We recap the action from day one of Hockey Canada's U-18 national team selection camp.
We recap the action from day one of Hockey Canada's U-18 national team selection camp.
Day one of Hockey Canada's U-18 National Selection Camp is in the books, as Canada's split squad played their opening game, and will now prepare to face Finland's U-18 roster.
In the opening game of the National camp Team White edged Team Red 5-4 in a shootout. White opened the game in dominant fashion, controlling the early play jumping out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Sara Manness, Jenna Smellie, and Anna McKee.
Nearing the midway point of the game however, Team Red started to find their game bouncing back on goals from Emma Beauchamp, Emma Venusio, Caitlin Kraemer, and Sienna D’Alessandro to take a 4-3 lead. Team White answered back with Jessica MacKinnon evening the score, which is how the game sat through the end of regulation and overtime.
In the shootout, Team White scored in each of their first three attempts, while Team White goalie Rhyah Stewart turned away each Red shooter to secure the 5-4 win.
Top Performers From Day One
Chloe Primerano - Defenders were some of the top performers on day one, and the pairing of U-18 veteran Gracie Graham and newcomer Chloe Primerano were hard to miss. The duo played together at RINK Academy in Kelowna last season, and their chemistry was evident. Primerano, 2007, showed the traits that have her touted as one of Canada's next superstars. She controls the puck evading attackers using her edgework and feigning off checkers. One of her top characteristics is her ability to walk the blueline opening passing and shooting lanes. She is able to get pucks through traffic and reverse the flow with ease. Primerano will be a powerplay threat for Canada.
Sara Manness - Manness asserted herself as one of the 2007 born forwards to watch at this camp, scoring once in regulation, and adding a beautiful shootout goal showing her puck skills and vision. Last year at Balmoral Hall, Manness was a force in the JWHL scoring 51 goals and 66 assists in 46 games last season. Manness made an early commitment to play for the University of Minnesota, and she's also trading teams this coming season heading to play in Ontario's OWHL U-22 Elite with Burlington. Another Team White forward who showed great promise was Madison Burr, the top scorer from last year's Esso Cup. She showed her ability to control the puck in tight quarters and win puck battles to create offensive chances.
Emma Venusio - Venusio was quiet in the opening period of the first game, when she found her legs, so did Team Red. Venusio was a contributor last year for Canada and looks like she'll be a two way threat from the Canadian blueline again this year. Along the blueline, few can muster Venusio's release with the velocity she shoots a puck. Playing for Etobicoke in the OWHL, Venusio was one of the top scoring blueliners in Ontario. She's not only a shooter from the blueline, Venusio is also an excellent distributor of the puck.