Anne Cherkowski discusses making her Team Canada debut, her skill set, and the future of pro women's hockey. Hockey Canada named 24 players to their national development team in preparation for a three game series against USA this summer. “We are excited about the highly accomplished athletes that will join us with the development team this year as they return to the international stage against the United States,” said Alison Domenico, head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Development Team. “Our coaching staff is very eager to work with this group, which includes a good mix of returning players as well as some new faces, as we continue their development as athletes in our program.” Anne Cherkowski (Clarkson) is the most prominent name on Canada's development roster [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/international/a-debut-to-remember-for-anne-cherkowski] having already represented Canada's senior national team at the Rivalry Series last year. She's joined by other prominent NCAA and Hockey Canada veterans including Kendall Cooper (Quinnipiac), Ashley Messier (Cornell), and Jenna Buglioni (Ohio State). Among the young players to watch speckling Canada's development team roster are a group of players heading into the NCAA next season including Caitlin Kraemer (Minnesota-Duluth), Mackenzie Alexander (Princeton), Claire Murdoch (Connecticut), Emma Venusio (Wisconsin), and Gracie Graham (Minnesota). Other notable selections for Canada's Development team include Jade Iginla (Brown), Jocelyn Amos (Ohio State), Emalee Pais (Colgate), defenders Piper Grober (Cornell) and Sara Swiderski (Ohio State), and their trio of netminders Eve Gascon and Hailey MacLeod (Minnesota-Duluth), and Hannah Murphy (Colgate). The U-18 camp will be used to pick a summer select roster to fact USA in a three game series, and also to begin the process for selecting Canada's 2025 U-18 national team that will compete in the U-18 World Championships. “The selection camp is a crucial step as it serves as the first step in our program for this group of talented athletes. Our coaches and support staff are eager to begin guiding and developing these players,” said Vicky Sunohara head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team. “We anticipate a high-level of competition during the camp as the players compete to earn a spot to represent Canada on the international stage during the series and beyond.” Canada's U-18 roster features Chloe Primerano [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/college/chloe-primerano-signs-first-nil-deal-ready-to-take-on-the-ncaa], who was the MVP at last year's U-18 World Championship, as well as several other returning members of Canada's U-18 national team including Marilou Grenier, Maxine Cimeroni, Sara Manness, and Stryker Zablocki. The roster also includes 17 2008 born players who will have their first shot at cracking Canada's roster. The camp runs from August 5 to 11 with the series' against USA to follow.
