I mean Finland and Czechia and Sweden and Russia and Slovakia all turn out a ton of top level men’s hockey players so there is money enough in those countries. It’s just a matter of building interest among young girls and getting the coaches. Either from North America or their own men’s programs. There is much more competition there from other winter sports but that’s true for the men also. It’s just a matter of time. Canada has been turning out men’s and women’s hockey players without much of any college programs for a long time.
lot of Canadian women play US NCAA hockey. A lot of Euros, too. Heck, Slovenia's women's national team goalie went to Yale the tear they went to the final and lost to Ohio State.
In part, I think there's a barrier in some of these countries to thinking hockey is a women's game. It was that way in Europe in soccer for a while, and maybe even Brazil. On the other hand, the US is on its 3rd women's top flight league, I think. Until the latest incarnation, we didn't put money into our pro leagues, which allowed the EPL and other euro leagues to catch up and move past us for pro opportunities. That serves as a way for them to develop national teams. I think we still have a bigger feed due to title 9, but they are able to refine the higher level players due to a more professional program.
Man, this would have been a good spot for Old Chelsea to weigh in.
