Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team roster named for three-game series against United States

Canada will travel to Lake Placid for a three-game series against the United States.

ROCKLAND, Ont. – Hockey Canada announced Sunday the 22 players named to the final roster for Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, which will compete in a three-game series against the United States’ Women’s Under-18 National Team from Thursday, Aug. 22 to Sunday, Aug. 25 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The 13 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders were chosen following Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp, held Aug. 10-18 at the Canadian International Hockey Academy in Rockland. Players were divided into two teams, Red and White, and competed in three intrasquad games during selection camp.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team features:

• four players who won the gold medal with Ontario Blue at the 2012 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Dawson Creek, B.C. (Bach, Leslie, MacMillan and Noronha);
• two players who participated in the 2013 IIHF Women’s High Performance Camp in Sheffield, England, earlier this month (Hart and Potomak);
• two players who won the gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18-Team at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Heinola, Finland (Heffernan and Miller);
• one player who won the gold medal with LHFDQ Nord at the 2013 Esso Cup, Canada’s National Female Midget Championship, in Burnaby, B.C. (Picard)  

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team by province:

• Ontario – nine (Bach, Leslie, MacMillan, Noronha, Pinkney, Sauvé, Tiley, Wildfang and Wilson-Bennett)
• British Columbia – five (Bellerive, Hart, Miller, Potomak and Spring)
• Quebec – four (Labelle, Lalancette, Picard and Stacey)
• Alberta – three (Fieseler, Healey and Heffernan)
• Manitoba – one (Krzyszczyk) 

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team has been assembled by Melody Davidson, general manager of Canada’s National Women’s Team Programs, Hockey Canada’s team of scouts, along with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team head coach Laura Schuler (Scarborough, Ont./University of Minnesota Duluth, WCHA) and assistant coaches Jackie Friesen (Regina, Sask./University of Wisconsin, WCHA) and Cassandra Turner (Campbellford, Ont./Quinnipiac University, ECAC).

“All 40 players that came to Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp should be very proud of their performances,” Schuler said. “They brought their very best, both on and off the ice, and as a result we know that the players chosen to wear the Team Canada jersey in our upcoming series against the U.S. will do so with continued passion and pride.”

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team will play three games against the United States’ Women’s Under-18 National Team at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid. The puck drops on the first game Thursday, Aug. 22 at 4 p.m. ET, the second game is set for Friday, Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. ET and the third and final game takes place Sunday, Aug. 25 at 10 a.m. ET. All games are available for viewing online at usahockey.fasthockey.com.

Following the series, Hockey Canada scouts, along with the team’s coaching staff, will continue to evaluate players with their provincial and club teams during the 2013-14 season, in preparation for selecting the Canadian team that will compete at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship next April.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Please contact Kristen Lipscombe, Hockey Canada’s communications coordinator, for any interview requests at (403) 826-4819 or klipscombe@hockeycanada.ca.

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