Hockey Canada and Canadian Olympic Committee officials were at Winsport on Friday to reveal the names of the 23 players who will make up Canada’s women’s hockey team for the upcoming Olympics in South Korea.
Three goaltenders, six defenders and 14 forwards will make up the team as follows
Goaltenders:
- Ann-Renée Desbiens (La Malbaie, Que./University of Wisconsin, WCHA
- Geneviève Lacasse (Kingston, Ont./Calgary, CWHL)
- Shannon Szabados (Edmonton, Alta.)
Defence:
- Renata Fast (Burlington, Ont./Toronto, CWHL)
- Laura Fortino (Hamilton, Ont./Markham, CWHL)
- Brigette Lacquette (Mallard, Man./Calgary, CWHL)
- Jocelyne Larocque (Ste. Anne, Man./Markham, CWHL)
- Meaghan Mikkelson (St. Albert, Alta./Calgary, CWHL)
- Lauriane Rougeau (Beaconsfield, Que./Montreal, CWHL);
Forwards:
- Meghan Agosta (Ruthven, Ont.)
- Bailey Bram (Ste. Anne, Man./Calgary, CWHL)
- Emily Clark (Saskatoon, Sask./University of Wisconsin, WCHA)
- Mélodie Daoust (Valleyfield, Que./Montreal, CWHL)
- Haley Irwin (Thunder Bay, Ont./Calgary, CWHL)
- Brianne Jenner (Oakville, Ont./Calgary, CWHL)
- Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, Ont./Calgary, CWHL)
- Sarah Nurse (Hamilton, Ont./University of Wisconsin, WCHA)
- Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./Montreal, CWHL)
- Jillian Saulnier (Halifax/Calgary, CWHL)
- Natalie Spooner (Scarborough, Ont./Toronto, CWHL)
- Laura Stacey (Kleinburg, Ont./Markham, CWHL)
- Blayre Turnbull (Stellarton, N.S./Calgary, CWHL)
- Jennifer Wakefield (Pickering, Ont./Linköping HC, SWE)
The team has already had several exhibition games and aims to win gold in PyeongChang in 2018.
“We've had a really tough schedule, we've played 11 international games so far and about 20 games against the Alberta boys midget teams and I’m really, really happy with where we're at and really excited about our future,” said head coach Laura Schuler.
“Canada’s strong tradition of hockey talent is on display here, there is so much talent and depth on this team,” said Isabelle Charest, PyeongChang 2018 Team Canada Chef de Mission. “I am excited to watch them defend their gold medal in PyeongChang and can’t wait to cheer them on.”
The team hopes to bring home its fifth-straight gold medal and will play its first Olympic game in South Korea on February 11th against Russia.
