Canada does well in the Winter Olympics, but is women's hockey Canada's best shot at a gold medal? With the Canadian women's hockey team on an impressive run of form in Olympic competition, it's hard to argue against them being the favorite to win it all once again. Five of the last six Olympic hockey tournaments saw the Canadian women win gold, while the lone non-Canadian gold was a silver medal in the 2018 tournament.
Of the 23 players selected to the Canadian women's hockey entry, sixteen represented the country in the 2022 tournament. All 23 players selected play hockey in the the PWHL.
Of the eight teams in the PWHL, the Toronto Sceptres will be the most-represented team by the women's Olympic roster; six of the 23 players selected play their club hockey in Toronto. The Vancouver Goldeneyes, one of the two expansion franchises that recently began play, will have the second-most representation on the roster; five Goldeneyes players will head to Italy to play for Olympic gold. The Montreal Victoire will also have five players representing them at the Olympics, while an additional three will come from both their Highway 417/A-40 rivals the Ottawa Charge and the New York Sirens. An additional player will represent the Seattle Torrent, the second of two recently-added franchises. No members of Canada's women's Olympic roster will represent the Minnesota Frost or the Boston Fleet.
Watch for Kati Tabin and Sophie Jaques
Kati Tabin has been a big part of the Montreal Victoire's success over the past two-and-a-half years, guiding the team to two postseason appearances while posting an average +/- rating of around five goals.
As for Sophie Jaques, we're arguably talking about one of Canada's best defenders. While playing for the Minnesota Frost during the 2024-25 season, Jaques was contributing offensively at around a point per game clip, posting 22 points over 25 regular-season games. She also contributed to two championship runs for the Minnesota Frost before heading to the Vancouver Goldeneyes prior to their inaugural season. While she only has seven points through her first sixteen games this season, she is still providing scoring chances at a rate close to that of past seasons.
If both defenders can continue to provide their A game in their Olympic debuts, they could easily make their case as two of the more underrated stars on this Canadian lineup.
Canada is going to be a very hard team to beat once again. Not only are veterans like Sarah Nurse and Marie-Philip Poulin more than capable of putting Canada on their backs and guiding the team to victory, but Olympic first-timers like Daryl Watts are going to have an opportunity to gain Olympic experience from one of the best rosters to ever do it.
Three of the four teams in Canada's group (Switzerland, Finland, United States) will once again act as group stage opposition for the Canadians, while Czechia will join Group A after contesting round robin action with Japan, Sweden, China, and Denmark in 2022.
While I could see the United States and Finland giving Canada some trouble, I do think that the Canadians will top the group and advance to the knockouts with relative ease.