Hockey Canada announced a list of 92 players across their men's, women's and (men's) sled hockey programs that were invited to an off-ice camp in Calgary at the end of August.
We're in a new world for women's Olympic hockey where there is no centralization prior to the Games. There is a lot that is unknown. There are both unanswered questions and questions no one even knows to ask. I frankly believe we're all (the federations included) figuring this out as we go.
For this particular announcement, the most important thing is that Hockey Canada has said that this is not necessarily a final or exhaustive list. Players on this list could be left off future camp rosters and additional players could be added.
However, Hockey Canada is calling this an Orientation Camp. It's entirely off-ice and is meant to set the tone for the next five months leading into the Olympics. I'd imagine they are very serious about the group selected and it would take a lot to be moved off or on to this roster.
While there are 30 women named here – four goaltenders, 10 defenders and 16 forwards – the final Olympic roster will be capped at 23 players. Per the release, this group "will be a part of Canada’s National Women’s Team throughout the 2025-26 season, with players participating in training blocks and attending events during the year."
More than half the roster (17 players) were on the 2022 Olympic team (Ambrose, Clark, Desbiens, Fast, Fillier, Jenner, Larocque, Maltais, Maschmeyer, Nurse, Poulin, Shelton, Stacey, Spooner, Thompson, Turnbull, Zandee-Hart).
In addition to that group, eight more were a part of the silver-medal-winning 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship (Gardiner, Gascon, J. Gosling, Jaques, O'Neill, Primerano, Serdachny and Watts).
In what will be a huge contrast to Team USA, there are just three NCAA players on this roster - Kraemer (UMD), defender Chloe Primerano (Minnesota) and goalie Ève Gascon (UMD).
Forwards:
Emily Clark (Ottawa Charge)
Sarah Fillier (New York Sirens)
Jennifer Gardiner (PWHL Vancouver)
Julia Gosling (PWHL Seattle)
Brianne Jenner (Ottawa Charge)
Caitlin Kramer (Minnesota Duluth)
Emma Maltais (Toronto Sceptres)
Hannah Miller* (PWHL Vancouver)
Sarah Nurse (PWHL Vancouver)
Kristin O'Neill (New York Sirens)
Marie-Philip Poulin (Montréal Victoire)
Danielle Serdachny (PWHL Seattle)
Natalie Spooner (Toronto Sceptres)
Laura Stacey (Montréal Victoire)
Blayre Turnbull (Toronto Sceptres)
Daryl Watts (Toronto Sceptres)
*pending IIHF approval
The list of forwards is pretty straightforward, with likely the biggest surprise addition being 19-year-old Caitlin Kraemer. A star at the U18 level, this is her first time making the leap to the senior team.
After feeling they'd done all they needed to have Hannah Miller on the last World Championships squad but ultimately being denied, Canada is once again awaiting approval from the IIHF for a change in affiliation, as Miller played for China at the Olympics in 2022.
The most surprising player not on this list is Jessie Eldridge, who has been a regular member of the national team for a few seasons now.
Defenders:
Erin Ambrose (Montréal Victoire)
Renata Fast (Toronto Sceptres)
Nicole Gosling (Montréal Victoire)
Sophie Jaques (PWHL Vancouver)
Jocelyne Larocque (Ottawa Charge)
Chloe Primerano ( Minnesota)
Ella Shelton (Toronto Sceptres)
Kati Tabin (Montréal Victoire)
Claire Thompson (PWHL Vancouver)
Micah Zandee-Hart (New York Sirens)
The big surprise on this list is Kati Tabin. She's never been a part of any Canada team at any level. The most notable name left off is Ashton Bell.
Goalies:
Ann-Renée Desbiens (Montréal Victoire)
Éve Gascon (Minnesota Duluth)
Emerance Maschmeyer (PWHL Vancouver)
Kayle Osborne (New York Sirens)
This is probably the most intersting part of this roster. Gascon was on the last World Championships roster, replacing Maschmeyer who was injured at the time. Maschmeyer is back, but the staff decided to keep Gascon, bring in Kayle Osborne and not include Sceptres goalie Kristen Campbell.
In addition to this roster, the coaching staff has been set.
Toronto Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan returns to the lead the team for a sixth season. He lead Canada to a gold medal at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. He was an assistant with the team that won silver in 2018 in Pyeongchang. With Ryan at the helm, Canada has won the IIHF Women’s World Championships three times (2021, 2022, 2024) and earned silver twice (2023 and 2025).
Ryan will be assisted by Montréal Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie, Concordia University associate head coach and Victoire assistant coach Caroline Ouellette and Syracuse University coach Britni Smith. He will also be assisted by Toronto goaltending consultant Brad Kirkwood, who has had the same rule with Hockey Canada since 2015. Sceptres GM Gina Kingsbury continues to serve as National Women’s Team general manager.
Canada will open the Olympics on February 5 against Finland. That game is scheduled for 3:10 PM Eastern. They will face Switzerland on February 7 at 3:10 PM Eastern, Czechia on February 9 at 3:10 PM Eastern and the United States on February 10 at 2:10 PM Eastern. Should they advance, they'd play in the final quarterfinal, scheduled for February 14 at 3:10 PM Eastern and their semifinal would be at 3:30 PM Eastern on February 16. The medal games are set to take place on Thursday, February 19, with bronze at 8:40 AM Eastern and gold at 1:10 PM Eastern.
