The final leg of the 2025 Rivalry Series between the national women’s teams for Canada and the USA will take place on Wednesday, December 10th, and Saturday, December 13th, in Edmonton, Alberta. Now that the PWHL season is under way, what players should we keep our eye on? Which sidelined players might have a chip on their shoulder and will want to push harder to make that Olympic team?

Team Canada

Who’s in

Canada made a few changes to the roster from the first leg, adding forwards Emily Clark and Brianne Jenner, defenders Jocelyne Larocque and Nicole Gosling, and goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens.

Who’s out

Sarah Nurse is out with an injury. Defenders Kati Tabin and Micah Zandee-Hart and goaltender Ève Gascon are also missing, along with Hannah Miller, whose eligibility for the 2026 Olympics is still pending.

Who’s been missing

Key players who have played on the roster in recent years but weren’t named for either leg of this series include forward Jamie Lee Rattray, defender Ashton Bell, and goaltender Kristen Campbell. All three played on Canada’s gold-medal-winning team at the 2022 Olympics. Defender Jaime Bourbonnais played at the 2023 and 2024 Women’s World Championships (WWC) but was not named to the 2025 WWC roster. Goaltender Corinne Schroeder was on the roster for the 2023–24 Rivalry Series thanks to her strong play in the PWHL but hasn’t been invited back.

Bell captains the Vancouver Goldeneyes and had a strong playoff run with the Ottawa Charge last season. Without the chance to make an impact at the Rivalry Series, she’ll certainly be looking to step up her PWHL play to make a case for bringing her to Italy.

Michela Cava and Jessie Eldridge remain questionable omissions. They’re both in the top 20 for all-time goals, and in the top 11 among Canadians. It’s likely too late for either of them to make the Olympic team, but their PWHL play may keep their names in the conversation of who’s been missing.

Chemistry to watch for

Defenders Erin Ambrose and Nicole Gosling are a pair on the Montréal Victoire, though for Team Canada Ambrose often lines up with Claire Thompson. Will Kori Cheverie, Victoire head coach and Team Canada assistant coach, feel that Ambrose and Gosling have developed enough chemistry in the PWHL that could translate to national team play?

Toronto Sceptres forwards Emma Maltais and Natalie Spooner assisted Kiara Zanon’s game-winning goal in their season opener, and Maltais assisted Spooner’s first goal of the season on December 4th. They also played with Sarah Fillier for one game in the November leg of the Rivalry Series, so it seems like a good idea to keep them together.

The goaltending situation

Desbiens is Canada’s clear number one, but she may not play both games. Emerance Maschmeyer, who has been Canada’s number two for years, started the 2025–26 season with a 2.28 goals-against average across three games but posted a shutout on December 6. Kayle Osborne has a 2.03 goals-against average and one shutout herself. Could we see Osborne get another start at the Rivalry Series over Maschmeyer?

Team USA

Who’s in, who’s out

Team USA has made no changes to its roster from the November leg. The team dressed five lines of forwards and four pairs of defence and still had four skaters as healthy scratches: Casey O’Brien, Gabbie Hughes, Savannah Harmon, and Anna Wilgren.

Who’s been missing

Goaltender Nicole Hensley isn’t on the 2025 WWC roster. But in two games played for the Frost this season, she boasts a 0.985 save percentage and one shutout, allowing only one goal against on 66 shots. Perhaps Hensley deserves to be in consideration for replacing NCAA goaltender Ava McNaughton at the Olympics.

Kali Flanagan was part of USA’s gold-medal-winning team at the 2018 Olympics and played in the 2023–24 Rivalry Series. She moves extremely well along the blueline and leads Toronto’s defenders in shots this season, with seven. I’d like to see her battling Savannah Harmon for an Olympic roster spot.

Abby Roque hasn’t been given a chance on the national team since the 2023–24 Rivalry Series, but she’s consistently brought up as a curious omission. She has three points in three games for the Victoire. Roque finished last season with the highest face-off win percentage (62.4%) and the second-highest time on ice. USA’s forward group is already overstuffed, but I think she’s worth keeping an eye on.

Chemistry to watch for

The Minnesota Frost’s top line of Kendall Coyne Schofield, Kelly Pannek, and Britta Curl-Salemme has a combined six goals and nine assists to start the season. They don’t all play on the same line for USA, but could their PWHL chemistry make head coach John Wroblewski reconsider his line configurations?

Alex Carpenter and Hilary Knight connected for Seattle’s game-tying goal on December 3rd and played together in November. They seem like a clear duo and have proven chemistry for Team USA as well.

Megan Keller and Haley Winn have been a strong defensive pair for the Boston Fleet, particularly in the December 7th game. Will Wroblewski try pairing them up for the national team, maybe on the power play?

The goaltending situation

Both Aerin Frankel and Gwyneth Philips have been outstanding for their respective PWHL teams so far this season. Frankel still seems to be the starter, but both should get a game if USA doesn’t play McNaughton.

Puck drop

The Canada–USA Rivalry Series picks back up at 7:00 p.m. MT on December 10th.