Nurse out, Aubin in, and Canada's Worlds camp is wide open
Sarah Nurse declined her selection-camp invite, Colgate junior Alexia Aubin takes the spot, and Canada has room for a lot of new names.
Canada is heading to Denmark with more new faces than it's had in years, and I think that's the best thing that could happen to this program right now. The Olympic cycle is over. This is the camp to find out who's next.
Sarah Nurse declined her invitation to the selection camp in Quebec, and Hockey Canada said it would respect her decision. Her spot goes to Alexia Aubin, a 20-year-old Colgate junior from Lévis, Que. Aubin played for Canada's development team in the summer series against the United States.
Nurse alone isn't the story. The list of who isn't in the room is.
Who's missing
Marie-Philip Poulin is out injured. Claire Thompson retired at 28. Natalie Spooner and Emerance Maschmeyer were invited but can't attend, and Blayre Turnbull is out too.
That's the captain, one of the best defenders in the PWHL, a goalie with Olympic gold on her résumé and two forwards who've been fixtures for a decade.
Forty-two players are at the seven-day camp, and 25 make the team. Of the 48 originally invited, 30 weren't on the 2026 Olympic roster.
The number
14. That's Colgate's spot in this week's USCHO poll, at 2-0-0. Aubin is the kind of player this camp should be built around: a college junior from a ranked program who already wore the maple leaf against the Americans in August. Canada's college group won that series two games to one, 1-0 and 2-1 in a shootout before a 5-2 loss.
What it means
The women's Worlds run Nov. 6-16 in Herning and Esbjerg, with the United States as defending champion. Canada plays Group B in Herning against Finland, Sweden, Japan and the host Danes. That's a group Canada should win with whoever it brings.
So bring the kids. Daniele Sauvageau is new in the general manager's chair, and this is her first real roster. The safe move is to fill the holes with the veterans who were next in line in 2022. The right move is to give the open spots to players who'll still be around for 2030.
A November Worlds with a wide-open group is the cheapest place Canada will ever get to test young players. The Americans will be watching how it uses it.
The W read: Expect at least eight new names on the 25, and I'd bet Aubin is one of them.
