2026 Olympics Preview: Canada

The reigning Olympic gold medalists head to Italy with a chance to win back-to-back gold medals for the first time since 2014. But after an extended losing streak to the Americans, many Canadians are questioning if they've sent the right team to get the job done. The roster prioritizes experience over youth, which could be a great asset, the nail in the coffin.

Let's take a look at how Team Canada will show up to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

How They Got Here

Team Canada enters the 2026 Olympics as the most recent gold medalists, having defeated Team USA 3-2 in the gold medal game in 2022.

Unlike the lower-ranked international teams, the top five teams - Canada included - do not have to go through any play-in rounds or tournaments. Instead, the top group is seeded based mainly on the 2024 Women's World Championships. Canada took gold there as well, locking themselves into first in that group.

Unfortunately, 2025 wasn't a great year for Team Canada, losing to Team USA in the World Championship gold medal game and in all four Rivalry series games.

They'll need to have a bounce-back year to capture gold in Milan.

Last Olympics

Canada went undefeated in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, scoring 33 goals across the four preliminary games, and only giving up five. In the quarter-finals, Canada faced Sweden and won 11-0, eliminating them from medal contention. They then faced Switzerland in the semi-finals, beating them 10-3.

The gold medal game against the US was the closest result of the tournament. Two goals from Marie-Philip Poulin and one from Sarah Nurse gave Canada the win 3-2.

Sixteen players from that gold medal-winning team will return for Team Canada this year, including Nurse, who set two single-tournament records for most points and most assists.

Storyline

Losing in the 2025 World Championship and the Rivalry Series to the Americans has crafted Team Canada's storyline for the Olympics. The biggest question, and one that they will not face until the final preliminary game is: Can they beat the Americans?

The last time that Canada beat the US was Feb. 8, 2025, in the 2024-25 Rivalry series. This was the portion of the tournament where NCAA players were not on the roster. Since then, nearly every win over the Canadians by Team USA has come with a goal from an NCAA player.

The 2025 Canadian World Championship roster featured just two NCAA players, Ève Gascon and Chloe Primerano. Team USA brought nine NCAA players. Canada added Caitlin Kraemer to their Rivalry Series roster, but chose to take Kayle Osborne as the third goalie instead of Gascon, keeping their NCAA talent to just two.

After giving up ten goals to NCAA players through four games of the Rivalry Series, Canada chose not to keep any college players on their roster and will head to the Olympics with only PWHL players. Third goaltender Kayle Osborne is the only member of the Canadian roster under 23 years of age. Defensive phenom Chloe Primerano was left off the roster so that 37-year-old defender Jocelyne Larocque could go to her fourth Olympic Games.

So, if youth is the key to winning the gold medal this year, Canada has put itself at a disadvantage. And yet, the Olympics are a different beast than the Rivalry Series or even the World Championships.

Team Canada has sixteen players coming back from the 2022 Olympics, and eight Canadian players have at least two years of Olympic experience. If it comes down to being confident on the biggest stage, the Canadian roster may just have this thing in the bag.

Players to Watch

Speaking of experience, there's not a single way we could preview Team Canada without mentioning Marie-Philip Poulin. Not only was she named the top player in the PWHL by her fellow players, but she's heading to her fifth Olympic Games, with a chance to win her fourth gold medal.

When Poulin is on the team, it's nearly impossible to count Canada out. At her first Olympics in 2010, she scored both goals in Canada's 2-0 gold medal game win over the US. In 2014, she scored the tying goal and the overtime winning goal to beat the US 3-2 and take home her second gold medal. Though they lost in 2018, Poulin did have a goal, and then had two of the team's three goals in the 2022 gold medal game. She operates at another level when it comes to the Olympics, and Canada will need her to continue that in Milan.

From the most experienced to one of the least experienced, Kati Tabin will be an interesting player to watch as she heads to her first Olympic games. Tabin has been playing at the pro level since 2021 when she joined the Connecticut Whale of the Premier Hockey Federation. She'll make her senior national team major tournament debut at 28 years old.

Tabin's an Isobel Cup champion and key member of the Montréal Victoire, and the Canadian brass has taken notice. Playing with Erin Ambrose, another Team Canada veteran, surely doesn't hurt, but her tenure in pro hockey across multiple leagues is a true story of perseverance. Her ice time may be limited, but it will be interesting to see how she can perform on the biggest stage.

Lastly, Nurse, who missed 11 games this season with an injury, has been on a tear since returning to the Vancouver Goldeneyes. She was named to the Olympic roster having only played one game in the 2025-26 PWHL season. And she's proven that decision right. At the time of writing, she is tied for the Goldeneyes' lead in goals with 11 fewer games than her teammates. The impact of her return was felt immediately. Could she be playing the best hockey of her career as she enters her third Olympic Games? It certainly seems so.

What Does Success Look Like?

It's safe to say that the players and the country won't consider anything other than a gold medal a success.

There has yet to be an Olympic gold medal match that did not feature Team Canada. They have faced Team USA six times since 1998 and faced Team Sweden once. With veterans like Spooner, Larocque, and possibly Poulin likely playing in their last Olympics, it's gold or bust.

Predicted Finish

The Canadian in me would like to tell you that I think Canada will win gold in 2026, but I don't think that's the case. I predict they will finish second to the US.

Although most of the Canadian players and staff have said that they don't consider the Rivalry Series to be fully representative of the abilities of the team, the series did reveal a lot of issues. Team USA is a fast and young team that substantially outplayed the Canadians, putting up 24 goals across four games.

We also have not seen Canada or the US play against the other international teams since the 2025 World Championship. It's the Olympics; there's always the possibility of an upset. But when Marie-Philip Poulin is involved, it's hard to count them out.