World Championship Preview: Canada Resets In Hopes Of A Brighter Future

For the first time in 18 years, Marie-Philip Poulin will not be on the ice with Team Canada. Canada will also be without Sarah Nurse, Brianne Jenner, Natalie Spooner, Jocelyne Larocque, Emerance Maschmeyer, Claire Thompson, and Blayre Turnbull, as well as more recent national team additions like Julia Gosling and Jennifer Gardiner. 

It means only 13 of Canada's 23 Olympians from Milan are back. The massive change was necessitated by a mix of injury, pregnancy, and the Canada's need to infuse new talent into their program.

In their place are four teenagers in Rosalie Tremblay, Sara Manness, Chloe Primerano, and Hayley McDonald, and 20-year-old NCAA standout Caitlin Kraemer. Canada is also refreshing their roster bringing back past national team members like Nicole Gosling, Eve Gascon, and Jessie Eldridge, as well as newcomers Rebecca Leslie, Sarah Wozniewicz, and Kendall Cooper.

The hope is to see a younger, faster, more competitive roster that is getting better with each event, not one that is watching their ability decline. In particular, general manager Daniele Sauvageau has set her target squarely on the 2030 Olympics, which means the changes Canadian fans are witnessing are likely just the beginning.

Mixed with Canada's new look roster are tested veterans like Ann-Renee Desbiens in net, Sarah Fillier, Laura Stacey, Emily Clark, Emma Maltais, Kristin O'Neill, and Daryl Watts up front, and defenders Renaa Fast, Sophie Jaques, Ella Shelton, Erin Ambrose, and Kati Tabin.

While Canada brought their youth, it doesn't mean all will get meaningful roles in their first event as Canada's roster is still 25 players deep.

It's going to be difficult for Canadian fans to look too far beyond the young core they're bringing in, but not all of those players will step into prominent roles in this event. Some, like Chloe Primerano, look primed for bigger things with Canada immediately. Canada's blueline will be crucial for this team to challenge the United States at both ends of the ice. Not only with Primerano, but it's likely Canada leans into Gosling, Cooper, and Jaques as key pieces this year.

Up front, without the safety net of Canada's aging veterans, the door is open for fresh faces to contribute immediately. Canada would not have selected 30-year-old Rebecca Leslie or 28-year-old Jessie Eldridge to sit them on the bench, and the same can be said for the return of Danielle Serdachny after she was left off Canada's Olympic roster despite scoring in the gold medal game at the past two World Championships. These three will be pushed to contribute consistently at this event, and previously defense-first forwards for Canada like Kristin O'Neill, Emma Maltais, and Emily Clark will need to find a new gear as well. 

Few expect Canada to knock off the United States in Denmark, but anything can happen, and Canada will be bringing a new look that doesn't align with USA's past preparations against their biggest rival. Canada will get their feet wet against Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Japan giving their young players some softer opposition to gain confidence. In fact, if Canada and USA both finish first in their respective groups, the only meeting the two powerhouse nations can expect is in the gold medal game. 

With how young and inexperienced this roster is at World competition, and given the fact they'll be looking to form chemistry on the fly, it's not out of the question that Canada could drop a round robin game in this tournament, particularly against Finland or Sweden. It remains unlikely, but facing a hot goaltender, or running into penalty trouble with pressure mounting, anything is possible. The same could be said for Canada's path to gold through the quarterfinals and finals where fans are anticipating tighter games than usual. At this tournament however, while gold remains the only acceptable color of medal for Hockey Canada, regardless of the outcome, the main focus will be on building a brighter future.

Goaltenders (3): Ann-Renee Desbiens, Kayle Osborne, Eve Gascon

Defenders (8): Renata Fast, Sophie Jaques, Ella Shelton, Kati Tabin, Erin Ambrose, Nicole Gosling, Kendall Cooper, Chloe Primerano.

Forwards (14): Sarah Fillier, Emma Maltais, Kristin O'Neill, Laura Stacey, Daryl Watts, Emily Clark, Danielle Serdachny, Jessie Eldridge, Caitlin Kraemer, Rebecca Leslie, Sara Manness, Hayley McDonald, Rosalie Tremblay, Sarah Wozniewicz.