Four members of the Vancouver Goldeneyes will represent Canada during the second leg of the 2025-26 Rivalry Series.
During the first leg of the 2025–26 Rivalry Series, the U.S. took both games against Canada by a wide margin. With the start of the 2025–26 PWHL season now under their belts, both teams will look to build on their performances as the series shifts to Edmonton. For the U.S., this means continuing their dominance; for Canada, it means utilizing home-ice advantage.
Team Canada surprised some with their performance in the first leg of the series, generating only two goals throughout both games in Cleveland and Buffalo. They’ll be entering their two games in Edmonton with even less offensive firepower than what they could have, as Canada took Vancouver Goldeneyes forwards Sarah Nurse and Hannah Miller off their roster for the second-half of the series.
On Friday night, the Goldeneyes announced that they would be placing Nurse on LTIR retroactive to November 21. Prior to the start of this season, Nurse missed both Rivalry Series games at the start of November. While Canada’s roster still has no shortage of talent, Nurse’s absence is massive for a team that faced difficulty in putting pucks in the back of the net — something that her PWHL team had suffered with prior to their 4–0 win against the New York Sirens on Saturday.
“Just the energy she has, the aura she has, she’s very calming on the ice because she’s super responsible. Her hockey IQ is off the charts with simple plays. We missed that a lot more than I really thought that we would, especially off the start here,” Goldeneyes Head Coach Brian Idalski said of what Nurse brings to teams both on-and-off the ice.
As mentioned, Vancouver will also only have four players taking part in the second leg of the series, all of whom will represent Canada. Goldeneyes goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer did not end up slotting into either of the two games during the first leg, though after posting an incredible 28-save shutout on Saturday, as well as making a save-of-the-year candidate, she has absolutely earned herself a look at a start.
“Playing best-on-best is always such an honor,” Maschmeyer said after her shutout on Saturday. “Wearing your nation’s jersey with pride — there’s nothing better.”
Maschmeyer and Sirens netminder Kayle Osborne are two goaltenders who will return to Canada’s roster after the first leg of the series. Canada also subbed University of Minnesota-Duluth goaltender Ève Gascon out for the Montréal Victoire’s Ann-Renée Desbiens, who is highly likely to grab a start during the final leg of this series.
For those four Goldeneyes who will join Canada during the second leg of the Rivalry Series, the experience will be one to utilize as extra practice to be put towards further establishing a winning identity for Vancouver.
“I think that it’s great preparation,” Maschmeyer explained. “If we can invest in ourselves there, we’ll set ourselves up to help the team when we get back, and we have great confidence that the girls will be doing what they need to do here [in Vancouver], whether it’s resting, watching film, working on certain things that we need to work on. I think it’s coming at a great time, especially getting this win going into the break. We’ve had a few games to see what we really need to work on and dial-in on, so I think it’s a great time for us to have that little break.”
The second leg of the 2025–26 Rivalry Series takes place on December 10 and 13 in Edmonton. Vancouver will resume their PWHL season on December 16 with a home-ice match against the Ottawa Charge, who they previously suffered a 5–1 loss to.