As Team Canada’s preparation for the Milano Cortina Olympics ramps up, the women’s team has now entered its third training block, this one being set in Montreal after hitting Calgary and Toronto for the first two.
For 23-year-old blueliner Nicole Gosling, this is her first opportunity to take part in the Olympics, if she makes the roster. So far, she’s only played for the senior team in the 2024 World Championship, where she skated in seven games but was held off the scoresheet. She got one penalty and finished the tourney with a plus-one rating.
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On June 24, she was drafted fourth overall by the Montreal Victoire, and the team announced that she had been signed to a three-year standard player agreement on October 10. A Clarkson University graduate, she was the first Canadian-born player drafted in June and the second blueliner. So far, she’s the only 2025 draft pick to have put pen to paper with the Victoire, as the team has signed many contract extensions and been active on the free-agent market.
On Monday, she was practising with the smaller group and was one of the rearguards taking shots that the forwards were trying to tip. Watching her take those shots and Laura Stacey trying to deflect them, it was easy to see that training session as a bit of a preview for what we may see in Montreal Victoire games this season. Asked about the opportunity to train with the power forward, she said:
Getting some reps with her and getting to know her better as a player will certainly help me once the season gets started, but for now, my focus is on Team Canada and this camp.
Gosling explained that she had worked with Kori Cheverie in other Team Ontario and Team Canada events. While she welcomed the opportunity to work with her new PWHL coach, she wanted to have a good relationship with all the coaches present.
As for her thoughts when the Victoire drafted her, the youngster said with a big smile:
Excited, I mean it’s such a good hockey city, and I’ve only heard great things about it and the Victoire organization, the players that they have on their team, I think it’s exciting for me, for my development as a player, but also as a person, so I’m really looking forward to it.
The rookie recently moved to Montreal and says she’s still getting used to the traffic everywhere, but aside from that, she loves the city and how many people are walking around and being active. She adds that she spent her college years in a small town, so she’s enjoying exploring a big city and looking forward to doing more of it.
Of course, I had to ask her if she was disappointed not to have landed on the same team as her cousin Julia, who started her career with the Toronto Sceptres, but was claimed by PWHL Seattle in the expansion draft:
Obviously, I would have loved to play with her, and I think hopefully one day that does happen, but it’s not up to us. So yeah, I would say a little bit disappointed, but at the end of the day, we definitely have fun when we are on the same team, but I mean, we also have fun when we’re playing against each other.
She’s not circled the date of her first game against Julia and Seattle, mainly because she’s not in PWHL mode right now; she’ll get to it when her focus starts to shift towards the Victoire season, when that training camp begins.
Surprisingly, she says she wanted to be a goaltender growing up, but her parents wouldn’t allow it, something she’s grateful for today. Back then, she enjoyed watching Marc-Andre Fleury, Erik Karlsson, and Patrick Kane.
If Gosling makes the Team Canada roster, she’ll gain valuable experience, but if she doesn’t, she’ll still have a bit of a year ahead of her with plenty to learn as a new PWHL player.
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