Lacey Eden skated with Team USA as a member of the 2021 U.S. Women’s National Team in last year’s International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship. She was invited to the initial Olympic Residency Roster last year, but was one of the last cuts in December before the team competed at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.  

So for Eden, making the USA roster for the 2022 IIHF World Championship that starts this week in Denmark means a lot to her.

“Just being able to put on the USA jersey again is amazing. We’re going into this with a lot to prove and a lot to and I’m just trying to help the team out,” Eden said. “It’s something that I’ve been working for my whole life, and to get that experience last year [at IIHF World Championship], I feel like going into this year, I have more confidence.”

“Familiarity is huge,” Eden said. “It’s everything. Especially getting to play with them all last year, knowing who you’re on the ice with, being able to connect better. It just makes practices flow a lot better."

While the roster is very similar to previous tournaments, there’s a new head coach in John Wroblewski, who was hired in May after Joel Johnson stepped down. Wroblewski, a Neenah, Wisconsin, native, most recently spent two seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. He was also the head coach of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program for four seasons.

Josh Sciba and Shelley Looney join Wrobleski as assistant coaches.

Practices prior to the world championship games were spent getting used to the new coaching staff and style, Eden said.

“He’s really pushing us to focus on attention to small details that sometimes are overlooked,” Eden said.

Keeping some of those small details in mind and emphasizing the skills the players already have is helpful and will create more opportunities for the team, according to Eden. What kind of small details are they focusing on?