Hockey Canada announces roster for February Rivalry Series

Team Canada will look for their first win of this year’s Rivalry Series against the USA with a relatively similar roster as the December games

Earlier this week, Hockey Canada released the rosters for the final three Rivalry Series games this February. Still searching for their first win of the series, the Canadian national team is looking very similar to the layout from December with just some minor changes. The games will take place which will take place in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia, and in Anaheim, California from Feb. 3-8.

Roster

Forwards: Victoria Bach, Rebecca Johnston, Brianne Jenner, Jill Saulnier, Saran Nurse, Natalie Spooner, Marie-Philip Poulin, Loren Gabel, Blayre Turnbull, Emily Clark, Melodie Daoust, *Laura Stacey, *Jessie Eldridge

Defenders: Lauriane Rougeau, Laura Fortino, Renata Fast, Meaghan Mikkelson, Jocelyne Larocque, *Brigette Lacquette, *Erin Ambrose

Goaltenders: Emerance Maschmeyer, Ann-Renée Desbiens, Geneviève Lacasse

*= new additions from December roster

Surprises

Both teams left NCAA players off these rosters as college seasons are heating up. This makes the names Jaime Bourbonnais and Micah Zandee-Hart left off the roster understandable as they are both currently playing for Cornell in the ECAC.


USA Hockey announces roster for February Rivalry Series


However, there are still a few shocks to the roster, especially after dropping two games to the United States in December. Meghan Agosta and Ann-Sophie Bettez, two well-known names who participated in the December exhibitions, are not rostered for February. Bettez made her national team debut during last year’s Rivalry Series and has since played in seven games with the team.

In place of these four are Stacey, Ambrose, Lacquette, and Eldrige. Between the first three of those players, they can claim seven World Championship medals and two Olympic medals. These additions shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone and will definitely beef up the roster as they look to win against USA.

A small surprise comes in Jessie Eldridge who is making her national team debut after participating in Hockey Canada’s BFL National Women’s Team Fall Festival. A graduate from Colgate, as a senior Eldridge had 54 points in 38 games and was February 2019’s National Player of the Month.

All three games can be seen on NHL Network or TSN.

Rivalry Series Schedule

DateTimeLocationWatch
Mon., Feb. 310:00:00 PM ESTVictoria, BCNHL Network
Wed., Feb. 510:00:00 PM ESTVancouver, BCNHL Network
Sat., Feb. 810:00:00 PM ESTAnaheim, CANHL Network