Hockey Canada announces Women's World Championship roster

Canada has chosen the 25 players they'll send to the IIHF Women's World Championship, and many are new faces.

Hockey Canada announced the roster on Friday, answering questions fans had about who would wear the red and white and represent the maple leaf.

Starting in net, three goalies were named: Kristen Campbell, Eve Gascon, and Ann-Renee Desbiens. Predictably, Emerance Maschmeyer was left off this list after being placed on LTIR by the Ottawa Charge on March 14 with a lower-body injury.

It's a good sign that Desbiens has been named to the team, given she went down with an injury on Tuesday when the Montreal Victoire lost to the Boston Fleet 3-2 in shootouts. After she was helped off the ice by her teammates, there was no update on her condition from the team. If either of the other two goalies stands between the pipes, it will mark the first time since 2019 that Canada has played without either Desbiens or Maschmeyer in net.

Looking at the forwards, Hannah Miller pops out as her inclusion indicates the IIHF has allowed her to represent Canada instead of playing for China. Miller was born in Vancouver, B.C. and represented Canada in her junior years as part of the U18 team, but was named to the Chinese national team ahead of the 2022 Olympics. The details of her eligibility were not made public, although she retained her Canadian citizenship while competing for China. In 2024, China removed all players with dual passports from their roster, leaving Miller without a national team. This year, the Sceptres star forward asked the IIHF for eligibility to play in Canada, and as evidenced in the roster announcement, her wish was granted.

Among Canada's defenders, Chloe Primerano stands out. The 18-year-old netted a highlight reel-worthy game-winning shootout goal to even the rivalry series in November, and has since been known as Canada's next superstar. That series was Primerano's first stint on the national team and, after being named to the national roster for April, she will become the youngest player since Marie-Philip Poulin to play for Canada at the Women's Worlds.

There are 17 returning players from the Canadian team that defeated host United 6-5 in overtime in last year's final in Utica, N.Y. 

"Experience is critical. We've won the last four out of the last five major events with this core," said general manager Gia Kingsbury. "You don't want to rest on that and just think we're automatically we're going to be successful because we have been successful with this group, but there's definitely a confidence that whatever we're going to be faced with, we would have seen it in the past, and we've been able to overcome it as a group."

The 2025 edition was selected by general manager Kingsbury, head coach Troy Ryan, senior scouting and development manager Cherie Piper, assistant coaches Kori Cheverie, Caroline Ouellette and Britni Smith, as well as goaltending consultant Brad Kirkwood.

The Professional Women's Hockey League, in its second season, gives elite players more game reps than they ever had pre-PWHL, which in turn offers more scouting data about who is ready to wear the Maple Leaf in the biggest international tournament of the season.

"I do believe this roster, there was way more debate than we've had in the past," Kingsbury said Friday. "The great thing is this league has created a platform for players to showcase their abilities and what they bring to the game.

"Athletes are able to make our team based on their performances throughout the whole season and not just a little glimpse. Now we really get to see them play every night in a very competitive league. It definitely opens our eyes to different possibilities."

The International Ice Hockey Federation increased the size of women's rosters from 23 players to 25 this year to match the men's world championship, although women's Olympic rosters will remain at 23 next year in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

Canada is in a pool with the tournament's top five seeds including the United States, host Czechia, Finland and Switzerland.

The Canadians won't play a pre-tournament exhibition in Czechia because of the tight turnaround between the start of the PWHL's international break April 2 and the tournament.

"We felt that there was more of a need right now to just practice and settle in as a group versus trying to rush an exhibition game in there," Kingsbury said. "All of these athletes are coming off playing a lot of games. It's not like we need the extra games."

After a glance at some of the names that stand out, here's a look at the complete roster:

Forwards
Emily Clark
Sarah Fillier
Jennifer Gardiner
Brianne jenner
Emma Maltais
Hannah Miller
Sarah Nurse
Kristen O'Neill
Marie-Philip Poulin
Danielle Serdachny
natalie Spooner
Laura Stacey
Blayre Turnbull
Daryl Watts

Defence
Erin Ambrose
Renate Fast
Sophie Jaques
Jocelyne Larocque
Chloe Primerano
Ella Shelton
Claire Thompson
Micah Zandee-Hart

Goaltenders
Kristen Campbell
Ann-Renee Desbiens
Eve Gascon

—with files from the Canadian Press