Everything you need to know before Canada announces its women's Olympic hockey team

Hockey Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee will name the Olympic women’s hockey team on Friday afternoon, less than a month before the Canadians open the tournament against Finland on Feb. 5.

A dominant Canadian team took home gold in Beijing in 2022, breaking records along the way.

But the team will go into this year’s Winter Games in Italy as the underdog against a young, skilled American squad.

The Americans swept the Canadians at the recent four-game Rivalry Series, outscoring Canada 24-7 and looking more connected along the way. The U.S. roster was named on New Year’s Eve and is stacked with talent, from captain Hilary Knight and PWHL leading scorer Kendall Coyne Schofield, all the way to PWHL draft prospects such as Caroline Harvey, Abbey Murphy and Laila Edwards.

Canadian assistant captain Blayre Turnbull didn’t mince words about her team’s performance.

“The first three games of the Rivalry Series were really bad for our team,” Turnbull said last month. “I think the last game we started playing the right way, but I think we all understand there’s a lot of work left to do, which is good. I don’t think anyone on our team left that Rivalry Series feeling happy about where we’re at.”

The Olympics are a fresh slate and a grander stage. Turnbull said she still feels confident the Canadians can repeat as gold medallists.

Head coach Troy Ryan didn't seem concerned, either.

“The message to the national team when we left [after the Rivalry Series] was understand the feelings you’re having right now and why they possibly happened, and make sure you’re building your habits and your details and your concepts with your PWHL team or your NCAA team so you’re setting this group up for success,” he said last month in Halifax.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Friday’s announcement: 

While the men’s teams are allowed to bring 25 players to the Olympics, the women’s teams can only bring 23. 

That means that Canadian GM Gina Kingsbury will need to make a few cuts from the 30 players who have been attending training camps throughout the season, and who competed at the Rivalry Series games last year. The roster will be announced at 3:30 p.m. ET in Toronto on Friday.

The team will once again be coached by Ryan, who led the Canadians to Olympic gold in 2022, along with three world championships. He’ll be joined by assistants Kori Cheverie (Montreal Victoire), Caroline Ouellette (Montreal Victoire/Concordia University), Britni Smith (Syracuse University) and goaltending consultant Brad Kirkwood (Toronto Sceptres).

Canada will compete in Group A against the United States, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Finland.