Team Canada roster announced for Rivalry Series with Team USA

Today, Team Canada released their roster for the upcoming Rivalry Series with Team USA. The teams will play on Feb. 12, 14, and 17 in London (Ontario), Toronto, and Detroit respectively.

The biggest story on this roster?

Ann-Sophie Bettez, at 31, is finally getting her shot. Bettez has been a consistent scoring force in the CWHL, exceeding the 30-point mark in all but one of her seasons in Montreal. She’s well over a point-per game player on average, with 33 points in 19 games so far this season, and has proven that she can link up with Team Canada’s captain Poulin.

Seventeen players are returning from the Four Nations roster that took silver in November, including CWHL All-Stars Victoria Bach, Renata Fast, Laura Fortino, Brianne Jenner, Rebecca Johnston, Halli Krzyzaniak, Jocelyne Larocque, Emerance Maschmeyer, Sarah Nurse, Marie-Philip Poulin, Jamie Lee Rattray, Jill Saulnier, Natalie Spooner, Laura Stacey, and Blayre Turnbull.

.@ShannonSzabados will once again sport the red and black for Hockey Canada! https://t.co/dJx3SpfA0l

— Buffalo Beauts (@BuffaloBeauts) January 23, 2019

From the CWHL, rookies Brittany Howard (Toronto) and Rebecca Leslie (Calgary) will join the team, as well as the Inferno’s Katelyn Gosling and Les Canadiennes goaltender Genevieve Lacasse.

All-Star Captain and Beauts netminder Shannon Szabados is the only player from the NWHL on the roster. She is also the first NWHL player to make a Team Canada roster since the league’s inception in 2015.

There are no NCAA players on the Team Canada roster, which was expected given that the series takes place in an important time during the NCAA season.