Five Things To Watch In November's Rivalry Series

The first two stops on the Rivalry Series between Canada and USA are set to get underway this week in Tempe, Arizona and Los Angles, California.

It's where Canada and USA's World Championship rosters begin to take shape, but this year will also provide plenty of intrigue with the PWHL looking to launch soon.

Here's five things to watch in the opening two stops of the Rivalry Series.

The door is wide open for two new Canadian defenders who are making their senior national team debut for Canada. Sophie Jaques is the reigning Pattyn Kazmaier Award winner as the best player in the NCAA after a stellar career with Ohio State where she was also the back-to-back WCHA Defensive Player of the Year. Jaques is on a three-year deal with PWHL Boston, and will have several opportunities to impress Gina Kingsbury and Troy Ryan, not only playing for them in the Rivalry Series, but playing against them in the PWHL. Jessica DiGiloramo, 24, is the other new blueliner in Canada's lineup. She had five points in 20 games last season with the PWHPA's Team Adidas, and is an alumni of Syracuse. Neither player has represented Canada at any IIHF event. Without Claire Thompson and Micah Zandee-Hart in the lineup, the door is open for one or both to inch closer to a spot on the World Championship roster.

Ann-Renee Desbiens is out injured, opening the door for Corinne Schroeder to step in and play. At Hockey Canada's Fall selection camp, Schroeder wasn't just in attendance, she was the top performing goaltender in attendance. Had Canada's roster been based on that camp alone, it would be Schroeder who was starting for Canada. With Canada's three goalies in Desbiens, Emerance Maschmeyer, and Kristen Campbell entrenched, it will take consistent performance from Schroder, which given her spectacular play in the PHF last season where she was named Goaltender of the Year, along with her play at Canada's camp, it will soon be hard to deny her. Desbiens had one of her worst games in memory in the gold medal game at the IIHF Worlds in April, getting repeatedly beat on her glove side. The door remains open, and Schroeder performing well in this series will show she can help Canada win back gold.

When Laila Edwards steps on the ice for USA Hockey, it will be a historic event. Edwards will become the first Black woman to ever suit up for Team USA's senior national roster. The Wisconsin Badgers standout made USA's senior national pool this summer bypassing the Collegiate Series event with her peers, sticking with the top grouping. The 6-foot-2 forward has 18 points in 12 games this season with Wisconsin. She's the lone teenager on USA's roster.

The offseason wasn't kind to a group of Canadian players as Ann-Renee Desbiens will miss the first stops on the Rivalry Series with an injury, as will defender Micah Zandee-Hart. According to PWHL New York, Zandee-Hart will miss the Rivalry Series as a preventative measure to extend her offseason and ensure she's ready for the season.

With those injuries already on the list, and with the PWHL season rapidly approaching, PWHL team will be watching their stars while holding their breath that no significant injury occurs to anyone else.

Perhaps the most notable injury of the event however, will present itself in the absence of Caroline Harvey from Team USA. Harvey injured her leg on October 20 and has yet to return to Wisconsin's lineup in NCAA action.

While most of Canada's roster is entering having not played this season due to the PHF and PWHPA combining into the new PWHL, which does not drop the puck until January, 10 members of Team USA have played more than a month in the NCAA. Britta Curl is second in the nation in points and was the October national player of the month, while Abbey Murphy, Lacey Eden, and Edwards are among national leaders in scoring.