GANGNEUNG, South Korea — On the day that the United States women’s hockey team charged into its third consecutive Olympic final, and Canada earned a berth in its fifth in a row, the International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel announced that the women’s Olympic hockey tournament would expand to 10 teams from its current 8 in time for the 2022 Games.
International ice hockey officials celebrated the decision, which was announced Monday, and pointed to Japan’s overtime upset of Sweden in the consolation bracket on Sunday as evidence of the budding depth in the women’s game.