TORONTO — Canada looked to experience and some young grit in choosing its 23-player women’s hockey roster for the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Captain Marie-Philip Poulin, headed to her fifth Olympics, is one of 16 players returning from the 2022 gold-medal squad in Beijing. The Canadian roster is drawn entirely from the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
“For some, this will be their very first Olympic Games,” said Canadian GM Gina Kingsbury, who doubles as GM of the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres. “And for others, potentially their last. What unites this group is a promise we’ve made to each other that it will be our very best.”
Hockey Canada is gambling that veteran forward Sarah Nurse, injured in Vancouver’s Nov. 21 PWHL season opener, will be ready to go although it can switch out players due to injury in advance of the puck drops in Milan.
Kingsbury said while Nurse will be monitored ahead of the Games, “we feel good about where she is from the medical perspective … and she feels really good about where she is as well.”
The 31-year-old from Hamilton was named best forward at the 2022 Olympics where she set a record for most points (18) and assists (13) in a single tournament. Nurse also played at the 2018 games.
The 10-team women’s field in Milan is split into two groups with Group A featuring the IIHF’s five top-ranked teams: Canada, the U.S., Finland, Czechia, Switzerland. Group B features teams ranked six through 10.
All of Group A and the top three teams from Group B will move on to the quarterfinals.
The Canadian women open Feb. 5 against Finland before facing Switzerland on Feb. 7, Czechia on Feb. 9 and the U.S. on Feb. 10.
Since women’s hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998, the U.S. and Canada have contested every gold medal save 2006 in Turin, Italy, when Sweden beat the U.S. in the semifinals.
Canada won gold in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2022 and silver in 1998 and 2018 when the Americans took gold.
“I think a lot of people assume that Canada goes in just waiting for that Canada-U.S. matchup … We not just preparing for the U.S., we’re preparing for every country,” said Canada coach Troy Ryan, who has the same role with the Sceptres. “But we’ve also got to get better so if we do find ourselves in that gold-medal game, that we’re ready.”
Ryan says his team will have to bring a blue-collar approach to Milan.
“We’re not going to to be that high-flying offensive team that we were. We’re probably going to have to be a little bit more defensive-minded, a little bit more physical — and a little bit more of what the PWHL has to offer.”
Kati Tabin, a relative newcomer to the team, provides some of that physicality, with Ryan calling the Montreal Victoire defender “very difficult to play against.”
“We need people like Kati that are going to compete, clear the net front, (have) good stick details, be aggressive and be unapologetic about being physical when needed,” said Ryan.
Tobin, Jenn Gardiner, Julia Gosling, Sophie Jaques, Kristin O’Neill, Kayle Osborne and Daryl Watts will make their Olympic debuts.
Special teams will also be key, with Ryan looking for an improved performance on the penalty kill.
The U.S. swept Canada in the recent Rivalry Series, outscoring the Canadians 24-7 in winning all four games — with the first two in Cleveland and Buffalo in November and the last two in Edmonton in December.
Ryan, while acknowledging there are plenty of things to “tidy up,” said his team goes to Italy with plenty of confidence even if it is seen as the underdog in some quarters.
“If we get a little extra motivation from being the underdog, then so be it.”
Canada won just one of eight meetings against its rival in 2025. The U.S. beat Canada twice in April’s world championship, including a 4-3 overtime win in the final.
The Americans named their Milan roster on Jan. 2, led by 36-year-old Hilary Knight, the 2023 IIHF Female Player of the Year, who is set to make her fifth and final Olympic appearance. The U.S. squad features just 11 members of the side that finished runner-up in Beijing.
The U.S. has been on a youth movement under coach John Wroblewski, who took over in June 2022.
Veteran Natalie Spooner, who will be attending her fourth games, is also on the Canada roster after becoming a mother and coming back from knee surgery. The 35-year-old from Toronto returned to the Sceptres lineup last February but was a healthy scratch at the world championship final.
“The weight of this decision is now off her shoulders,” said Ryan. “She’ll loosen up a little bit and you’ll see a little bit more of that offence that she’s produced previously. But I also like that she’s growing her game at this point in her career.”
Vancouver Goldeneyes forward Hannah Miller, whose eligibility had been uncertain after representing China at the 2022 Olympics, did not make the squad. Kingsbury said Miller was ultimately ruled eligible.
“It was not part of the decision making,” she said.
The Canadian women will leave Montreal for Milan on Jan. 29, spending four days in Lugano before shifting to Milan.
Canada Olympic Roster
Goaltenders: Ann-Renée Desbiens, Montreal Victoire; Emerance Maschmeyer, Vancouver Goldeneyes; Kayle Osborne, New York Sirens.
Defenders: Erin Ambrose, Montreal Victoire; Renata Fast, Toronto Sceptres; Sophie Jaques, Vancouver Goldeneyes; Jocelyne Larocque, Ottawa Charge; Ella Shelton, Toronto Sceptres; Kati Tabin, Montreal Victoire;Claire Thompson, Vancouver Goldeneyes.
Forwards: Emily Clark, Ottawa Charge; Sarah Fillier, New York Sirens; Jenn Gardiner, Vancouver Goldeneyes; Julia Gosling, Seattle Torrent; Brianne Jenner, Ottawa Charge; Emma Maltais, Toronto Sceptres; Sarah Nurse, Vancouver Goldeneyes; Kristin O’Neill, New York Sirens; Marie-Philip Poulin, Montreal Victoire; Natalie Spooner, Toronto Sceptres; Laura Stacey, Montreal Victoire; Blayre Turnbull, Toronto Sceptres; Daryl Watts, Toronto Sceptres.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2026.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
