Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp begins Wednesday in Hamilton, Ont.

28 players are on the ice in Hamilton, Ont., competing for 23 spots at U18 worlds.

CALGARY, Alta. – Twenty-eight of the country’s top young female players will be on the ice beginning Wednesday at North Wentworth Arena in Hamilton, Ont., for Canada’s National Women’s Team selection camp, which runs from Dec. 10-14.

The roster includes three goaltenders, nine defencemen and 16 forwards and features three players who helped Canada win gold at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Budapest, Hungary.

Following the selection camp, 23 players will be chosen to represent Canada at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship from Jan. 5-12 at HarborCenter in Buffalo, N.Y.

In addition to the 28 players attending camp, Noémie Marin has been added as an assistant coach alongside head coach Cassandra Turner, assistant coaches Delaney Collins and Jackie Friesen, and goaltending coach Amanda Mazzotta.

“We’re pleased to be able to add Noémie to our coaching staff with the support from the Coaching Association of Canada’s apprenticeship program,” said Melody Davidson, Hockey Canada’s general manager of national women’s team programs. “She brings experience from a variety of levels of the game and will be an asset to the staff as we move forward in selecting the team that will represent Canada next month in Buffalo.”

Marin will be supported through the Coaching Association of Canada’s Women in Coaching National Team Apprenticeship Program, which provides professional development opportunities and support for female coaches moving into roles with Canada’s national teams. Since 2000, the program has invested in more than 50 female coaches.

“The Coaching Association of Canada’s Women in Coaching National Team Apprenticeship Program is proud to support Noémie Marin and Amanda Mazzotta and to provide them with the opportunity to learn from the best coaches in the world at this hallmark event,” said Lorraine Lafrenière, chief executive officer of the Coaching Association of Canada.

The players will be on the ice for five days in Hamilton and will square off against the Ontario University Athletics All-Stars on Dec. 12 (7 p.m. ET) and Dec. 14 (11 a.m. ET) at North Wentworth Arena. The games are open to the public and free to watch and financial donations are being accepted on behalf of the Flamborough Women’s Resource Centre.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp roster includes:

• 21 players who competed for Canada in the three-game series against the United States’ Women’s Under-18 Select Team in August (Agnew, Audet, Boissonnault, Cogan, Coutu-Godbout, Eastwood, Gebhard, Hart, Higham, Houston, Hunt, Jackson, Labbe, McGill, O’Neill, Pelletier, Potomak,  Pozzebon, Quaranta, Sucharda, Tse);
• five players who participated in the 2014 IIHF Women’s High Performance Camp in Vierumäki, Finland in July (Campbell, Gebhard, Houston, Hunt, Pelletier);
• four players who attended Canada’s National Women’s Fall Festival in Calgary in September (Agnew, Hart, Cogan, Potomak);
• three players who won the gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18-Team at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Budapest, Hungary (Cogan, Hart, Potomak).

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp invitees, by province:

• Ontario – 13 (Agnew, Bourbonnais, Cogan, Eastwood, Field, Hine, McGill, O’Neill, Pozzebon, Quaranta, Sucharda, Tse, Vinkle)
• Quebec – four (Audet, Coutu-Godbout, Giguere, Matteau)
• Manitoba – four (Campbell, Higham, Houston, Hunt)
• British Columbia – two (Hart, Potomak)
• New Brunswick – two (Boissonault, Pelletier)
• Alberta – one (Labbe)
• Nova Scotia – one (Jackson)
• Saskatchewan – one (Gebhard)

Canada has won four gold medals at the IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014), and will look to capture their fourth consecutive world title in Buffalo. 

NOTE TO MEDIA: Morgan Bell, Hockey Canada’s coordinator of media relations, will be on site in Hamilton for Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp. Please contact her for any interview requests at (403) 669-1261 or mbell@hockeycanada.ca.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along through social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, www.twitter.com and www.twitter.com/hc_women.