Who will be on the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team?

Only 49 days remain before the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team opens its tournament in Milan, Italy, and looks to defend its Olympic title.

The women’s hockey landscape has changed dramatically since the buzzer sounded on the Canadians’ 3-2 win over the Americans at the Beijing Winter Games in February 2022.

The creation of the PWHL has changed the way the Canadian team is training for the Olympics, ending the tradition of having players “centralize” together in one location for months before the Games. It’s also given players a new stage to prove they should be on the national team. 

Canada and the U.S., remain the teams to beat heading into the Olympic tournament, but the Canadians may be underdogs heading into the Games.

The American team was revamped after losing three straight major tournaments to Canada between 2021 and 2022. That rebuilt American roster, with a skilled, youthful core, has won six straight games against Canada.

Most recently, the Americans swept the Canadians in the Rivalry Series, outscoring them 24-7 over four games. A 10-4 shellacking was a low point. It was the Canadians’ worst defeat since 2012.

But the Olympics are a fresh slate, and Canadian head coach Troy Ryan isn’t worried.

“I don’t think it’s a concern,” Ryan said this week. “We know we have business to do. We know it’s going to be a difficult challenge for us, for sure, but I think we’ve got perspective on it as well.”

The Canadian team is likely to be built around a veteran core with plenty of experience winning at big tournaments. Much has been made about the age of the Canadian team compared to the younger Americans, but with that age also comes experience.

Canada plays its first game against Finland at 3:10 p.m. ET on Feb. 5,