VANCOUVER - Denisa Krizova gets goosebumps when she thinks about the growth of women's hockey.

Over her career, she has watched the Professional Women's Hockey League emerge and now expand, and the international game become increasingly competitive as European nations begin to challenge stalwart contenders Canada and the United States.

It wasn't long ago that the PWHL Vancouver defender and the rest of Czechia's women's team were struggling to get into top international tournaments.

Last April, the nation hosted the women's world hockey championship for the first time. The country narrowly missed out on a bronze medal, falling to Finland in overtime in the third-place matchup.

“Czech loves hockey. Czech’s been always known for hockey. We love this sport. I'm honestly so happy that we a

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