Hockey Canada announced 71 players who will compete this summer for roster spots with the U-18 national team, and who will compete in the Collegiate Series against USA.
Hockey Canada announced 71 players will participate in this summer's U-18 national team and national development team camp.
From last year's U-18 gold medal winning U-18 World Championship roster, nine players will return including Mackenzie Alexander, Hannah Clark, Gracie Graham, Morgan Jackson, Caitlin Kraemer, Charlotte Pieckenhagen, Avery Pickering, Abby Stonehouse and Emma Venusio. In total, 46 women will participate in the U-18 camp.
“We are thrilled with this group of 46 talented athletes who will participate in selection camp,” Gina Kingsbury vice-president of hockey operations said in a Hockey Canada news release. “We are confident this group will come ready to compete for a spot to wear the Maple Leaf in international competition as we work towards winning a third-consecutive gold medal at the world championship.”
A roster of 23 players will also participate with Canada's national development team in preparation a Collegiate Series against Team USA. The national development team roster includes 12 members of last year's U-18 gold medal winning team and five returning players from last summer's series against USA. Newcomers who won gold with Canada at the U-18 World Championships include Jocelyn Amos, Alexia Aubin, Jordan Baxter, Brooke Disher, Tova Henderson, Jade Iginla, Alex Law, Sarah MacEachern, Ava Murphy, Emmalee Pais, and Alyssa Regalado, while the five returning players are Anne Cherkowski, Hannah Murphy, Maddi Wheeler, Sarah Wozniewicz, and Sara Swiderski, who was also a member of the U-18 roster.
“We have an exciting group of accomplished athletes joining our development program this year in St. Catharines,” Kingsbury added. “We are looking forward to watching this group return to the ice for a competitive camp in preparation for our series against the United States.”
The three game series against Team USA will take place from August 14-20 in Lake Placid, New York.