PWHL's Worldly 3-on-3 All-Star Game Could Be A Sneak Peek At The 2034 Winter Olympics

When the best women's hockey players in the world take to the ice for the PWHL's 3-on-3 All-Star tournament March 7 in Toronto, it will also present a unique sneak peek into what fans could be in for when the puck drops at the 2034 Winter Olympics in the United States.

Not only will traditional 5-on-5 hockey be back, but for the first time, the IIHF and organizers are pushing for the inclusion of 3-on-3 hockey as an official Olympic sport.

No longer would 3-on-3 hockey be restricted to overtime debates, instead it would take center stage as nations across the globe are already preparing for the event, and the IIHF itself is hosting more 3-on-3 events each season.

The PWHL however, will give fans a true look at what this could mean for the women's game as teams of players representing USA, Canada, International, and a Rookie roster take to the ice.

It's highly likely that a dozen members of USA's gold medal team from the 2026 Olympics will be on the ice at the PWHL All-Star event, both on PWHL USA and PWHL Rookies. Players including Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards, Abbey Murphy, and Tessa Janecke seem like locks for PWHL Rookies, while stars such as Megan Keller, who scored the golden goal for USA in overtime at the 2026 Olympics, Haley Winn, Taylor Fox, Kelly Pannek, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Britta Curl-Salemme, Aerin Frankel, Gwyneth Philips, and Hilary Knight will all be in the mix for PWHL USA.

Canada's silver medal winning team will also be well represented, as will players from other Olympic nations like the bronze medal winning Swiss with Alina Muller and Andrea Brandli, and the league's next largest national representations behind Canada and USA in Czechia and Finland.

While it's difficult to envision how the world's 3-on-3 teams will be formed for 2034, it's likely that the rosters will come from players with specific skill sets that lend better to open ice, particularly those who are on the fringe of traditional national teams. Other nations may look to their youth to fill these rosters.

For USA, it could have meant players like Casey O'Brien and Lacey Eden, a pair of highly skilled forwards, lining up alongside each other at the Olympics for 3-on-3 hockey, since they were omitted from USA's 5-on-5 roster. In Canada, young stars like Chloe Primerano, Caitlin Kraemer, and Eve Gascon, and PWHLers such as Nicole Gosling, Jessie Eldridge, Rebecca Leslie, Kendall Cooper and Danielle Serdachny who were left off Canada's Olympic roster could have received the call.

Internationally, 3-on-3 hockey could also provide new opportunities for some nations who lack the depth to field a full hockey team at that level. While nations like Czechia, Switzerland, Finland, and Sweden may struggle at the 3-on-3 level leaning on youth or veterans who have aged out of their national teams, other nations like Austria, Slovakia, Norway, and Hungary, who could not qualify for 2026, could be strong 3-on-3 nations. Needing a significantly smaller roster, Austria, for example, could field a team featuring Theresa Schafzahl and Anna Meixner, who both have PWHL experience, alongside NCAA players like Magdalena Luggin, and seasoned international pros like Annika Fazokas and Antonia Matzka. Or for Slovakia, it could be a group of pros by 2034 including Nela Lopusanova, Ema Tothova, Tatiana Blichova, Michaela Sophia Paulinyova, Lilien Benakova, and Livia Debnarova, who are all playing key roles in the NCAA.

A 3-on-3 tournament certainly opens the door for more nations to be competitive in women's hockey, and it will allow new avenues for stars among the top nations in the world to prolong their international careers, or target new Olympic achievements.

As the IIHF and IOC continue to collaborate and grow 3-on-3 hockey, the PWHL's 3-on-3 All-Star game featuring USA, Canada, and an International team, could be another stepping stone on the path to full Olympic inclusion in time for 2034.