On Friday afternoon, Team Canada announced its roster of 23 players that will attempt to defend the women’s hockey gold medal next month at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy.
All 23 players current play in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
Forwards (listed along with PWHL team)
Emily Clark, Ottawa; Sarah Fillier, New York; Jenn Gardiner, Vancouver; Julia Gosling, Seattle;Brianne Jenner, Ottawa; Emma Maltais, Toronto; Sarah Nurse, Vancouver; Kristin O’Neill, New York, Marie-Philip Poulin, Montreal; Natalie Spooner, Toronto; Laura Stacey, Montreal; Blayre Turnbull, Toronto; Daryl Watts, Toronto
Defence
Erin Ambrose, Montreal; Renata Fast, Toronto; Sophie Jaques, Vancouver; Jocelyne Larocque, Ottawa; Ella Shelton, Toronto; Kati Tabin, Montreal; Claire Thompson, Vancouver
Goalies
Ann-Renee Desbiens, Montreal; Emerance Maschmeyer, Ottawa; Kayle Osborne, New York
The roster is a balanced mix of veterans and first-time Olympians. Seven players: Gardiner, Gosling, O’Neill, Watts, Jaques, Tabin and Osborne will make their Olympic debuts in Italy.
“We have so much history with this group of athletes,” Team Canada head coach Troy Ryan said. “There’s so much leadership and skill, there’s a winning pedigree. I think there’s the right mix of some people having their first Games, and then obviously pretty special for someone like Poulin. I like the chemistry.”
Poulin, a.k.a. “Captain Clutch” will be representing Canada for a fifth time at the Olympics. She scored the gold medal game-winning goals in each of the 2010, 2014, and 2022 editions.
Jenner, Spooner and Larocque have each been named to their fourth Olympics.
Nurse, who was named Best Forward at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, setting records for most assists (13) and points (18) at a single Games, earned an Olympic berth for a third time, despite being sidelined this season with an upper-body injury.
“I think Sarah has been through something similar in the last Olympics, where she was injured prior to the Olympics,” Team Canada general manager Gina Kingsbury said. “So she has mentally gone through this as well, and knows very well where she is in the process. With the timelines that were provided to us through our medical staff, we’re confident that she will have enough runway to get ready and to be at her very best.”
Team Canada prepares for Milano Cortina on the heels of being swept in the recent four-game Rivalry Series versus their nemesis, the United States. Nevertheless, veteran Blayre Turnbull – now a three-time Olympian – seemed unfazed.
“I love being the underdog,” Turnbull said. “I love having to fight, scratch, claw, and battle to the top. If people want to call us the underdogs, they can. People should look at our last full quad, not just our last four games against the Americans.” Indeed, there is precedent for Canada overcoming pre-Olympic adversity. Prior to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Canada lost eight pre-tournament games to the United States before prevailing in the gold medal game.
Turnbull’s fellow Toronto Sceptres teammate Renata Fast, was also named to her third Olympics. The reigning PWHL Defender of the Year joined Turnbull in holding a large Canadian flag in front of the cameras gathered at Canadian Olympic Committee headquarters.
“The feeling is so surreal when you get named to an Olympic roster,” Fast said. “Although it doesn’t feel always the same as the first time. It’s just equally as special and the group that we have, everyone’s earned the opportunity. I’m so excited to be able to represent our country.”
Canada opens the Olympics versus Finland on February 5. They will face Switzerland and Czechia prior to closing out the Group A preliminary round against the United States on February 10.
