Two Burlington women will play for Canada’s hockey team at 2022 Beijing Olympics

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Published January 11, 2022 at 4:51 pm

Two local players from Burlington will be representing Canada at next month’s Olympic Games.

Defender Renata Fast and forward Emma Maltais have both been named by Hockey Canada to the women’s hockey team’s 23-player roster for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The sport will take place Feb. 2 to 16 at the National Indoor Stadium and Wukesong Sports Centre. Canada will aim for its fifth gold medal overall, and first since 2014, when it opens preliminary-round action against Switzerland on Feb. 3.

“Our women’s program has faced a number of challenges over this four-year Olympic cycle, and we have tackled the adversity without it distracting us from our goal of competing at the Olympics,” said Gina Kingsbury, director of women’s national teams with Hockey Canada.

“We are beyond proud of how our athletes and staff have remained connected and overcome each challenge. We are thrilled with the team that will represent Canada and cannot wait to travel to Beijing and compete for a gold medal.”

The Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team features 13 silver medalists from PyeongChang 2018, six gold medalists from Sochi 2014 and two players who captured gold on Canadian soil at Vancouver 2010.

This will be the second Olympics for the 27-year-old Fast, who’s been playing for Canada since 2014. She helped the Canadian team to the 2021 World Championship by scoring the game-winning goal in the semi-finals and helping the squad beat the US to win their first gold since 2012.

Fast played for Clarkson University and won a national title in 2013-14, being named to the all-finals team. She was also a four-time all-academic team selection. She has been playing professionally in Toronto the last few years.

Maltais, 22, a forward, will be making her Olympic debut this year. She has been representing Canada since 2015 and won a gold at the 2021 women’s world championships.

Maltais played college hockey at Ohio State and made the NCAA Frozen Four in 2018 and 2021. In her third year, she set a school record with 59 points and was a second-team All-American. This year, she was named team captain and finished her career with three all-academic team honours.

“Congratulations to the women who will make up the 2022 women’s Olympic hockey team. Canada continues to be a leader in women’s hockey and the 2021 World Champions will go into Beijing wanting to show the world they continue to be number one in the world,” said Catriona Le May Doan, Team Canada’s Beijing 2022 Chef de Mission.

“They have continued to inspire the next generation of young female players as we see the numbers grow in all communities across our country. The dream of representing the maple leaf on the women’s team continues to ignite that passion in young girls and our future generation will continue to shine bright. Going for gold in Beijing in our game will be celebrated nationwide.”

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