25 players to represent Canada at key Olympic women's hockey tune-up games

Twenty-five players will compete for the Canadian women’s hockey team at the Rivalry Series later this week, as Hockey Canada moves closer to naming the players who will look to defend gold at the Olympics.

With fewer than 100 days to go until the best female hockey players in the world descend on Milan, Italy, this year’s Canada-U.S. Rivalry Series will be a crucial test for players who are on the edge of making the roster.

It’s also a rare chance for the team to experiment with line combinations and chemistry, as the Canadians will have only four games together before the Olympics begin in February.

The first leg of the Rivalry Series begins Thursday in Cleveland, Ohio, followed by a game on Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y.

The Rivalry Series will conclude with two games in Edmonton on Dec. 10 and 13, and Hockey Canada is likely to name a different roster for those final two games.

“These four games are more than just a mini-competition between two rival nations; they remain an important measuring stick for us as we continue building toward the 2026 Olympic Winter Games,” Canadian GM Gina Kingsbury said.

“We have focused our training blocks on fine-tuning our on-ice identity and paying attention to the details that we believe will drive our success. The four games are a critical step in that process, and we are excited to see it all come together on the ice.”

In previous seasons, Olympic hopefuls would live and train together at one centralized location for months as they worked to make the team.

But the PWHL has changed the way Hockey Canada is selecting the team. Instead of centralizing in one spot for months, 30 Olympic hopefuls have attended three training blocks across the country this fall.

The 25-player roster for the U.S. leg of the Rivalry Series includes all three NCAA players who are looking to make their first Olympic team: defender Chloe Primerano (University of Minnesota), forward Caitlin Kraemer (University of Minnesota Duluth) and goaltender Ève Gascon (University of Minnesota Duluth).

Should she make the Olympic team, Primerano would be the youngest player to do so since Marie-Philip Poulin at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Up front, most of the team’s veterans will be playing in the first two Rivalry Series games, including the captain, Poulin (Montreal Victoire), Blayre Turnbull (Toronto Sceptres), Sarah Fillier (New York Sirens), Natalie Spooner (Toronto Sceptres) and Sarah Nurse (PWHL Vancouver).

Missing from the training camp roster are Ottawa Charge teammates Emily Clark, who has been recovering from off-season surgery, and Brianne Jenner.

On defence, the team will be without veteran defender Jocelyne Larocque (Ottawa Charge) and Montreal Victoire rookie, Nicole Gosling.