Sophie Jaques and Jenn Gardiner are the two Olympic rookies who will represent the Goldeneyes and Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
With five players named to Canada’s 2026 Winter Olympic roster, the Vancouver Goldeneyes will be well-represented once the games begin in February. So far, the Goldeneyes are tied with the Montréal Victoire for the second-most Canadian Olympians on their team. Many have talked at length about what having familiar faces around can do for a team, but for a first-time Olympian like Sophie Jaques, playing with teammates makes the experience even more special.
“Having teammates here in Vancouver, I think even makes it more special, and to get to travel together and have people you can lean on that you’re familiar with, I think makes the experience just that much better,” Jaques told the media on Wednesday regarding Vancouver’s five Canadian Olympians.
Jaques, who is from Toronto, reflected on the significance of the Olympics themselves in her childhood and career as a professional hockey player. Moments like Canada winning Gold in Vancouver in 2010 (among many other years) live throughout many Canadian kids’ memories. To be one of the players etched in Canada’s storied women’s hockey history is a milestone many only dream of.
“Watching the Olympics and women’s hockey at the Olympics growing up, that was kind of the only time you got to see great female players,” Jaques added. “I have so many special memories, like watching them win in 2010 in Vancouver, and then just every year after, seeing them on the biggest stage. I think it’s just such a special moment, like across the country, and to get to represent Canada, I think it’s just a very cool opportunity.”
This may be Jaques’ first time taking part in the Olympics, but it’s not her first time representing Canada internationally. The Goldeneyes defender skated for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championship as well as during the Rivalry Series in November and December. In both occasions, her goal-scoring ability was on full-display, acting as an encouraging sign for a Canadian roster that had issues finding the back of the net against the U.S.
“I’m so excited for her. I’ve known her since we were kids, and she’s just worked so hard on her game across, really, her whole life. I’m so, so happy for her to finally be rewarded and get to show what she’s made of on the highest stage in the world,” Claire Thompson, who has played with Jaques at a variety of levels in women’s hockey, said of her Goldeneyes teammate.
Jaques isn’t the only member of the Goldeneyes to be taking part in their first Olympics for Team Canada. Surrey’s own Jenn Gardiner, who has also represented Canada in the past, also got the fated Olympic call from her national team.
“Obviously there’s a lot of nerves leading up to it, it was on our travel day, so [the call is] kind of something you’re thinking about on the plane all day out east, and just waiting for the words that they’re gonna say [about] whether you made it or not,” Gardiner explained regarding how she found out that she’d made the team. “To hear those words out of Kori Cheverie’s mouth, she was one who told me, was pretty special, because I had known her throughout my entire time on the Canadian National team program. It meant a lot for me.”
The 2025–26 season has been massive for Gardiner. From joining her hometown PWHL team to scoring her first goal of the year at the historic Pacific Coliseum, there’s been no shortage of fantastic moments for one of Vancouver’s hometown heroes. Representing her country at the Olympics will be yet another milestone to add to the long list she’s already compiled.
“It doesn’t feel real still, just because I think there was so much build up to it and just the excitement around it,” she explained. “It’s the best thing that I ever could imagine happening. It’s something you dream of your entire life, and it’s a dream so big you just can’t even imagine it happening. There’s really no words to even describe this moment and this feeling for me.”
Credit: Nancy Shields @ THN Jaques and Gardiner will be joined by three of their PWHL teammates; Thompson, Sarah Nurse, and Emerance Maschmeyer, all of whom have faced Olympic competition in the past. Having gone through the ebbs and flows of playing on the biggest stage in the world, Maschmeyer shared a piece of advice for her first-time Olympic teammates.
“Trust your worth and trust that you’re worthy of that experience,” she said. “When it’s [a] tight competition and pressure is high, it can be easy to doubt yourself, but you were chosen for a reason, and you deserve it. And I think what's really awesome about our team is, we need every single person in order to win a gold medal. So just show up. Be you and do your thing. You know what you do best. So just bring your best assets.”
Canada is not the only Olympic team to have Goldeneyes players listed to their roster, as Nina Jobst-Smith (Germany), Tereza Vanišová (Czechia), and Michelle Karvinen (Finland) will all represent their respective countries as well. While she’ll be a temporary adversary come February, PWHL rookie and Olympic veteran Karvinen also put forth her tips for Vancouver’s first-year Olympians.
“Take some pictures, but then put away the phone. Enjoy it. Be present. It’s a cool thing to talk to other athletes and enjoy the moment and go see other sports and things like that, but don’t get caught up, and stay in the real world.”
As part of Canada’s oncoming youth movement, Jaques and Gardiner will be instrumental to their Olympic team’s success in the coming years — not just 2026. For now, the focus will be on soaking everything in and making the most of what could be the most competitive Olympic women’s hockey seen in a very long time.