Canada names women’s Olympic hockey roster

CALGARY — The day the women find out if they’re going to play for Canada’s Olympic hockey team packs an emotional wallop. Elation, tinged with empathy for those who didn’t make the cut, was on the faces of the 23 players introduced Friday as the team chosen to defend gold in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“There are two major emotional moments in a year,” forward Brianne Jenner said. “The first one is finding out you’re an Olympian and the second, of course, is how you do at the Olympics.”

Canada’s roster includes 14 players from the team that beat the United States 3-2 in an overtime thriller to win gold in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

Canadian women have won four straight Olympic gold medals in women’s hockey.

Twenty-eight players were invited in May to try out for the 2018 edition. Based in Calgary, they’ve been training and playing a full schedule of games since August.

Defenders Halli Krzyzaniak of Neepawa, Man., and Micah Zandee-Hart of Saanichton and forward Sarah Potomak of Aldergrove were the last cuts from the team. Potomak’s sister Amy and defender Erin Ambrose of Keswick, Ont., were released on Nov. 20.

“It’s such a hard process,” forward MariePhilip Poulin said. “It’s bitter and sweet. We’re like a family. To see some girls leave, it’s always hard.”

Olympic women’s rosters have increased from three goaltenders and 18 skaters in 2014, to three and 20 in 2018.

Head coach Laura Schuler, a forward for Canada in the 1998 Olympics, chose to go with six defenders and 14 forwards, instead of seven and 13.

“We made decisions based on wanting to make sure that we can produce offence as we go forward,” Schuler said.

“When we made the final decisions, and we looked at what we needed to win gold, we felt these 23 people were going to be the 23 that we needed to have on the roster.”

Goalies Shannon Szabados of Edmonton, Genevieve Lacasse of Kingston, Ont., and Ann-Renee Desbiens of Malbaie, Que., have known since May that they will be going to Pyeongchang. They will compete for starts at the Winter Games, which open Feb. 9.

Szabados, defender Meaghan Mikkelson of St. Albert, Alta., forwards Poulin of Beauceville, Que., Haley Irwin of Thunder Bay, Ont., Rebecca Johnston of Sudbury, Ont., and Meghan Agosta of Ruthven, Ont., also won gold in Vancouver in 2010.

Bean responded for Canada just as a power play expired, wiring a wrist shot past a screened Wuthrich.

Batherson tipped in a long shot from Mahura into the Swiss net to increase the Canadian lead to 5-1.

Dube brought the crowd to its feet for a second time on the night with 1:53 to go in

the second. Kyrou sent a cross-ice pass to a wide open Dube, who fired it straight into the net.

Steenbergen’s second of the night came 7:36 into the third when he swatted the puck past Ritz to make it 7-1.

Clague added another goal for Canada moments later, carrying the puck from his own end and snapping a wrister past Ritz.

Cal Foote, who captains Kelowna in the WHL and is one of eight defencemen still on Canada’s roster, was held off the scoresheet on Friday.