’s good, fast hockey.
“I enjoy it every time I’m on the ice, whether it’s practice or a game.”
After routinely being a leading scorer in college hockey, Hymlarova’s productivity has dropped at this level – but responding to that is part of the challenge that motivates her. And for club and country, the experience is making her a stronger player.
“It’s a great environment to test yourself,” she added. “It’s not easy for me and the other Czech girls over there but we have to deal with it. We want to play with the best and play against the best, that’s how we’re going to get better.”
One potential challenge for PWHL recruits is securing ice time. Czech goalie Klara Peslarova, for example, has played just one game for Boston Fleet this season, while her Swedish colleague Emma Soderberg is also in a back-up role to Team USA’s Aerin Frankel.
But in Peslarova’s view, reduced game time is a sacrifice worth making for the chance to experience a new hockey environment.
“I wanted to go and try something new,” she said. “It’s been a bit different because I’m not playing, but it’s not stopping my progress.
“All of a sudden I’m on the ice every day with people like Hilary Knight and Alina Muller, really awesome players. It’s a bit of a privilege to practice with them but also it’s my job and I need to understand that I deserve to be there as well.
“I’m still working hard. I’m enjoying every single day and I’m pushing myself in practice and I feel like I’m prepared when I come here.”
While the rest of the world might be the most immediate beneficiaries of this upswing, it doesn’t do the North American stars any harm either. Reflecting on how Team USA is able to stay a step ahead of improving international opposition, Kelly Pannek pointed straight to the impact of the PWHL.
“It’s huge for all of us after college, and even for the players still in college it’s really fun when they come back to camp and they’re tuned into the league, they’re excited about the games,” she said following the Americans’ opening game win over Finland.
“And for us, we’re playing against each other all the time. We get to play against some of the best in the world regularly and then we’re able to bring that here. That’s big for us as well.”