Stakes Are Higher Than Ever as Canada’s U22 & U18 Summer Camps Take Place

Most other years the title of this article would be very hot take-y. They have these camps in the summer every year, so how can this year be the one where the stakes are at their highest? In fairness to the U18 roster, the stakes aren’t that much higher than usual for a U18 Canadian team. They’re defending Gold and in the past few years the U18 WJC has become quite competitive. It’s about as business as usual as you can get for the Canadian U18 team.

For individuals, the stakes have become a bit higher than usual. Vicky Sunohara is back as Head Coach for Team Canada’s U18 squad after winning Gold in January in her first stint as a Team Canada Head Coach. Apart from Howie Draper getting to coach the U18’s for three straight tournaments, getting to come back for round two is very rare. Usually, you coach a tournament then move on. Sunohara becomes only the second coach to get more than one shot as the U18 Head Coach.

While Sunohara has a pretty good resume, already having coached the University of Toronto for the past 14 years and having won three straight USports Coach of the Year honours, it looks like her taking on this opportunity as the U18 Head Coach for the second time indicates that she’s ready for a new challenge. Now whether that’s with the senior team or a PWHL team I don’t know, but winning back-to-back Golds as the U18 Head Coach isn’t a bad look on your coaching resume. This will also be her fourth year with the U18 team, which means she’ll have experience with the players who will be vying for spots on Canada’s senior team for the 2026 to 2030 cycle. It won’t be surprising to see Sunohara take a big step in her coaching career in the 2026/27 season.

For the U18 players this is going to be the peak of their season. There’re no Chloe Primerano’s here to be playing at the U18 WJC’s and a few months later appearing at the World Hockey Championships. But this tournament can have a long reaching impact for players, so while a great performance now means nothing more for the rest of the 25/26 hockey season, the tournament can be a launching point for the 26/27 hockey season. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves here but the 23-player U22 roster features three players from the 2025 U18 WJC team.

Focusing on the current roster, who are the players to watch for? The 2025 U18 team was on the younger side for a Team Canada so there’s going to be quite a few of returning players for Team Canada. Where that doesn’t apply is at the goaltending position. All three of Marilou Grenier, Ava Drabyk, and Amelia Wilkinson have aged out, leaving the goalie position wide open.

A name that sticks out is Rowan Houweling, who plays out of Shattuck-St. Mary’s in the US. Last season she shared the net with 2025 Team USA starter Morgan Stickney. Houweling finished with a 0.940 SV% and Stickney with a 0.950 SV%. Then there’s Avah Sedore who shared the net with 2025 Team Canada number two goalie Amelia Wilkinson in the OWHL and Sedore led the league in SV% (0.959). It’s a long time still before January so there’s plenty of time for Alexis Ehrman, Courtney Beeksma, Léa-Rose Charrois, and Arielle Côté to make a name for themselves as well. This camp and the U18 Nationals will be big for these goalies to set themselves apart.

On defence there’s going to be some familiarity as Anais Leprohon and Kate Viel will be back for Team Canada, leaving five spots open. Fourteen blueliners have been named to the camp roster – we’re not going to go through all of them because the only ones paying close enough attention to all of these U18 players are scouts for Team Canada and I don’t want my editors disliking me more for spending so much time on each position.

I do want to take some time though to talk about some notable players. The first of which has to be Megan Mossey. The 5’ 9” U17 blueliner from Charlottetown, PEI first came onto the scene at the 2023 Canada Winter Games when at the young age of 14yo she had six points in four games for Team PEI. This is notable because the Canada Winter Games women’s hockey tournament was a U18 tournament featuring big names like Chloe Primerano and Caitlin Kraemer. This past season Mossey made her way to play in Ontario full time while only being 16yo, but it didn’t matter how young she was. She jumped into the top OWHL league and scored 23 goals in 37 games as a blueliner. The next closest blueliner was U18 player Samantha Snyder with 15 goals in 36 games.

Another intriguing name on the roster is Keira Owen. She had a really good U18 Nationals, scoring four points in six games and winning Gold. While still being a U18 player she’s going to be playing with Colgate University next season. It’s a very rare occurrence that a U18 player ends up in the NCAA, but Owen will be there. Playing for such a strong program should be a boon to Owen’s development and could be an important leader on the blueline coming back from the NCAA.

A big part of Canada’s success at the 2025 U18 WJC was their depth scoring. There were six forwards who finished at a point per game or above. Three forwards finished with 10 points or more. The expectation for this year should be more of the same, especially since half of the forwards (seven) are on the U18 camp roster who played at the 2025 U18 WJC’s. An added twist to all of this is that four forwards on the camp roster will all be playing as U18 players in the NCAA next season: Caileigh Tiller (University of Connecticut), Sofia Ismael (Penn State), Alida Korte (Ohio State), and Hayley McDonald (Ohio State).

While it’s going to be a team effort on forward to score goals there are two who will be looked upon to lead the team up front: Tiller and McDonald. In the Gold Medal Game vs the USA, McDonald was on the top line with Sara Manness and Maxine Cimoroni, resulting in 19:17 minutes. Tiller was on the second line and saw the fifth most minutes among forwards at 13:43 and scored the first goal (therefore the game winning goal) in the Gold Medal Game as well. Returnee Rachel Piggott didn’t end up on the scoresheet often but was relied on to provide solid defensive minutes, which was especially apparent in the Gold Medal Game where Piggott saw the sixth most minutes among forwards.

They can’t do it alone and will be looking at other returnees to step up their games to provide offence. Rosalie Tremblay has been great at the two U18 Nationals she’s been at and did see time at the 2025 U18 WJC’s at the second line center. Alida Korte only played two games at the U18’s but she should expect to be playing all games this time around as a big contributor. In the CSSHL Korte was tied for the league lead in PTS/GP (2.17) and was 12 points ahead of her next closest teammate. Sofia Ismael finished eighth in OWHL scoring (57PTS in 40GP) and was an important part of the Etobicoke Dolphins, winning the league championship.

Of course, you can’t just rely on the returning players to carry the load. You need a few of the new players to step it up like Tiller and McDonald did this past U18’s. The biggest new name to keep an eye on is Adrianna Milani of the Etobicoke Dolphins. As a double underager and dual citizen she went to the USA U18 camp last summer. Obviously, she didn’t make the team and is now going for Canada’s U18 team. Odds should be good considering the fact she had 35 goals in 36 games in the OWHL while being one of the best players on the championship Dolphins team.

Halle Duchene and Madison Lévesque have both been top scorers recently at the U18 Nationals with Duchene also bringing her Saskatoon Stars to the Esso Cup championship. Kendall Doiron had 57PTS in 38GP for Shattuck-St. Mary’s U16 team. There’s Jaylee MacKinnon who helped lead the Ottawa Lady Senators to the OWHA Provincial Finals vs Etobicoke. The Stoney Creek Sabres were a top four team in the OWHL this season with a large part of that success coming from Mikayla Barnes, who finished seventh in league points (58PTS in 41GP) and first on her team in goals (29).

Team Canada brought 23 forwards to camp so there will be others vying for a spot during the season and the U18 Nationals. What they did last season was important enough to get them on the inside track to a spot. Now though they need to make an impression at U18 camp and during the rest of the season. It’s an exciting time of the year when the future stars of Canada look to start their journey to USports, the NCAA, PWHL, and maybe even the Olympics.

Speaking of the Olympics, this is where the stakes get risen to brand new heights for the U22 team. Not because any notable part of the roster is going to be in contention for an Olympic spot. Realistically you’re looking at Jocelyn Amos and Sarah Paul as having an actual chance at making the Olympic squad. What the Olympics have to do with the U22 team is opening up spots on the World Championships team.

There’s been no solid answer as to whether or not PWHL players will be playing in a spring WHC. With PWHL players already leaving for two to three weeks in February for the Olympics another disruption of PWHL players leaving for another two weeks in the spring it’s a bit of a tough sell to everyone from players to management to fans. If, IF, PWHL players aren’t going to the WHC that means rosters are going to be filled with non-PWHL players and that’s where the opportunity of a lifetime comes in for these U22 players.

For those wondering, yes, Canada does have some decent talent outside of the PWHL and NCAA playing in such leagues as the SDHL and SWHL A. You have players who have built very good careers in the SDHL like Sarah Bujold, Erica Rieder, Stephanie Neatby, and Lindsay Agnew. Then there’s the former PWHL players in Samantha Cogan, Gabrielle David, and Maude Poulin-Labelle who all had very good NCAA careers but couldn’t find consistent ice time in the PWHL. There’s the USports contingent in the top Swiss women’s league consisting of Joelle Fiala, Lauren Dabrowski, and Lea MacLeod.

These are all good players who would be in contention for a non-PWHL WHC Team Canada. There’s just not enough of them to fill a roster and let’s give some credit to the players on the U22 roster, they’re really good. Last year’s U22 Team Canada finished second at Six Nations with only one player with WHC experience whereas the US, who they lost a very close game to, had 10 players who were on the WHC USA team. There’s been graduations from that squad to the PWHL and the Olympic camp roster. The talent certainly isn’t lacking though.

Ève Gascon was the star of Canada’s U22 team at Six Nations but she’s currently unavailable for this camp as she’s vying for a spot on Canada’s Olympic roster after having made the 2025 WHC team. This leaves the number one goalie spot wide open and it should be a fun competition. You have Hailey MacLeod looking to lead OSU back to the NCAA Championship for revenge after being the number two goalie last season. Hannah Clark was thrust into the number one role for the University of Minnesota and did admirably. Then there’s Rhyah Stewart, who will be entering her first year into the NCAA but is coming in with a lot of skill.

Now there’s still the chance that Gascon, due to her playing in the NCAA, will be on the WHC team regardless of whether or not she makes the Olympic roster. Other than Gascon the chances of another NCAA goalie making a push for a potential WHC spot are low. There are two goalies to keep an eye on who could make that push in Mari Peterson of Boston University and Arianne Leblanc of Clarkson University. Both goalies will be looking to make big impacts as first time number one goalies for their respective teams.

When it comes to the defence you’re looking at the next set of blueliners looking to break onto the Canadian national team for the 2030 Olympic cycle. Tova Henderson, Alyssa Regalado, and Sara Swiderski are all at the end of their NCAA eligibility and looking to make one last big impression. They’re going to be looked at as the steady, reliable, and consistent players on the blueline. The eyes of Hockey Canada are going to be on two blueliners in particular though: Ava Murphy and Emma Venusio.

This isn’t because they play at the University of Wisconsin, though that certainly doesn’t hurt, these two have always shown up for Team Canada. They don’t have Primerano type ceilings but Murphy has the potential to be the next Micah Zandee-Hart or Jocelyne Larocque. Venusio could be the next Erin Ambrose. The x-factor for this team on the blueline is Piper Grober. She’s the ultimate rover and being released from the shackles of Cornell’s very strict defensive system could provide Canada with a boost of offence it needs especially on the PP.

There’s not a long list of Canadian blueliners who are going to push these players but the ones that can, are going to give a good push. Avery Pickering is playing big minutes for a top program in Colgate University which is going to give her a great opportunity to put herself in contention. Gracie Graham is a hulking blueliner for the University of Minnesota who has been a part of Team Canada before. With Nicole Gosling and Haley Winn having graduated from Clarkson University, Keira Hurry is going to be the name to keep an eye on there as she’ll be stepping into a much larger role this season. One last name to remember is Brooke Disher from OSU who just transferred to OSU last season and could be given a bigger role this season now that she’s more used to the system.

Now onto the forwards, which is everyone’s favourite part. As mentioned, Amos and Paul are the ones on the team with Olympic hope. They’re going to be counted on to be the leaders offensively and defensively. The intriguing names at forward definitely doesn’t stop with those two, though. Emmalee Pais was a big part of the 2023 U18 Canadian team and then hit the ice in the NCAA as an important piece of Colgate for the past two seasons. Mackenzie Alexander wasn’t at the Six Nations tournament but she tore up the NCAA in her freshman season with 46PTS in 32GP.

At the University of Connecticut it was about the same story for Claire Murdoch. Steps in her freshman season and leads the team in points while making it to the Hockey East semi-finals. Almost the same story for Éloïse Caron, who finished second on Northeastern in points and helped them to the Hockey East final. Avi Adam has been getting better the last three seasons and this past season led Cornell in points to win the ECAC Championship.

There are four names on the list that haven’t played a NCAA game but definitely deserve to be here: Sara Manness, Stryker Zablocki, Maxine Cimoroni, and Sienna D’Alessandro. Cimoroni and Zablocki are especially interesting. Both players are strong, big bodies, and know how to get to the front of the net to put the puck in the net. Manness and D’Alessandro are very skilled, cerebral players who might struggle with the physicality of NCAA level play but could have an Alexander/Murdoch type impact and be difference makers straight away.

Apart from the obvious loss of Caitlin Kraemer to the Olympic camp there’s some names missing from the roster. Alex Law immediately comes to mind as she’s been an important role player with the ability to score some timely goals for Canada in tournaments past. She’ll be looking to get back in the mix as she’s recently transferred to Quinnipiac. Princeton’s Izzy Wunder is also missing from the roster which is very surprising given her massive NCAA season where she finished 11^th in points (50) but fourth in PTS/GP (1.56). As always can’t count out a Clarkson player making the team and apart from Manness the best bet is probably Rhea Hicks. Finished with 38PTS in 40GP after missing the majority of last season.  

Usually during Olympic years it’s very exciting just to see how the roster selection goes and then, of course, the Olympic tournament itself. This time around the combination of the Olympics and WHC happening so close together is potentially going to create a scenario where players going to get more opportunity than before. We’re not just looking at an Olympic camp but a pre-WHC camp as well with the U22 team. Maybe even a U18 player has a such a great season à la Chloe Primerano that they too make the WHC team. There’s never been a more exciting time to be a fan of international hockey.