(Calgary) Forward Rebecca Johnston returns to the Canadian women’s hockey roster for the final two games of the Rivalry Series against the United States.
The quadruple Olympian was part of the 24 players in the group presented by Hockey Canada, Thursday, to end this series of seven games, currently led 3-2 by the Americans.
Johnston, who won three Olympic gold medals (2010, 2014, 2022) with Canada, took a break from hockey last fall to recover from a back injury.
The 33-year-old Ontarian was hired by the Calgary Flames in a community relations and player development role.
The last two games of the series will take place on February 20, in Trois-Rivières, and on February 22, in Laval.
The roster includes 18 players who have appeared in all five games in the series, including captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse, Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark and goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens.
Johnston, Nurse and Clark will be joined by Americans Alex Carpenter and Hilary Knight at the NHL skills competition, to be held Friday in Sunrise, Fla.
The final Canadian roster in the series was chosen by head coach Troy Ryan, director of hockey operations Gina Kingsbury and director of player development Cherie Piper.
The United States won three straight games in November to open the series before Canada responded with two wins in December.
With the Rivalry Series over, Canada will be looking for a third straight gold medal at the World Women’s Hockey Championship, which takes place April 5-16 in Brampton, Ont.
“As we look forward to the World Women’s Hockey Championship on home ice, these final two games against the United States will be critical in our assessment and preparations for April,” Kingsbury said in a statement Thursday.
“Throughout the series, we were able to examine the depth of our program with different players and different line combinations. We are excited for these two more competitive games against the USA and to be seen by our amazing fans. »
Hockey Canada recently announced a revenue-sharing element to its agreement with its female athletes, which allows players to earn money through the Rivalry Series.
Laura Stacey, Jessie Eldridge, Jill Saulnier, Élizabeth Giguère, Blayre Turnbull, Kristin O’Neill, Sarah Potomak, Jamie Lee Rattray and Victoria Bach complete the group of attackers chosen to play in Quebec.
The defenders selected were Jocelyne Larocque, Renata Fast, Ella Shelton, Erin Ambroise, Jamie Bourbonnais, Micah-Zandee Hart and Claire Thompson.
Emerance Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell join Desbiens in the goaltending trio.