CALGARY, Alta. –
Hockey Canada has announced the selection of 21 players to Canada’s
National Women’s Development Team travelling to Füssen, Germany, to compete
at the 2018 Nations Cup Jan. 3-6, 2018.
The Nations Cup - previously hosted under the names Air Canada Cup, MLP
Cup, and Meco Cup – features Canada’s National Women’s Development Team as
well as national teams from Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden, and
Switzerland this year for four days of competition.
Player selections were led by Melody Davidson, Hockey Canada’s general
manager of national women’s team programs, and Gina Kingsbury, director of
national women’s team programs for Hockey Canada, alongside the team’s
coaching staff – head coach Noémie Marin (Acton Vale, Que./John Abbott
College, CEGEP), assistant coaches Carla MacLeod (Calgary/Edge School,
CSSHL) and Matt Desrosiers (Port Colborne, Ont./Clarkson University, ECAC),
and goaltending consultant Gord Woodhall (Winnipeg/Winnipeg, MFMHL) – with
input from the organization’s regional scouts.
“Following a very successful summer camp where we had the opportunity to
play teams from U SPORTS and Japan, we continued to evaluate players as
they embarked on regular season action with their club teams to come to
this group of players who will represent Canada at the Nations Cup,” said
Kingsbury, a two-time Olympic gold-medallist for Canada in women’s hockey.
“These players are part of the up-and-coming Canadian talent that we are
tracking as we look towards next year’s IIHF Women’s World Championship and
beyond to the 2022 Games. To be able to provide opportunities for them to
play high-level, international events like the Nations Cup is invaluable
for them as players, and for us as a management group as we continue to
build our pipeline to Canada’s National Women’s Team.”
The
roster
, consisting of two goaltenders, seven defencemen, and 12 forwards,
includes:
-
Five silver-medallists from the 2017 Nations Cup (Agnew, Bach,
Bourbonnais, O’Neill, Stacey);
-
Four players who skated to silver at the 2017 IIHF U18 Women’s World
Championship (Bell, Maltais, Potomak, Shirley); and
-
Two players who will make their debut with Team Canada in international
competition (Deguire, Shelton).
Canada will open the 2018 Nations Cup against Finland at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m.
PT on Jan. 3. The
schedule
also has the team facing Russia on Jan. 4 before the tournament culminates
with the gold-medal game at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Saturday, Jan. 6.
A pre-tournament game is also planned for Dec. 30 against Austria.
Canada has won gold 11 times at the Nations Cup (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016).
For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team
Program, please visit
HockeyCanada.ca
, or follow through social media onFacebook,Twitter, and Twitter.com/HC_Women.