Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics: Canada to announce its women's hockey team

Canada to unveil 23-player roster for women’s Olympic hockey team up up

Projecting Team Canada's women's hockey roster for Milano Cortina 2026

Why Italy's hockey team is training for the Olympics in Montreal

Hockey Canada unveils its Olympic roster for the 2026 Winter Games

Where things get really interesting is on defence. You can probably lock in four defenders from that 2022 team: Fast, Erin Ambrose (Montreal Victoire), Claire Thompson (Vancouver Goldeneyes) and Ella Shelton (Toronto Sceptres).

After that, GM Gina Kingsbury has some difficult decisions to make. Does she bring in veteran Jocelyne Larocque, who has been steady for the Canadians but is not quite the player she once was when she and Fast were the top pairing?

What about promising 19-year-old Chloe Primerano, who is super skilled but still getting her feet underneath her on the national team? If she's named, she would be the youngest player since Poulin to make the team.

Then there's Sophie Jaques, who hasn't yet nailed down a spot on the national team despite solid performances in the PWHL.

You can read my full primer story here, and a more detailed look at what the roster could look like here.

PWHL In Profile: Marie-Philip Poulin

Canada's 'Captain Clutch' recalls some of her favourite Olympic goals.

Speaking of individual players, I expect we'll see a lot of familiar faces on today's roster.

They should include several players who won gold in 2022, including captain Marie-Philip Poulin and starting goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens (both with Montreal Victoire), Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast and New York Sirens star Sarah Fillier.

At forward, there are only a few spots available at the bottom of the lineup — but a number of players competing for them. They include Natalie Spooner (Toronto Sceptres), Jennifer Gardiner (Montreal Victoire), Julia Gosling (Seattle Torrent), Danielle Serdachny (Seattle Torrent) and Caitlin Kraemer (University of Minnesota Duluth).

Sarah Nurse (Vancouver Goldeneyes) is a wild card. She would normally be a lock for this team, but she's been on long-term injured reserve since scoring the Goldeneyes' first franchise goal in November.

Things in net are pretty well settled, with Desbiens and Emerance Maschmeyer (Vancouver Goldeneyes) locked in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

When Canada won gold in Beijing, things were pretty different. There were no fans at those Games, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was also no PWHL.

The professional league has changed the Canadian Olympic team, from how it trains to who makes the 23-person roster.

In the past, Olympic hopefuls would "centralize" in one location for months. They'd live together and train with each other in pursuit of a spot on the team. It was a huge strength for Canada and something that helped build chemistry.

With the PWHL, that's no longer possible. Instead, Canada held three Olympic training camps last fall in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, and played those four games against the U.S.

It means the PWHL has become a big decision-making tool. The performance of some players, like Daryl Watts (Toronto Sceptres), Sophie Jaques (Vancouver Goldeneyes) and Kati Tabin (Montreal Victoire) has already forced Team Canada brass to take a good look at them.

Projecting Team Canada's women's hockey roster for Milano Cortina 2026

Host Karissa Donkin and The Athletic's Hailey Salvian give their predictions for what Canada's women's hockey roster could look like at the upcoming Olympic Winter Games.

Let's start off with a few things you should know ahead of today's announcement, which we're expecting around after 3 p.m. ET.

A dominant Canada team won gold in Beijing in 2022 and set a few records along the way. But the Canadians will be arriving in Milan-Cortina more as underdogs after the U.S., with a team of experienced veterans and skilled youngsters, swept a four-game Rivalry Series at the end of last year, outscoring Canada 24-7.

The Canadians are set to face the U.S. Again in the opening group round in Italy, where they'll also play Switzerland and the Czech Republic, and Finland in their opening game on Feb. 5.

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