Canada's Chloe Primerano poised for women's world hockey championship debut

Chloe Primerano continues to be ahead of her time.

She's answered the bell at higher levels of hockey in recent months and has the chance to do it again.

At 18 years three months, Primerano will be the youngest defender to play for Canada at a women's world championship since Cheryl Pounder in 1994.

The 10-country tournament opens Wednesday in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, but Canada doesn't start defence of its gold medal until Thursday against Finland at 1 p.m. ET.

Hayley Wickenheiser at 15 years four months in 1994 was the youngest player ever for Canada in a world championship.

Primerano's standout tournaments in back-to-back world under-18 championships sandwiched a memorable three-game stint with the national team last fall in the Rivalry Series against the United States.

So, competing with the likes of Marie-Philip Poulin and against Hilary Knight in the Czech Republic won't feel foreign for the teenager from North Vancouver, B.C.

"I feel like I'm ready," Primerano said. "I'm surrounded by pretty amazing players and a great team, so I know they're going to set me up pretty well, and it's going to be awesome.

"It's pretty special, just being able to play on this team with my idols. I'm really excited, and I can't wait to play with everyone again."

She captained Canada to a gold medal in January's under-18 championship and was named the tournament's top defender by the IIHF directorate. Her 16 points in eight games as an underage player in 2024 was an under-18 tournament record.

Primerano played the first three games of the national team's Rivalry Series against the U.S. in November. At 17, she was the only Canadian to score in the shootout of a 5-4 win in West Valley City, Utah, that evened the series 1-1.

In the Czech Republic, she dons the Maple Leaf a fourth time in less than a year and a half, and in a field that includes almost 60 battle-hardened pros from the Professional Women's Hockey League.

"We've always been a little bit on the conservative side of bringing someone as young as Chloe is to the senior level," Canada's general manager Gina Kingsbury said.

"For Chloe, we brought her to the Rivalry Series, we've had her in our environment and she's a pretty exceptional athlete that's ready for that jump.