By Hockey Canada

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has announced the 25 players who will wear the Maple Leaf with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2026 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, Jan. 10-18 in Sydney and Membertou, Nova Scotia.

Three goaltenders, eight defence and 14 forwards were selected by Cherie Piper (Scarborough, ON), senior manager of player development and scouting, along with head coach Vicky Sunohara (Scarborough, ON/University of Toronto, OUA) and assistant coaches Marc-André Côté (Montreal, QC/University of Moncton, AUS) and Amanda Benoit-Wark (Welland, ON/Ridley College, OWHA U22 Elite). Goaltending coach Sheldon Goertzen (Saskatoon, SK/University of Saskatchewan, CW) also provided input, in addition to seven regional scouts.

Click here to watch Canada’s National Women’s Team unveil the Team Canada roster.

Included among the 25 players are nine who won gold at the 2025 U18 Women’s Worlds (Ismael, Korte, Leprohon, McCullough, McDonald, Piggott, Caileigh Tiller, Tremblay, Viel) and 21 who wore the Maple Leaf during a three-game series against the United States in August (Charrois, Doiron, Houweling, Hughson, Ismael, Jones, Korte, Leprohon, MacKinnon, Maechtel, Matt, McCullough, McDonald, Mossey, Milani, Piggott, Sisson, Caileigh Tiller, Chelsea Tiller, Tremblay, Viel).

“The coaching staff is incredibly excited to work with this committed group of young athletes. We will continue to build on the qualities we feel necessary to be successful on the international stage,” Sunohara said. “With a strong mix of returning veterans and new additions, we have a team ready to represent Canada with pride as we prepare to compete for gold on home ice.”

Canada is in Group A with Hungary, Sweden and Switzerland, while Group B includes Czechia, Finland, Slovakia and the United States. Canada opens the tournament against Switzerland on Jan. 10 at 8:30 p.m. AT and will face Hungary on Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. AT before its preliminary-round finale against Sweden on Jan. 13 at 5 p.m. AT. Prior to the tournament, Canada will gather in Halifax for a brief training camp, details of which will follow in the coming weeks.

“We are incredibly proud of all 25 athletes named to Canada’s National Under-18 Women’s Team for the upcoming world championship,” Piper said. “These players represent the immense talent in Canada and are the building blocks for Canada’s National Women’s Team. We are confident in this group’s ability to represent Canada with our goal of defending gold in Cape Breton in January.”

Canada will look capture back-to-back gold medals at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship for the first time since 2022 and 2023; it has won eight gold medals (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025), seven silver (2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020) and two bronze (2018, 2024).

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will provide exclusive live coverage of the 2026 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, delivering all Team Canada games, in addition to both semifinals and medal games; please check local listings for details.

Fans looking to secure their seats and SEE THEE RISE can purchase medal-round ticket packages and single-game tickets at HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow through social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.