Canadian women's hockey team hoping change in Olympic prep yields repeat gold medal

Canada's preparation that has yielded a lot of Olympic gold medals in women's hockey will change for 2026 because of the women's pro league.

Instead of the top players from across the country relocating to Calgary for months leading into a Winter Games, the Canadian women will get together for training blocks in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal scheduled around the Professional Women's Hockey League calendar.

"It's a change, but it's a great change," Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin said.

"The new league for us, the PWHL, that's the exciting part."

Canada opens defence of the Olympic gold medal Feb. 5 against Finland in Milan, Italy.

Of the 30 women invited to Hockey Canada's Olympic orientation camp in Calgary this week, 27 play in the PWHL that starts its third season later this fall.

After the orientation camp, which also includes 42 NHL players and 20 para hockey players, the women will stay in Calgary for the first of three training blocks.

Centralization in Calgary provided a hockey hot house for the Canadian women in the years their leagues didn't provide enough daily ice time and quality games.

They trained together every day on and off the ice, played a regular slate of games against local midget triple-A and Junior A clubs, as well as exhibition games against the archrival United States women.

Canada has won five of seven gold medals since women's hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998, and narrowly missed a sixth in a shootout loss to the Americans in 2018.

The PWHL expanding from six to eight teams this season provides 30-plus regular-season games, salaries and benefits.

It features many of the top players in the world in the women's game, including American stars Hilary Knight (Seattle) and Taylor Heise