---

HOCKEY CANADA
NEWS RELEASE / COMMUNIQUÉ

October 11, 2006 NR124.06

HOCKEY CANADA NAMES FIRST NATIONAL WOMENS
TEAM ROSTER OF 2006-07
SEASON FOR 2006 4 NATIONS CUP IN KITCHENER

CALGARY, AB Melody Davidson, Head Coach/General Manager of Canadas National Womens Team, named the first of three rosters for the 2006-07 season on Tuesday, naming 21 players to Canadas roster for the upcoming 4 Nations Cup in Kitchener, ON from November 7-12.

Over the course of the 2006-07 season, Canada will have a total of three distinct rosters; each roster is selected by the coaching staff from a large pool of players being monitored during the 2006-07 season:

2006 4 Nations Cup roster     Announcement date: October 11, 2006

January 2007 Evaluation Camp roster    Tentative announcement date: December 2006

2007 IIHF World Womens Championship roster     Tentative announcement date: March 2007

The coaching and scouting staff will also be monitoring players with their club teams and with Canada s National Under-22 Team, which will be taking part in the 2007 European Air Canada Cup in January, 2007 in Germany . 

 We are fortunate to have great depth of talent in female hockey in Canada and this provides a challenge for the coaching staff to select and properly evaluate players, said Davidson.  Over the course of this season and in upcoming seasons, we will be looking at a variety of players in different situations in preparation for World Championships through to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.  As a result, some veterans will be left off some rosters, allowing us to give experience to younger players.  These veterans continue to be in contention for World Championship rosters.

Canadas 4 Nations Cup roster includes 15 members of Canada s 2006 gold medal winning Olympic team. 

Three 2006 OIympians not named to the 4 Nations Cup ( Charline Labonté , Cheryl Pounder and Katie Weatherston) have not been released and continue to be in contention for the 2007 World Womens Championship roster.  Olympians Cassie Campbell (retirement) and Becky Kellar (pregnancy) are the two other 2006 Olympians not named to the roster. 

Two players, Shannon Szabados ( Edmonton , AB / Fort Saskatchewan , AJHL) and Annie Guay ( Rouyn-Noranda , QC / St. Lawrence University, ECAC) will be making their debuts with Canadas National Womens Team at the 2006 4 Nations Cup. 

In total, four players ( Tessa Bonhomme , Cathy Chartrand, Guay and Szabados) named to Canadas 4 Nations Cup roster have never represented Canada at a World Womens Championship or Olympic Games.  All four players have played with Canada s National Under-22 Team, while Bonhomme and Chartrand also have some National Womens Team experience.

 We are looking forward to a very intense competition in Kitchener next month, which will be a great test for all of the players, said Davidson. This will represent a very important part of our evaluation process, leading towards our final evaluation camp of the season in January and eventually the naming of Canada s World Womens Championship roster for the in Winnipeg in April 2007.

Canadas National Womens Teams coaching staff for the 2006-07 season is comprised of Davidson ( Oyen , AB /Hockey Canada ) and assistant coaches Barry Medori ( Hinton , AB / Edmonton Chimos, NWHL) and Peter Smith ( Montreal , QC / McGill University , CIS).   

To view Canadas 4 Nations Cup Roster
CLICK HERE

4 Nations Cup Game Schedule and Ticket Information
CLICK HERE

---

4 NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS PAGE.

  INCLUDES:

---

Download the 4 Nations Promo WAV file

Click here for more information on the 4 Nations Cup

---

2006 FOUR NATIONS CUP SCHEDULE

---

KITCHENER (ONTARIO) TO HOST TOP INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAMS AT 2006 FOUR NATIONS CUP
CALGARY, AB – Only days following Canada’s second straight Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey, Hockey Canada announced on Monday, that the City of Kitchener and the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) will host the next major international women’s hockey event in the fall of 2006. The 2006 Four Nations Cup will be held at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex from November 7-11, 2006.

  MORE DETAILS . . .

---

February 27, 2006 NR029.06