CALGARY, AB – Hockey Canada announced on Friday Canada’s 20-player roster for the 2009 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship, which will be held from January 5-10, 2009 in Füssen, Germany.
Canada’s roster includes 18 of the 22 players that took part in a three-game series with the USA’s Women’s Under-18 Select Team in Lake Placid, NY in August. Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team lost two out of the three games in the series, winning the final game 3-2 in overtime.
Christine Bestland (Brunkild, MB / Balmoral Hall, Midget AAA) and Melodie Daoust (Valleyfield, QC / Sélects, Midget AA) have been added to the roster. Both players attended the 2008 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in November in Napanee, ON.
Stephanie White, the head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, worked with assistant coaches Danielle Goyette and Caroline Ouellette, along with Hockey Canada’s scouting staff, at various events to finalize the 20-player roster. These events included the National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp from July 22-29 in Calgary, AB, the National Women’s Under-18 Team series against the United States and the 2008 National Women’s Under-18 Championship.
“We are very excited about the roster we have assembled to represent Canada at the 2009 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship,” White says. “We feel these players will give us the best opportunity to find success at the world championship.”
Canada claimed the silver medal at the inaugural IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship in Calgary, AB in January, falling to the United States 5-2 in the gold medal game. Three players from that team – Marie-Philip Poulin, Brianne Jenner and Laura Fortino – are on the roster named Friday.
Eight teams will compete in the six-day tournament – Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland and Switzerland will play in Group B, while Germany, Russia, Sweden and the United States will comprise Group A.