Canada is battling the U.S. for Olympic gold in women’s hockey. Here’s a look at our roster

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This article was published 16/02/2022 (1314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Canadian women’s hockey team, coming in hot off an undefeated winning streak this Olympics, will duke it out against the U.S. for the gold Wednesday night.

The match marks Canada’s seventh-straight Olympic gold medal women’s ice hockey game, and the sixth showdown with the U.S.

Team Canada pulverized Switzerland 10-3 on Monday, while the U.S. bested Finland 4-1. The Americans are defending the gold medal they won in the Pyeongchang 2018 Games.

Here’s a primer before the game begins at 11:10 p.m. EST.

Forwards

Marie-Philip Poulin

An Olympic veteran who twice scored the winning shot in an Olympic gold medal game, Poulin, a 30-year-old from Beauceville, Quebec, now captains the national team. She’s widely considered one of the top players in women’s hockey today.

Rebecca Johnston

Johnston, 32, has played with the national team since 2007 and has two golds and a bronze under her belt. The Sudbury, Ontario native stands among the top-10 all-time in scoring for Canada’s national women’s team.

Sarah Nurse

Nurse rose to prominence after scoring the game-winning goal during Canada’s 2-1 round robin against the U.S. in her 2018 Olympic debut. With a silver medal secured, the 27-year-old Hamilton native is now going for gold.

Laura Stacey

The 27-year-old Stacey made her Olympic debut at Pyeongchang 2018, where the U.S. snatched gold from Canada. Stacey, hailing from Kleinburg, Ont., helped Canada score its first gold in a decade at the 2020 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

Sarah Fillier

Making her Olympic debut at Beijing 2022, 21-year-old Fillier has since scored eight goals and two assists, making her tied for first in goals. Previously, the Georgetown, Ontario native played for the U18, U22, and National Women’s Team all in one year.

Jill Saulnier

Saulnier, 29, made her Olympic debut in 2018, where she helped Canada win a silver despite tearing her ACL in the semifinal. Saulnier’s entry to the international stage started in 2009, as a member of the under-18 national team.

Melodie Daoust

A two-time Olympic medallist, Daoust scored one goal at Sochi 2014 and became Canada’s leading scorer in 2018. Daoust was named tourney MVP of the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship.

Brianne Jenner

Jenner, 30, played her first Olympics in 2014. Since then, she’s helped win one gold and one silver for Canada. This Olympics, Jenner tied the Olympic record for most goals in a single tournament, scoring nine against Switzerland.

Natalie Spooner

An Olympic veteran having represented Canada since Socchi 2014, Spooner, 31, is the first player to compete for the National Women’s Team, the National Women’s U-22 Team and the National Women’s U-18 Team.

Emily Clark

Clark, a 26-year-old Saskatoon native, made her Olympic debut at Pyeongchang 2018 where she scored one goal. She began playing internationally in 2011, with the national under-18 team.

Emma Maltais

Beijing will be Maltais’s first Olympic appearance, but she got her start on the national program in 2015 with the U18 team. The 22-year-old is from Burlington, Ontario.

Blayre Turnbull

Turnbull’s first Olympic experience was at Pyeongchang 2018, where she landed three assists, including one during the final. In the 2019 world championships, Turnbull, 28, scored four goals in five games, marking her most successful individual performance

Jamie Lee Rattray

Rattray made her first international appearance helping Canada score gold at the 2014 Four Nations Cup. Eight years later, the Ontario-native is making her first Olympic debut at Beijing.

Defense

Renata Fast

After debuting on the international stage with the National Women’s Development Team in 2014, Fast, 27, medalled internationally several times before joining Canada’s national team at Pyeongchang 2018.

Jocelyne Larocque

The 33-year-old Larocque from Ste. Anne, Manitoba, has been a member of the National team since 2008, and has one Olympic gold and one silver under her belt. After her 2011 debut in the IIHF Women’s World Championship, Larocque has garnered two golds, five silvers and one bronze.

Erin Ambrose

Ambrose is making her Olympic debut at Beijing 2022, but she’s a veteran of the international stage, having joined the National Women’s Team in 2014 and helping them win a gold at the Four Nations Cup.

Claire Thompson

Thompson, 24, is making her debut at the Beijing Olympics after joining the national team program in 2019.

Ella Shelton

After making her first international appearance just four years ago as part of the U22 national development team at the 2018 Nations Cup, Shelton, 24, will go on to play her first Olympics at Beijing.

Micah Zandee-Hart

Zandee-Hart, 25, is making her Olympic debut at Beijing after becoming the first player from Vancouver Island to join the national women’s team in 2016.

Ashton Bell

Bell first entered the international arena at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship – two years after switching to playing defence instead of forward. This will be the 22-year-old’s first Olympics.

Goaltenders

Ann-Renée Desbiens

Desbiens made her Olympic debut in 2018, where she earned an 18-save shutout against Russia before ultimately falling to the U.S. The 27-year-old from Quebec had been playing internationally since the IIHF Women’s World Championship in 2015.

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Emerance Maschmeyer

The 27-year-old Maschmeyer will make her Olympic debut at Beijing 2022, but first joined Canada’s national team program for the 2011-12 season.

Kristen Campbell

This will be Campbell’s first Olympics, after the 24-year-old from Brandon, Manitoba first played internationally at the 2015 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.

Kevin Jiang is a Toronto-based digital producer for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @crudelykevin