Canada's best practice ahead of the Rivalry Series with USA

Some of the best women’s hockey players in the world graced Prospera Place Monday afternoon.

Team Canada and Team U.S held 90-minute practice sessions ahead of their Rivalry Series opener Tuesday evening.

“We’re a really tight group and to be able to play in Kelowna, and we heard it might be packed, so it’s very exciting, especially playing the U.S.” Team Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin told Kelowna10.

“They have a fast team, it’s going to be intense… we have to be ready from the get-go for sure.”

Canada edged the U.S. 2-1 for world championship gold Sept. 4 in Herning, Denmark. That followed Canada’s 3-2 win in February's Olympic final in Beijing.

Poulin is well aware Canada has American’s number recently but adds it’s a new beginning now.

“We’ve had a great year… but it’s a new series, a new opportunity for us, and it’s a new group as well. We start afresh and it’s going to be intense.”

There may be no medals on the line in Kelowna Tuesday night, but for star forward Sarah Nurse, that won’t matter.

“Anytime we get to be on the ice against Team USA, it’s all about pride. We want to represent our countries the best way possible and we want to make Canada proud,” she said, adding they love coming out west.

“We live in Calgary, [but] our centralization year we did a tour of BC. We’re a little bit familiar with Kelowna and the Okanagan and it’s always nice to come back out here.”

Asked about the dozens of young girl players who watched the practice, including the Rink Academy Female U18 team, Nurse said it was special to have that sort of support.

“ … they get to watch us but then they know who we are. So, when we come off the ice they’re yelling our names, they want our autographs because they genuinely know who we are and that just comes back to visibility and representation,” she said. “I hope as women’s hockey continues to progress, we just continue to have that.”

Canada's roster for the first three games of the contest features 16 players who won both Olympic and world hockey championship gold this year.

Canada's 23-player lineup features veteran forwards Poulin, Brianne Jenner, Nurse as well as defender Jocelyne Larocque and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens.

The seven-game series opens in Kelowna, followed two days later with Game 2 in Kamloops. The U.S. then hosts Canada on Nov. 20 in Seattle.

Defender Claire Thompson returns to Canada's lineup for the Rivalry Series after sitting out the world championship because of medical-school commitments.

Thompson led all Olympic defenders with two goals and 11 assists and was named to the all-star team.

Elizabeth Giguere of Quebec City makes her national team debut.

The 25-year-old forward won the Patty Kazmaier Award that goes to the top player in Division 1 women's NCAA hockey, when she played for Clarkson in 2020.

Forward Loren Gabel and defender Jaime Bourbonnais who have represented Canada before 2022 also return to the lineup.

The players were chosen by head coach Troy Ryan and Cherie Piper, a former national team forward who is now its senior manager of player development and scouting.

All but two players on the Rivalry roster are affiliated with the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association (PWHPA).

Giguere and Gabel play for the Premier Hockey Federation's Boston Pride.

Canada went 3-1-1 against the U.S. in last season's Rivalry Series cut short by the pandemic.

The U.S. will host the fourth game of the series Dec. 15 in Henderson, Nevada. Remaining dates and locations have yet to be announced.

With files from The Canadian Press