Szabados to mind the twine at annual Four Nations Cup

Marie-Philip Poulin and veteran goaltender Shannon Szabados headline Canada’s roster for the Four Nations Cup women’s hockey tournament.

Poulin and Szabados were among 23 players named Thursday to the team that will compete Nov. 6-10 against the United States, Finland and Sweden in Saskatoon.

Perry Pearn, an assistant coach in the NHL from 1995-2017, was announced as head coach.

Canada’s team was chosen from 59 players who attended a September camp in Dawson Creek, B.C.

Fourteen players who won an Olympic silver medal in Pyeongchang will don the Maple Leaf again in Saskatoon.

“This will be a good test for our players and program as we enter into a new four-year cycle leading into the next Olympics,” Hockey Canada director of women’s teams Gina Kingsbury said in a statement.

Canada has won gold 14 times at the annual Four Nations Cup since the first tournament in 1996, but lost in the final to the U.S. the last three years.

“We have a committed and determined group of players looking to establish themselves as the top hockey nation among the best nations in the world,” Kingsbury said.

“The Four Nations Cup in Saskatoon will be an important measuring stick for us this season and leading into the IIHF women’s world championship next April.”

Goaltender Shea Tiley of Shallow Lake, Ont., defenders Jaime Bourbonnais of Mississauga, Ont., and Katelyn Gosling of London, Ont., and forwards Sarah Filier of Georgetown, Ont., and Loren Gabel of Kitchener, Ont., will make their Four Nations debuts.

Pearn’s assistant coaches in Saskatoon will be four-time Olympian Caroline Ouellette of Montreal, Doug Derraugh of Arnprior, Ont., and Troy Ryan of Spryfield, N.S.