CALGARY, Alberta – Hockey Canada has announced the 24 players who will wear the Maple Leaf with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2025 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, Jan. 4-12 in Vantaa, Finland. Three goaltenders, seven defence and 14 forwards were selected by Cherie Piper (Scarborough, ON), senior manager of player development and scouting, along with head coach Vicky Sunohara (Scarborough, ON/University of Toronto, OUA) and assistant coaches Marc-André Côté (Montreal, QC/University of Moncton, AUS) and Stefanie McKeough (Carlsbad Springs, ON/Boston, PWHL). Goaltending coach Sheldon Goertzen (Saskatoon, SK/University of Saskatchewan, CW) also provided input. Included among the 24 players are five who won a bronze medal at the 2024 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship (Cimoroni, Grenier, S. Manness, Primerano, Zablocki) and 19 who wore the Maple Leaf during a three-game series against the United States in August (Bertelsen, Cimoroni, Copetti, Grenier, Ismael, S. Manness, Maynard, McCullough, McDonald, Piggott, Primerano, Sawyer, Sorokan, Therien, Tiller, Tremblay, Viel, Wilkinson, Zablocki). “I truly value the opportunity to work with this exceptionally skilled group of young athletes and dedicated staff at the world championship in January, and to compete for a gold medal in Finland,” Sunohara said. “We have a very competitive group that is proud to represent Canada, and the entire coaching staff is eager to get our group together and continue building the foundation of what it takes to play for Team Canada.” Canada is in Group B with Czechia, Slovakia and Switzerland, while Group A includes Finland, Japan, Sweden and the United States. The Canadians open the tournament against Slovakia on Jan. 4 and will face Switzerland on Jan. 5 before its preliminary-round finale against Czechia on Jan. 7. All games will start at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT. Prior to the tournament, Canada will face the host Finns in an exhibition game at 6:30 a.m. ET/3:30 a.m. PT in Vantaa. “This roster represents the building blocks for Canada’s National Women’s Program, and we are excited for these young athletes to proudly represent our country in Finland,” Piper said. “Being named to Team Canada represents years of hard work and dedication. We are incredibly proud of their growth and we look forward to watching them progress in their hockey careers.” Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team will look capture gold at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship for the first time since 2023; it has won seven gold medals (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2022, 2023), seven silver (2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020) and two bronze (2018, 2024). TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast 14 tournament games, including all Team Canada preliminary-round games, all four quarterfinals, both semifinals and the medal games; check local listings for details. For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow through social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.