Team Canada heads into Milano Cortina 2026 as the defending gold medalists in women’s hockey, with the tournament set to kick off on Feb. 5.
Canada starts the round robin that day against Finland, with the gold-medal game scheduled for Feb. 19.
Unlike previous Olympic cycles, Canada did not centralize in Calgary this year as all 23 players on the roster are skating in the PWHL.
In Canada’s forward group, nine of 13 won gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, with four – Julia Gosling, Daryl Watts, Jenn Gardiner and Kristin O’Neill – set to make their Olympic debuts.
On defence, Canada returns five blueliners who won gold in Beijing with Sophie Jaques and Kati Tabin as the Olympic rookies.
Kayle Osborne, who is the youngest player on the Canadian roster, is the only goaltender making her Olympic debut with veterans Ann-Renée Desbiens and Emerance Maschmeyer returning.
Here is how Team Canada has performed in the PWHL this season.
FORWARDS
Marie-Philip Poulin – Montreal Victoire
At 34, Poulin remains one of the PWHL’s most effective forwards, scoring seven goals with 14 points in 15 games this season to lead the Victoire, who are third in the standings.
Poulin had a big 2024-25 for Montreal, capturing the Billie Jean King MVP award, forward of the year, and top goal scorer honours after she scored 19 goals with 26 points in 30 games.
This will be Poulin’s fifth Olympic Games, after capturing gold medals in 2010, 2014 and 2022 as well as silver in 2018.
Known as Captain Clutch, Poulin has scored the game-winning goal in all three Olympic gold-medal wins that she’s been a part of.
Laura Stacey – Montreal Victoire
Stacey returns for her third Olympics after winning gold in 2022 and silver in 2018 in PyeongChang.
The 32-year-old has two goals and eight points in 15 games this season for the Victoire.
Stacey had her best performance offensively at the 2025 Women’s Worlds, scoring two goals with six assists as Canada took home silver.
Sarah Fillier – New York Sirens
Fillier came into the PWHL last season with a ton of hype as the 2024 first-overall pick after a strong college career at Princeton and multiple gold medals for Canada internationally.
She delivered as a rookie, scoring 13 goals with 29 points in 30 games, winning PWHL Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-Rookie Team and the First All-Star Team.
However, it’s been more challenging for Fillier as a sophomore this season, as she has just one goal and nine assists in 15 games.
The 25-year-old was a star for Canada at the last Olympics, as she scored eight goals with 11 points in seven games en route to gold.
Brianne Jenner – Ottawa Charge
Jenner is off to her fourth Olympics after winning gold medals in 2014 and 2022 and silver in 2018.
The 34-year-old captured tournament MVP honours in Beijing after scoring nine goals with 14 points in seven games.
After a bit of a down year offensively in 2024-25 (seven goals and 15 points in 28 games), the Charge captain has bounced back with eight goals and 15 points in 16 games this season.
Sarah Nurse – Vancouver Goldeneyes
After spending her first two PWHL seasons in Toronto, Nurse was not protected in the expansion draft by the Sceptres, leading her to sign with the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
An injury earlier in the season has limited Nurse to just five games so far with the Goldeneyes but she has been productive when she’s been in the lineup, scoring four goals with six points.
In 2022, Nurse set the record for most assists (13) and points (18) in a single Olympic women’s tournament. This will be her third Olympic appearance.
Natalie Spooner – Toronto Sceptres
Spooner was playing some of the best hockey of her career in 2024, scoring 20 goals with 27 points in 24 games in the inaugural PWHL season.
However, a torn ACL in the playoffs ended her season and she didn’t return until Feb. 11, 2025. She would skate in 14 games last year, scoring three goals and five points.
It has been a struggle for both Spooner (three goals and six points in 16 games) and the Sceptres this season as Toronto sits second last in the PWHL standings, one point ahead of Seattle.
This will be Spooner’s fourth Olympics after winning gold in 2014 and 2022 and silver in 2018. At the Beijing Olympics, the 35-year-old had three goals and 14 points in seven games.
Emily Clark – Ottawa Charge
Milan will mark the third Olympics for Clark, who earned silver in 2018 and gold at the 2022 Games in Beijing.
Clark, who signed a two-year contract extension with the Charge in August, has two goals and four points in 16 games this season.
She was instrumental in helping Ottawa reach the PWHL Finals last season, scoring three goals with two assists in eight playoff games before the Charge fell to the Minnesota Frost in four games.
Emma Maltais – Toronto Sceptres
While Maltais was not one of the three first players protected by Toronto in the expansion draft, the Sceptres later used their fourth protection slot to keep her.
The 26-year-old has two goals and eight points in 16 games with the Sceptres this season.
This will be Maltais’s second Olympic appearance after helping Canada win gold in 2022.
Blayre Turnbull – Toronto Sceptres
This will be Turnbull’s third Olympics after winning gold with Canada in 2022 and silver in 2018.
The Sceptres’ captain is second in team scoring this season with three goals and eight points in 16 games.
Along with Watts and defender Renata Fast, Turnbull was one of the first three players protected by Toronto in the expansion draft.
Kristin O’Neill – New York Sirens
O’Neill was part of a draft-day trade in June, as she was dealt from the Victoire along with the 28th-overall pick to the Sirens in exchange for forward Abby Roque.
In her first season with New York, the 27-year-old has four goals and one assist in 16 games.
A three-time Women’s World Championship gold medalist, this will be O’Neill’s first Olympic appearance.
Julia Gosling – Seattle Torrent
The sixth-overall pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft, Gosling spent her first season with the Toronto Sceptres, where she scored four goals and 10 points in 30 games.
After not being protected in the expansion draft, Gosling was selected by the Torrent. She has thrived offensively this season as their leading scorer with six goals and 12 points in 14 games.
Gosling has won gold (2024) and silver (2025) at the Women’s World Championships.
Jenn Gardiner – Vancouver Goldeneyes
Another player who was left unprotected in the expansion draft, Gardiner was passed over by the Victoire and instead signed a one-year deal with the Goldeneyes.
As a rookie in 2024-25, Gardiner had five goals and 18 points in 30 games as she was named to the All-Rookie Team. This year, she has three goals and eight points in 16 games.
Gardiner appeared with the senior team for the first time at the 2025 Women’s Worlds, leading the tournament in goals with six and had 10 points in seven games as Canada took home silver.
Daryl Watts – Toronto Sceptres
After starting her PWHL career with Ottawa, Watts signed with her hometown team in Toronto in 2024 and has thrived with the Sceptres.
Last season, she had 12 goals and 27 points in 30 games. This season, after being one of the Sceptres’ first three players to be protected from the expansion draft, she leads the team in goals (six) and points (11).
Like Gardiner, Watts made her senior debut with Canada at the most recent Women’s Worlds, where she scored four goals with one assist in seven games.
DEFENCE
Sophie Jaques – Vancouver Goldeneyes
Despite helping the Minnesota Frost win back-to-back Walter Cup titles and recording nearly a point per game last year (22 points in 25 games), Jaques was left unprotected by the Frost in the expansion draft.
Jaques went on to sign a three-year deal with the Goldeneyes. In her first season with Vancouver, she has four goals and seven points in 16 games.
The 25-year-old blueliner made her debut with the senior team at the 2025 Women’s Worlds, where she had two goals in six games as Canada took home silver.
Jocelyne Larocque – Ottawa Charge
This will be Larocque’s fourth Olympic appearance for Canada, after winning gold in 2014 and 2022 and silver in 2018.
Starting her PWHL career in Toronto, the 37-year-old was dealt to the Charge in December of 2024 along with Victoria Bach in exchange for Savannah Harmon and Hayley Scamurra.
In her first full season with the Charge this year, Larocque has five assists in 16 games.
Kati Tabin – Montreal Victoire
Of the 20 skaters on Canada’s roster, Tabin has the least amount of international experience.
However, Tabin used a strong season with the Victoire (one goal and six points in 15 games) and an invite to the Rivalry Series in the fall to springboard herself to a spot on the Olympic roster.
Prior to her PWHL career, the 28-year-old played two seasons in the Premier Hockey Federation with the Connecticut Whale and Toronto Six, where she won the Isobel Cup before the league folded.
Renata Fast – Toronto Sceptres
Milan will be the third Olympic appearance for Fast, who helped Canada win gold in 2022 and silver in 2018.
The 31-year-old Toronto blueliner had a big 2024-25, as she captured PWHL Defender of the Year after notching six goals and 22 points in 30 games. At the Women’s Worlds in 2025, she led all defenders in points (eight) and was named to the tournament First All-Star team in a silver-medal effort for Canada.
Fast has three assists in 12 games with the Sceptres this season and remains one of the league’s busiest blueliners as she averages more than 22 minutes a game.
Ella Shelton – Toronto Sceptres
Shelton spent the first two PWHL seasons with the New York Sirens before she was dealt in a draft-day trade in June to the Sceptres in exchange for two draft picks.
In her first season with Toronto, the 28-year-old has two goals and four points in 16 games.
This will be Shelton’s second Olympics after helping Canada win gold in 2022.
Erin Ambrose – Montreal Victoire
Ambrose was not one of Montreal’s first three players protected in the expansion draft but the Victoire were later able to use their fourth protection slot to keep their top defender.
The 32-year-old, who won the PWHL Defender of the Year award in 2024, has four assists in 14 games this season.
At the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, Ambrose had four goals and nine points in seven games as she won her first Olympic medal.
Claire Thompson – Vancouver Goldeneyes
At her first Olympics in 2022, Thompson broke records en route to Canada winning gold, as she set the record for most points by a defender in a single tournament with 13 in seven games.
Like Jaques, Thompson was left unprotected by the Frost in the expansion draft after helping them win the 2025 Walter Cup and she became the first player to sign with Vancouver.
The 28-year-old leads the Goldeneyes in points this season with nine in 16 games.
GOALIES
Ann-Renée Desbiens– Montreal Victoire
After winning PWHL Goaltender of the Year award last year with the Victoire, Desbiens has been one of the league’s best again in the crease, going 9-4-0 in 13 appearances with a .954 save percentage and 1.15 goals-against average.
Appearing in just one game at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, Desbiens was the starter in 2022, backstopping Canada to the gold medal as she won all five starts and allowed only nine goals.
Since 2021, Desbiens has backstopped Canada to three Women’s World Championships gold medals and two silvers.
Emerance Maschmeyer – Ottawa Charge
Maschmeyer suffered a season-ending injury last March that paved the way for Gwyneth Philips to step up and lead the Charge to the PWHL Finals. With Philips’s emergence, Maschmeyer was left unprotected by Ottawa and she signed a two-year deal with Vancouver.
In 11 appearances with the Goldeneyes this season, the 31-year-old is 4-5-2 with a .930 save percentage and a 2.20 GAA.
Primarily serving as Desbiens’s backup in international tournaments, Maschmeyer played two games at the 2022 Beijing Games to help Canada win gold.
Kayle Osborne – New York Sirens
With last year’s starter Corinne Schroeder off to Seattle over the summer, Osborne was handed the starter’s reigns in New York.
The 23-year-old has thrived, going 7-6-2 in 15 appearances while recording a .921 save percentage and 2.21 GAA.
Like Tabin, Osborne has yet to play in a major international tournament for Canada at the senior level. She appeared in one game at the Rivalry Series in the fall, a 6-1 loss to the Americans.
