Team USA brings its gold-medal group to the last Worlds camp
Callie Shanahan is in as a fourth goalie, Grace Dwyer is out, and the real fight is for a couple of forward spots.
Canada is walking into Denmark with a stack of new faces. The United States is walking in with the team that won Olympic gold, and I think that's the right call for the defending champion, as long as it isn't the only call.
USA Hockey named 31 players for its final camp before the Women's Worlds, Oct. 23-30 in Plymouth, Mich. It's nearly the same group that skated in Minnesota last month. Every player from the gold-medal roster was invited back in September, so the real camp is the fight for the last few spots.
What changed
Two names moved. Callie Shanahan of the New York Sirens is in as a fourth goalie, behind Aerin Frankel, Gwyneth Philips and Ava McNaughton. Grace Dwyer, the Boston Fleet's first-round pick, is off the list.
Dwyer's cut is the one I'd circle. She was one of seven newcomers in September, and she's the only one who didn't survive to Michigan. The other six are still here: Casey O'Brien, Jesse Compher, Lacey Eden, Sloane Matthews, Emma Peschel and Sydney Morrow.
The number
1 and 2. That's where Ohio State and Wisconsin sit in this week's USCHO women's poll, at 6-0-0 and 4-2-0. They're also the only college programs with players in this camp: Joy Dunne at Ohio State, McNaughton and Laney Potter at Wisconsin. The college pipeline into this roster runs through two buildings, and both are winning.
Where the spots are
The goalies are set, and the top of the lineup writes itself. Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Alex Carpenter and Abbey Murphy aren't sweating a phone call. The blue line has Caroline Harvey, Lee Stecklein, Megan Keller, Haley Winn and Laila Edwards, which is a better defense than most of the tournament will see all week.
So the fight is up front. Matthews and Eden are pushing veterans who have done nothing wrong except get older.
Why I'm fine with it
Canada's camp is wide open because it lost its captain, a top defender and two longtime forwards before it started. The Americans didn't lose anyone. You don't tear up a gold-medal team in November to make a point.
But a defending champion that brings back the same 23 is how a program gets old in one cycle. The two games against Canada, Oct. 28 in Windsor and Oct. 30 in Plymouth, are the last real tryout. That's where a kid takes a job.
The Worlds run Nov. 6-16 in Herning and Esbjerg, with the U.S. defending its 2025 title.
The W read: Matthews and Eden both make the final roster, and Dwyer's back on this team by the 2027 Worlds.
