Youth movement sweeps through Canadian women’s hockey team for world championship

The roster was chosen after a 48-player selection camp concluded Oct. 14 in Quebec City.

Captain Marie-Philip Poulin won’t play in Denmark as she recovers from knee surgery.

Veteran forwards Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbull and goalie Emerance Maschmeyer were invited to camp, but were said by Hockey Canada to be unable to attend. Turnbull is pregnant and due in December.

Veteran forwards Brianne Jenner and Julia Gosling and defender Jocelyne Larocque attended camp, but were left off a roster that features 18-year-old forwards Rosalie Tremblay and Hayley McDonald and 19-year-old defender Chloe Primerano.

“We’ve seen, especially with the younger ones, the progression that they had over the course of the week. We’ve seen what they’ve done since August and now the real test for everybody is how could you do it at the international level,” Sauvageau said.

“In order to know that, in a situation like this, we need to basically give them the opportunity as well.”

The U.S. carried 13 players under the age of 25 on its Olympic roster for an average age of 25.8.

Driven by talented class of college players, and top PWHL pick Caroline Harvey, the Americans are expected to be strong for several years.

The International Ice Hockey Federation shifted the women’s tournament from its traditional April time slot to November to avoid conflict with the PWHL schedule.

The U.S. is the defending world champion after a 4-3 overtime win over Canada in the 2025 final in Czechia.

The Montreal Victoire’s Kori Cheverie will coach Canada in Denmark.

Canada’s roster of three goalies, eight defenders and 14 forwards includes 19 PWHL players and six from the NCAA.

“One thing that we needed to see is that their performance in the PWHL the last few seasons, as well as in playoffs, could this performance translate into an international style of play that we want to play?” Sauvageau said. “The answer is yes with this selection.

“We don’t want to be scored on and we want to score a lot of goals.”

Veteran goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens will be backed up by Ève Gascon and Kayle Osborne.

Renata Fast, Sophie Jaques, Erin Ambrose, Kati Tabin, Ella Shelton, Nicole Gosling, Kendall Cooper and Primerano round out the defenders.

Laura Stacey, Emily Clark, Sarah Fillier, Emma Maltais, Kristin O’Neill, Daryl Watts, Danielle Serdachny, Rebecca Leslie, Jessie Eldridge, Caitlin Kraemer, Sara Manness, Sarah Wozniewicz, Tremblay and McDonald comprise the forward group.

Thirteen players were Olympic silver medallists in February and a dozen helped Canada to its most recent world title in 2024 in Utica, N.Y.

Tabin, Kraemer, Leslie, Manness, McDonald, Tremblay and Wozniewicz will make their world championship debuts in Denmark, although Tabin played in the Olympic Games.

Kraemer’s 20 career goals in the world under-18 championship ranks second to American star Kendall Coyne Schofield. Primerano’s 16 points in the 2024 under-18 championship was the most by a Canadian player in a single tournament.

Canada’s leadership group will alter in Denmark. Fast is the only player on the world roster who wore a letter on the Olympic team as alternate captain.

Canada’s women will play pre-tournament games against the U.S. on Oct. 28 in Windsor, Ont., and Oct. 30 in Plymouth, Mich.

Canada opens the world championship Nov. 6 against Sweden.

Hockey Canada also added the University of Ottawa’s Alison Domenico to Cheverie’s coaching staff Monday.

She was an assistant to Troy Ryan on Canadian teams that won Olympic and world championship gold in 2022. Domenico joins Caroline Ouellette and Kris Sparre as Cheverie’s assistants.

Canada’s women have won 13 gold medals in 24 world championships.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Youth movement sweeps through Canadian women’s hockey team for world championship

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