If I was on a quiz show and was asked about how many times Emerance Maschmeyer went to the Olympics, I would have said three times with a lot of poise. She’s been with Team Canada for so long, right? So, 2018, 2022 and 2026. Yep. Three times. 

Well…no! Maschmeyer’s selection to the 2026 Olympics is only her second nomination, after making the team in Beijing in 2022. 

What? How’s that even possible? 

I began doing research and like I thought, the first time she made the national team was in 2015 for the World Championships. 

So, what happened in 2018?

“I was on every roster from that point (2015) until I got cut before the 2018 Olympics and then was on every roster since, except for last year with my injury,” confirmed Maschmeyer, when I spoke to her after the Vancouver Goldeneyes’ practice Saturday afternoon in Quebec City.

Although she didn’t play at the Worlds in 2015, she played four games between the 2016 and 2017 tournaments, winning silver medals each time. In 2016, she was even voted best goaltender. 

But in May 2017,  the then 22 years-old Maschmeyer was told she would not be invited to the centralization. 

“That was very tough news for me,” Maschmeyer, now 31, remembers. “And that's actually the reason I moved to Montreal in the first place. I was living in Calgary, playing for the Inferno, then got cut from the centralization roster and I had Charline Labonté call me and say, ‘I'm retiring from hockey, Montreal needs a goalie, so I would highly suggest you come out and play for Montreal.’ And I listened to her, and I packed up and moved to Montreal for that season, and I ended up staying, I think, for four seasons after.”

At the 2018 Olympics, Shannon Szabados, Ann-Renée Desbiens, and Maschmeyer’s wife-to-be, Genevieve Lacasse, got the nod for Team Canada.

Four years later, it was the other way around. “Masch” made the team, but Lacasse didn’t, a heartbreaking day for them. 

“The first time, when I got the call, my wife got cut from the team five minutes before, so it was a very interesting dynamic for us. Obviously, it was very exciting news for me, but a very tough day for her. So, you know, my heart was being pulled in different directions.”

Back to last Thursday.

With Lacasse now retired from hockey and having given birth to the couple’s first son, Beckham, in 2024, the news about making the Olympics was received much differently than in 2022 for Emerance, although it ended up being a nerve-racking day. 

“So, we flew from Vancouver on Thursday, got into Ottawa at around 4:30 p.m., and then my call was at 7:50 p.m. and I was the very last call. So, it was a long day! But got the call and got the good news from Gina Kingsbury.”

She continued: “This time, it was great to be able to call my wife and call my family and say, this is the good news, period. And my son was doing like a dance on the phone. He didn't understand what was going on, but he knew something was really exciting. And so, we're like, Beckham, you're going to Italy! We've never been to an Olympics together, so this will be our first that we get to experience.”

Vancouver will face Montreal Sunday afternoon at Videotron Centre in Quebec City. 

And between playing for les Canadiennes, the PWHPA team, and coaching goalies at Concordia, Montreal became Maschmeyer's home away from her real home of Bruderheim, Alberta. 

Therefore, it’s always special for her to come back to the province of Quebec and play there.

“It's always a pleasure to come back to Quebec City. I've had the honour of playing here a couple different times with the national team. And then last year, I was here for a Takeover Tour game with Ottawa. And so, the crowd, obviously, it's so passionate out there. Quebec loves its hockey, and I feel like Quebec City just is itching for a team, and we could feel that last year, and I have no doubt that the fans will show up on Sunday as well. And even though the crowd is against us here, I can still feel the passion and the energy, and, you know, I feed off that in my play.”