Canada's prep for 2026 Olympic women's hockey tournament radically revised

Donna Spencer · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 21, 2025 10:05 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

How Canada prepares to triumph different Olympic golden medal successful women's hockey is going to beryllium dramatically different.

The six-team Professional Women's Hockey League is present capable to supply a batch of what Hockey Canada did, meaning women volition not determination to Calgary to walk fractional a twelvemonth trying retired for the 2026 squad successful Milan-Cortina, Italy.

What was known arsenic "centralization" each 4 years was designed to propulsion Canada's women to their limits done regular training, practices and games portion supported financially by Hockey Canada. Many players said they loved the rigour due to the fact that it was the pro situation they didn't different have.

Canada's women regularly played section antheral triple-A teams and besides a fewer games against Junior A men's teams successful caller centralizations.

If Canada's squad that took metallic astatine the women's satellite title Sunday successful Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, is an indication, it's Olympic variation volition beryllium PWHL dense arsenic 23 of 25 hailed from the league.

WATCH | United States instrumentality down Canada successful overtime to triumph women's hockey worlds gold:

Women's satellite title rosters expanded to 25 this year, but Olympic rosters volition stay astatine lone 23 players successful 2026.

"The scenery has shifted successful the women's crippled that doesn't let america to centralize going into the Olympic Games," said Canadian women's squad wide manager Gina Kingsbury.

"Once the play starts, we're each successful antithetic markets and it's not the aforesaid arsenic it has been successful the past with centralization and each surviving successful 1 metropolis for six months earlier the Olympics."

Centralization was mostly palmy arsenic Canada won 5 of 7 Olympic golden medals since women's hockey debuted successful Nagano, Japan successful 1998, and mislaid a sixth successful a shootout with the U.S. successful 2018.

WATCH l Poulin surpasses Wickenheiser with 87th vocation constituent astatine worlds:

Kingsbury is simply a centralization seasoned herself of Canada's Olympic titles successful 2006 and 2010. She says the situation present is to get prospective Olympic players unneurotic capable to support that golden medal.

"We're going to walk arsenic overmuch clip arsenic we perchance tin with each different to bash each the things that centralization has provided successful the past, which is clip good spent together, connections connected and disconnected the ice, gathering concepts, gathering the team, each of those things are truly important," she explained.

"We won't beryllium playing a ton of games. Traditionally, centralization was a play and we were trying to get successful arsenic galore games arsenic we could to beryllium prepared for the Olympics. With this league that we person now, determination volition beryllium ample accidental to play games."

Kingsbury is besides the GM of the PWHL's Toronto Sceptres, portion Canada's manager Troy Ryan is besides down the seat of the Sceptres.

After the PWHL's playoffs reason this season, Hockey Canada volition denote the women invited to effort retired for the 2026 squad astatine 4 antithetic camps starting precocious August, but with 1 caveat.

"It doesn't mean we won't spell extracurricular of that radical if we request to," Kingsbury said. "Let's accidental idiosyncratic has an unthinkable play successful the PWHL up of February and is simply a amended acceptable for america than idiosyncratic that was successful the grooming block. We tin marque that determination to sanction them to our Olympic roster."

Kingsbury plans to bring players unneurotic for 3 grooming blocks earlier PWHL grooming camps start, and for different during an planetary interruption successful the season, with Toronto, Montreal and Calgary apt locations.

She and Ryan volition juggle a fewer priorities wearing their dual hats.

"It's really, truly important to equilibrium the mentation for the Olympics, but besides mounting your athletes up for occurrence to commencement their PWHL oregon the assemblage seasons," Ryan said.

"Got to beryllium truly mindful of that, due to the fact that it's truly casual to spell into those camps and beryllium similar all-in connected conscionable the mentation for the Olympics. If you don't negociate that clip properly, you'll commencement getting injuries to commencement the season."

Canadian and Ottawa Charge guardant Brianne Jenner is different centralization seasoned of 2014, 2018 and 2022, which produced 2 golden medals and a metallic medal.

"It was a large exemplary earlier we had the PWHL," the 33-year-old said. "Every state is going to beryllium successful the aforesaid boat, truthful it's going to beryllium who's going to beryllium capable to navigate this scenery and acceptable their players up and their squad up and their unit up for the astir occurrence erstwhile it comes to February adjacent year.

"There's pros and cons. We ever judge connected our squad that the much clip we're capable to walk together, the amended disconnected we are. It's a good equilibrium due to the fact that we person full-time jobs now. There's a metallic lining to not moving away, successful my case, with young kids."

Two-time Olympian and Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast says she tin judge a extremist alteration successful mentation for Milan-Cortina successful bid to beryllium capable to play hockey for a living.

"This is what we privation astatine the extremity of the day. We person a league that we tin play consistently successful and evidently it makes the Olympics look precise different," Fast said.

"Centralization has served america precise good successful the past. We tin gully connected the experiences that we've had done centralization and inactive instrumentality those with us, but conscionable with little clip together."