From top to bottom, Canada's national women's hockey team programs have the "motivation to just beat" the USA after the difficult results of the past year. That's the goal at the Summer Series, including for Canada's top netminding prospect Ève Gascon.
Individually, the 22 players named to Canada's National Development team have personal goals in mind. It could be the 2027 PWHL Draft, it could be making Canada's Senior National team roster.
Collectively, the immediate goal is clear - beat the United States.
"I just want to win against the US and I think that’s a big goal here with this team is to just put the team first and win against those guys," said Ève Gascon, Canada's top netminding prospect of the series.
It was a difficult 2025-26 season for Canada. Last summer USA's U-18 and Collegiate Select teams beat Canada in both series'. It came after USA beat Canada for gold at the 2025 World Championships in Czechia. When the Fall arrived, USA swept Canada at the Rivalry Series for the first time ever, and did it in dominating fashion, including setting a new all-time mark, scoring 10 goals against Canada in a single game. Then came USA winning gold, again beating Canada in the final, at the U-18 World Championships in January. Finally, USA won gold at the 2026 Olympics in Milan.
It was a clean sweep.
Eve Gascon - Photo @ Sebastian GervaisThis week, Canada got back to business at their Summer Showcase in Richmond, British Columbia with 80 players from the U-18 and university levels arriving to vie for roster spots. Gascon, already a World Championship silver medalist, U-18 silver medalist, and a member of Canada's roster that fell to USA at the Rivalry Series last season, has faced her share of defeat to USA.
She and her Canadian teammates got to work this week with the goal of reversing the tides.
"I think every time we come to a camp, we gain experience and we have the chance to be with the best every camp," Gascon said. "I think that it’s always a lot of fun to be around the best in the country of our age and it’s always super fun to get the experience and to have the knowledge of the coaches as well."
Canada Motivated To Beat USA
Gascon and the rest of Canada's best must now prove they're better than USA's Collegiate Select team, which has dominated Canada's National Development team in recent years.
Whether they were part of Canada's losses, like Gascon, Caitlin Kraemer, and Chloe Primerano at the Rivalry Series, the eight players who took silver at the U-18 World Championships last season, or the dozens who fell in the summer series last year who will face the United States this week, the sentiment is the same: Canada knows the last year has not gone their way, and they're motivated to change that, beginning now.
"We’re all really excited to play against the US and we all know the results from the past year too," said Gascon. "So I think that’s motivation to just beat them and to not let them have any chance, that’s something we’re really excited about."
