Poulin headlines Canada's women's Olympic roster for gold defense

Canada named its 23-player women's hockey roster for the Olympics.

The Canadian women are the defending gold medalists, having defeated the United States 3-2 in the gold-medal game at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

But it hasn't been smooth sailing in recent clashes. Canada has lost five straight games against the U.S. and got swept in the Rivalry Series, including a record 10-4 loss in Edmonton.

Headlining the squad is captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who will be playing in her fifth Olympics. Poulin has scored three gold-medal-winning goals. She enters the 2026 Games one goal behind fellow Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser for all-time Olympic goals in women's hockey.

Here's the full roster.

Forwards

Gardiner, Gosling, O'Neill, and Watts will make their Olympic debuts. Watts is second in all-time PWHL scoring to Poulin.

Nurse hasn't played since the PWHL's opening night Nov. 21. She broke the Olympic single-tournament scoring record in 2022 with 18 points in seven games.

Caitlin Kraemer, Hannah Miller, and Danielle Serdachny were cut from Canada's Olympic orientation roster.

Defenders

The Canadian blue line is led by Fast, the reigning PWHL Defender of the Year. She's joined by the other two finalists for the award last season, Thompson and Jaques, as well as 2024 winner Ambrose.

Thompson set the Olympic single-tournament scoring mark among defenders in 2022 with 13 points in seven contests.

Jaques and Tabin are first-time Olympians.

Nicole Gosling, Chloe Primerano, and Micah Zandee-Hart were the defenders released from the orientation roster.

Goaltenders

Desbiens projects as Canada's starter for a second Olympics. She posted a .940 save percentage in 2022 en route to gold, and the reigning PWHL Goaltender of the Year currently sports a .947 mark.

Osborne, 23, gets the nod as Canada's up-and-coming third-stringer. She's played every minute for the Sirens this season and has three shutouts in 11 starts.

Eve Gascon, who plays in the NCAA, was the last cut between the pipes.

Canada opens its Olympics on Feb. 5 against Finland.