CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Thursday the 21 players selected for the National Women’s Under-22 Team that will represent Canada at the 2011 MLP Cup, taking place Jan. 4-8 in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland.
Canada’s roster includes 17 of the 22 members of the National Women’s Under-22 Team that swept the United States in a three-game series held in Toronto, Ont., in August and 11 returning members of the National Women’s Under-22 Team that won gold at the 2010 MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany.
The roster also includes two members of the National Women’s Under-18 Team that won Canada’s first-ever gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship in Chicago, Ill., last April (Campbell and Saulnier) and four members of the National Women’s Team that won gold for Canada at the 2010 4 Nations Cup in St. John’s, N.L., last month (Bendus, Birchard, Spooner and Watchorn).
BREAKDOWN OF 2011 MLP CUP ROSTER
Ontario (13): Bendus, Birchard, Deluce, Fortino, Lacasse, Mazzotta, McIntosh, McKeough, Menard, Prevost, Spooner, Watchorn, White
Manitoba (three): Bram, Karpenko, Kohanchuk
Nova Scotia (three): Haverstock, Saulnier, Wong
Quebec (one): Rougeau
Saskatchewan (one): Campbell
Players who were on the gold medal-winning 2010 Olympic Winter Games roster (Rebecca Johnston and Marie-Philip Poulin), or who were centralized with the National Women’s Team during the 2009-10 season (Brianne Jenner and Jennifer Wakefield), were not eligible for 2011 MLP Cup roster selection. Hockey Canada scouts will continue to evaluate these four players with their respective club teams leading up to the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship next April in Zurich and Winterthur, Switerzland.
In total, Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team consists of two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 12 forwards. Canada has won the MLP Cup seven times, including every year from 20 and in 2010. Canada will join Germany and Switzerland in Group B for the preliminary round, while Sweden, Finland and Russia will play in Group A.
In addition, Hockey Canada has confirmed that Jim Fetter (Waterloo, Ont.) will resume his role as head coach after leading Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team to three straight wins over the United States in the August series. He will again be joined by assistant coaches Rachel Flanagan (Guelph, Ont.) and Dave Gwyn (Etobicoke, Ont.), along with goaltending coach Perry Wilson (Windsor, Ont.).
“With a strong roster filled with players who have already competed on the international stage, Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team enters the 2011 MLP Cup with high standards,” Fetter said. “We will work hard to meet and exceed those standards on the ice and represent our country with pride.”