This Monday, we take a trip around the world of hockey with stories on women's hockey both from the semi-professional level and the international junior level. We also take a look at all the growing roster preperation work being done by nations in advance of the 2012 IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Championships in Alberta.

The IIHF Women's World Championships wrapped up yesterday in Zürich with a thrilling 3-2 OT win for the USA, who returned to the top of the women's hockey world after losing last year's Olympic final to Canada. Here's a full recap of the women's championships, from the highest peak to the lowest start-up nation.

The IIHF Women's World Championship comes to an end today in Zürich, Switzerland. Canada takes on the Americans in the gold medal game as expected, while Russia makes a rare appearance in the bronze medal game vs. Finland.

Star goaltenders seem to be the latest trend in women's hockey, with Switzerland, Finland and Slovakia having their star goalies keep them in games in which they barely have the puck. See how this is upsetting the established pecking order at the 2011 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships.

Four countries got their first IIHF victories in Women's Hockey this past week as the IIHF introduced a new Division 5 level. Poland, making their international debut, was more than up to the task, and look like a nation on the rise in the sport.

The four year cycle begins again for international women's hockey, as the 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship program begins. Check here for the calendar of the tournaments, as well as the world ranking heading into this year.

There are other IIHF tournaments going on around the world at the moment. We stop in to look at the IIHF World Women's U18 Championship in Stockholm, with semifinals about to start.

European federations don't want their junior aged male hockey players going to North America to play, but they want NA to take their female players. Puck Worlds tries to figure out the (il)logic for the discrepancy.