In April 2025, the Italian Women’s national (ice) hockey team headed to Dumfries, Scotland, with two missions in mind.

1) To win World Championship gold and earn promotion back to the second tier after three frustrating campaigns.

2) A continuation of the progress made under a new coaching program and head coach with the ultimate goal of making a statement at the upcoming Winter Olympics on home ice.

The first goal was achieved with seemingly consummate ease and brutal execution.

Italy kicked off their world championship campaign by thumping Slovenia 12-0.
After grinding out a 2-0 win against Kazakhstan, Italy secured gold with 6-0 and 7-0 victories versus Latvia and South Korea, respectively.
They rounded off a perfect week by defeating Great Britain 4-0.

Promotion was achieved with five wins and by outscoring opponents 31-0.

After the tournament wrapped up, I spoke with Italy’s Head Coach Stéphanie Poirier about various factors regarding her team. To begin with, she was very pleased with her team’s commitment to defence and buy-in from the squad.

“That’s a very communal element of having everyone buy in in order to keep that clean sheet. So that’s something we’re very proud of because today that was very much a focus, of course, since we knew we had clinched the championship already, and the girls really bought in to make sure that we could have that. It’s a pride thing and something we’re very proud of.”

“I think in general it’s just our capacity to really be consistent through all the games – to really have strong starts every game. Maybe today was the game where our start was maybe the least strong, which we kind of expected, of course, just because of the situation itself. But our consistency and our ability to really use our assets, which is our speed and our physicality.”

Italy has featured in just one previous Olympic Games.

That was as hosts in Turin in 2006, and the experience was not a happy one.

Outscored 32-1 in three thumping defeats through the group stage, Italy lost 5-2 to Germany in the 5–8th place semifinal bracket game. They then fell 11-0 to Switzerland, finishing last of eight in the tournament.

Part of Italy’s transformation, along with the inclusion of eight dual nationals, has been their style of play to match the world’s best.

“I think that the game is so fast now. I mean, of course, here on a bigger ice, it makes a little bit of a difference. We always have to look at what our strengths are. We knew we were fast and we were physical, so for sure, yes, maybe it’s a little more of a North American style, but I think we believe very much in puck possession game.”

“We believe very much in making sure you’re helping out your teammate and that you put your teammate in a better place. You don’t give them the problems. You try to solve it and get them to solve it with you. So this is very much what we’re focusing on. But, yeah, the game is going a little more north than before the women’s game. But I still really, really believe in puck possession is the key, and trying to put it in the best place just to get that rhythm going. It’s a little more physicality than maybe we’re used to seeing.”

The focus after the World Championship success was honed to ten months down the line. In fact, everything the program has put in place since hiring Poirier in 2024 was targeted toward the home Olympics.

“We still have a huge workload in front of us. A lot of off-ice elements. I’ll say that most of it comes from the off-ice and how we can build better shape and just be physically very, very fit.”

“Because the game is fast, the game is physical, and all the girls playing the pros right now, they’re hammering at each other. So we need to be able to sustain that. And of course, a lot of defensive zone work because we expect to spend way more time in our D-zone. But just knowing that we can score goals, I think with some players that we have, they have the ability to beat any goalie in the world. So that’s reassuring. And our number one goalie is top level also.”

Italy has avoided all three top guns in the group stage. Namely, the USA, Canada and Finland. That doubtless gave rise to renewed optimism inside and outside the camp.

“Well, we fully believe in ourselves that we can win games at the Olympics. I mean, we are on the right track. We believe. I mean, the step is gigantic. We know that. We’re very aware of that.”

Games against Sweden (6th seeds), Japan (7) and Germany (8) will certainly test how far the Italian program has progressed.

Arguably, the best opportunity to claim a first victory arrived on game day one against France.
With just three places between them in the world rankings, this would have been a fixture which the team would have focused on.

France scored first, but a rampant Italy levelled the game sixty seconds later, and the game was tied at 1-1 through twenty minutes. That didn’t tell the whole story, as backed by a fervent home crowd, Italy out-shot France 22-4 and were only kept at bay by some outstanding net minding.
A solitary strike in the middle frame followed by a double salvo early in the third period ensured a comprehensive 4-1 win.

A first Olympic victory for Italy.

“We’re going there [Olympics] with confidence to do a great job and to make our Tifosi (Italian term for passionate sports fans/ supporters) proud.”

They certainly made a great start in delivering a win at the first time of asking. Who knows what might be possible with an Italian team full of confidence?