The Canadians, the reigning Olympic champions, will be lead by Marie-Phillip Poulin, who is one of only five players who have scored 200 or more points at international level.

This will be the first World Championship since 2016 in Kamloops to be held in Canada with fans in the stands. 

The 2021 competition was held in Calgary, where Canada beat rivals United States 3-2 in the final, but there was no crowd due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US will look to bounce back after suffering two final defeats in a row at the hands of Canada.

Prior to those runner-up finishes, the US had won five consecutive titles and eight of the last nine.

They enter this year's tournament with five new players, including rookies Tessa Janecke and Haley Winn.

Other than Canada and the US, the only other team to reach the final is Finland who made it in 2019 in their home country before losing to the Americans 2-1.

The US, Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Japan will play in Group A at CAA Centre, with all five teams reaching the quarter-finals as part of the strongest pool.

They will merely be playing for position in the last eight draw.

Finland, Sweden, Hungary, Germany and France are in Group B, with the top three also reaching the quarter-finals.

The bottom side in this group will be relegated to Division 1A of the World Championship.

The event is due to run until April 16.

In tomorrow's first games, Canada will play Switzerland and the US meet Japan.

France will also take on Finland.