Canada's Chloe Primerano poised for women's world hockey championship debut

Donna Spencer · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 07, 2025 11:33 AM EDT | Last Updated: 15 minutes ago

Chloe Primerano continues to beryllium up of her time.

She's answered the doorbell astatine higher levels of hockey successful caller months and has the accidental to bash it again.

At 18 years 3 months, Primerano volition beryllium the youngest defender to play for Canada astatine a women's satellite title since Cheryl Pounder successful 1994.

The 10-country tourney opens Wednesday successful Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, but Canada doesn't commencement defence of its golden medal until Thursday against Finland astatine 1 p.m. ET.

Hayley Wickenheiser astatine 15 years 4 months successful 1994 was the youngest subordinate ever for Canada successful a satellite championship.

Primerano's standout tournaments successful back-to-back satellite under-18 championships sandwiched a memorable three-game stint with the nationalist squad past autumn successful the Rivalry Series against the United States.

So, competing with the likes of Marie-Philip Poulin and against Hilary Knight successful the Czech Republic won't consciousness overseas for the teen from North Vancouver, B.C.

"I consciousness similar I'm ready," Primerano said. "I'm surrounded by beauteous astonishing players and a large team, truthful I cognize they're going to acceptable maine up beauteous well, and it's going to beryllium awesome.

"It's beauteous special, conscionable being capable to play connected this squad with my idols. I'm truly excited, and I can't hold to play with everyone again."

She captained Canada to a golden medal successful January's under-18 title and was named the tournament's apical defender by the IIHF directorate. Her 16 points successful 8 games arsenic an underage subordinate successful 2024 was an under-18 tourney record.

Experience representing country

Primerano played the archetypal 3 games of the nationalist team's Rivalry Series against the U.S. successful November. At 17, she was the lone Canadian to people successful the shootout of a 5-4 triumph successful West Valley City, Utah, that evened the bid 1-1.

In the Czech Republic, she dons the Maple Leaf a 4th clip successful little than a twelvemonth and a half, and successful a tract that includes astir 60 battle-hardened pros from the Professional Women's Hockey League.

"We've ever been a small spot connected the blimpish broadside of bringing idiosyncratic arsenic young arsenic Chloe is to the elder level," Canada's wide manager Gina Kingsbury said.

"For Chloe, we brought her to the Rivalry Series, we've had her successful our situation and she's a beauteous exceptional jock that's acceptable for that jump.

"She's a large skater, she sees the crippled highly well, she brings each the attributes that are invaluable astatine that level already. She makes america better. It's not a substance of processing oregon looking astatine the future. We deliberation she tin travel successful and interaction our occurrence and interaction our team."

Said caput manager Troy Ryan: "There's a precocious level of accomplishment there. There's a assurance greater than her years."

In summation to her exploits for Canada, Primerano deed the crushed moving successful her University of Minnesota freshman year.

She scored successful her debut against the University of Connecticut and assisted connected an OT victor the adjacent time against the Huskies.

After 5 goals, 26 assists and a Frozen Four quality with the Golden Gophers, Primerano was named to the NCAA's all-rookie team.

"She chose to travel to assemblage a twelvemonth early," Minnesota caput manager Brad Frost said.

'Incredible passionateness for the game'

"Playing against players who are five, six years older than her astatine times, truly from Day 1 we knew that Chloe was going to beryllium much than OK. Even though she was younger, she's got an unthinkable passionateness for the game, precise astute hockey player, and idiosyncratic that was acceptable for the bigger moments and acceptable for the higher gait of play."

Former Canadian squad guardant Vicky Sunohara, who coached Primerano astatine some nether 18-championships, said Primerano took a batch connected her ain shoulders the archetypal twelvemonth and past blossomed into a person of women successful the second.

"This year, she astir apt had the aforesaid unit and the unit of being captain, but she was capable to grip that better, truly assistance her teammates, whether it was connection connected the crystal oregon disconnected the ice, speaking up successful meetings and having a calming voice," Sunohara said.

"She sounds shy, but she's ne'er acrophobic to enactment up her manus oregon to stock her sentiment and beryllium susceptible successful beforehand of a group. Her vulnerability was truly noticed and truly appreciated among her peers and the players."

Primerano followed her member Luca into hockey astatine the North Shore Winter Club.

She played 2 seasons connected the Burnaby Winter Club's under-15 boys' squad earlier joining the Rink Hockey Academy's women's under-18 programme successful Kelowna, B.C.

"Her imaginativeness and her agility, her lateral movement, that puck stays connected her stick," Sunohara said. "That astir apt comes from playing a batch of guys' hockey with hitting. She goes astatine apical velocity with her caput up.

Lone pistillate taken successful CHL draft

"That's important present arsenic she's playing against bigger, stronger, faster players."

Hockey civilization perpetually heralds "the adjacent one." Primerano had that spotlight successful the women's crippled swung connected her erstwhile she was lone pistillate skater to beryllium chosen successful a Canadian Hockey League draught by the Vancouver Giants (268th) successful 2022.

Ryan winces a spot erstwhile helium hears Primerano called the adjacent Poulin due to the fact that helium feels that's overbearing for a subordinate inactive successful the aboriginal bud of her career.

"It's the champion and the worst thing," Ryan said. "It's truthful overmuch to enactment connected a subordinate astatine that age. It's a large compliment. Hopefully she tin negociate it, but it's besides not just successful a way. Let's speech successful 20 years' time."

Primerano has a caput commencement connected making those years count.

"I consciousness similar going to this satellite championship, I'm going to beryllium a sponge and soak it each up," she said.