London hockey stars thrilled to be on Team Canada for Winter Olympics
CBC
Two London-area hockey stars say they're ecstatic to be living out their childhood dreams of representing Canada on the world stage at the Winter Olympics in Italy next month.
Former London Devilettes Julia Gosling and Ella Shelton are among 26 players part of Team Canada's roster for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games starting Feb. 6.
Shelton, who plays defence for the Toronto Sceptres in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), said she is still reliving the moment she first heard the news on replay.
"It's a pretty big moment and something athletes wait years for, so to get that call again is pretty cool," the Ingersoll native told CBC Radio's London Morning.
"I think back to when I was a little girl and watching those girls play in the Team Canada jersey, I just wanted to be one of them one day, and now to look back I'm sure little Ella would be just screaming at the top of her lungs if she saw herself up there."
It's the second time Shelton will head to the winter games. She helped Canada secure a gold at the 2022 Beijing Games and hopes to defend that championship again this year, she said.
For Gosling, a forward for the Seattle Torrent, this will be her first time at the Olympics.
"I'm just excited for the whole experience," Gosling told CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive.
"I've heard so much about the Olympics, the village, the opening ceremonies. Just watching other sports and then also competing at the Olympics for hockey has always been a dream."
Being part of a growing PWHL has been nothing short of surreal for both Shelton and Gosling with the amount of supports they've gotten from fans and the entire hockey community. Shelton scored the first ever goal in PWHL history in 2024, when she played for New York.
This time around, it will be an interesting competition for the players, whose American teammates will become their rivals on the ice.
"It's been pretty cool to see not only the inner workings of how they go about their day, but just ideas to bring back to different teams," said Shelton. "It's just good camaraderie, but also good competitiveness."
Gosling will play against five of her Seattle teammates, which she admits, will be "a bit weird" but nothing she hasn't done before. She said her teammates have been very supportive and were excited to see her on the roster.
"You just aren't friends on the ice when you're competing for your country," she said, adding that she believes knowing her counterparts' style of play will give her an advantage.
This First Person column is the experience of Andrew Stetson, a writer and storyteller in P.E.I. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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