ALGARY, Alta. – Canada’s National Women’s Development Team and National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camps concluded with 22 players being named to the national development team and 23 chosen to represent the national under-18 team that will compete in a pair of three-game series against the United States this week.
The two teams, selected during summer camps held at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary as part of the Hockey Canada National Teams’ Summer Showcase this month, are headed to Lake Placid, N.Y., where they’ll each face off against their U.S. rivals Aug. 19-23. Both series against the United States will be used to evaluate players for potential invitations to Canada’s National Women’s Team Fall Festival from Sept. 13-20 in Calgary.
“We are coming off a strong, 10-day camp where we had the opportunity to evaluate these players on and off the ice,” said Melody Davidson, Hockey Canada’s general manager of national women’s team programs. “As our programs continue to grow, our selection decisions are made more difficult. These series in Lake Placid will be another step for these players to demonstrate they belong with our teams this season.”
Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team features:
- Three players who won a silver medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. (Agnew, Houston, O’Neill)
- One player, Sophie Shirley (Saskatoon Stars) who participated in the 2015 Esso Cup, Canada’s National Female Midget Championship, in Red Deer, Alta.
- Two players who won a gold medal with Quebec at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C. (Coulombe and Labrecque)
Following this series, which will be live-streamed on the game summary page at www.hockeycanada.ca, Hockey Canada scouts, along with the team’s coaching staff, will continue to evaluate players with their provincial and club teams during the 2015-16 season, including at the 2015 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Huntsville, Ont., from Nov. 4-8, in preparation for selecting the Canadian team that will compete at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship, Jan. 8-15, 2016, in St. Catharines, Ont.
“I feel really confident with what I’ve seen from these players over the last week; they are ready to work hard, and work together, to bring the best out of each other both on and off the ice,” said head coach Lisa Haley.