CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S UNDER-18 TEAM
TAKES SILVER MEDAL AT 2011 IIHF WORLD WOMEN’S UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team earned a silver medal Saturday at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship after falling 5-2 to the United Stated in the gold medal game at Stora Mossen arena.

Emily Fulton (Stratford, Ont./Bluewater, PWHL) opened the scoring for Canada at 15:07 of the second period and Katy Josephs (Cochrane, Alta./Highwood, AMMFHL) added Canada’s other goal at 17:33 of the middle frame. Ann-Renée Desbiens (La Malbaie, Que./Quebec, Midget Espoir) made 25 saves over three periods.

Canada and the United States have met in all four gold medal games in the history of the IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship. Saturday night’s game marked the third time that Canada has taken silver at the tournament. Canada won gold at the 2010 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship with a 5-4 overtime win over the United States in Chicago, Ill. last April.

Earlier Saturday, Finland captured the bronze medal with a 3-0 win over Czech Republic.

The 20-player roster that represented Canada at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship included two goaltenders, six defencemen and 12 forwards, led by head coach Sarah Hodges (Regina, Sask.), assistant coaches France Montour (St. Albert, Alta.) and Cassandra Turner (Campbellford, Ont.), and goaltending coach Jamie McGuire (Toronto, Ont.).

CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S UNDER-18 TEAM
ADVANCES TO GOLD MEDAL GAME AT 2011 IIHF WORLD WOMEN’S UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team will be going for gold at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship after defeating Finland 6-1 in semifinal action Friday inside Stora Mossen arena.

Canada will take on the United States in the gold medal game, for the fourth time in as many years, tomorrow at 7 p.m. local time/1 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on the Swedish Ice Hockey Association website at www.swehockey.se. The live feed can also be accessed at www.IIHF.com.

In Friday’s semifinal, six different players scored goals to help the Canadians to a win over the Finns. Emily Fulton (Stratford, Ont.) opened the scoring for Canada just five minutes into the game and Sarah MacDonnell (Quispamsis, N.B.) made it 2-0 going into the first intermission.

Cayley Mercer (Exeter, Ont.), Nicole Kosta (Mississauga, Ont.) and Shelby Bram (Ste. Anne, Man.) all scored in the second, while Cydney Roesler (Stittsville, Ont.) scored her first international goal and provided Canada’s final tally in the third. Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens (La Malbaie, Que.) made 10 saves for the victory.

In the other semifinal, the United States beat the Czech Republic 14-1 to earn their spot in the gold medal game. Finland and the Czech Republic will face off in a battle for the bronze medal tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. local time/9:30 a.m. ET.

Canada and the United States have met in all three previous gold medal games at the IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship. The U.S. won in both 2008 and 2009, while Canada won in 2010 and looks to defend its gold medal in 2011.

Defenceman Erin Ambrose (Keswick, Ont.) and forward Emily Fulton (Stratford, Ont.) are the only two players who returned to this season’s roster after helping Canada win its first-ever gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship by beating the United States 5-4 in overtime in Chicago, Ill., last April.

The 20-player roster chosen to represent Canada at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship includes two goaltenders, six defencemen and 12 forwards, led by head coach Sarah Hodges (Regina, Sask.), assistant coaches France Montour (St. Albert, Alta.) and Cassandra Turner (Campbellford, Ont.), and goaltending coach Jamie McGuire (Toronto, Ont.).

Get live game updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada and follow all the action at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship by becoming a fan of Hockey Canada on Facebook.

January 4, 2011
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CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S UNDER-18 TEAM
ADVANCES TO SEMIFINALS AT 2011 IIHF WORLD WOMEN’S UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team has earned a bye to semifinals at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship after defeating Germany 8-1 on Tuesday evening inside Husby Ishall arena. Canada finished first in Pool A during the preliminary round after three straight wins, also beating Switzerland and Finland.

In Pool B, the United States came out on top, beating the Czech Republic, Japan and Sweden to advance to the semifinals. Canada will face the winner of the Finland-Sweden quarter-final and the United States will face the winner of the Czech Republic-Germany quarter-final on Friday, January 7.

The bronze and gold medal games are set for Saturday, January 8, with the bronze medal game starting at 3:30 p.m. local time/9:30 a.m. ET and the gold medal game starting at 7 p.m. local time/1 p.m. ET. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal round games will be broadcast live on the Swedish Ice Hockey Association website at www.swehockey.se.

• CLICK HERE FOR THE 2011 IIHF WORLD WOMEN’S UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

In Tuesday night’s game against Germany, Nicole Kosta (Mississauga, Ont.) opened the scoring for Canada just 54 seconds into the game, and scored in both the second and third periods to finish with a hat trick. Alternate captain Sarah MacDonnell (Quispamsis, N.B.) also contributed three points to the win, including two power play goals and an assist. Nine Canadian players had at least one point in the win.

The 20-player roster chosen to represent Canada at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship includes two goaltenders, six defencemen and 12 forwards, led by head coach Sarah Hodges (Regina, Sask.), assistant coaches France Montour (St. Albert, Alta.) and Cassandra Turner (Campbellford, Ont.), and goaltending coach Jamie McGuire (Toronto, Ont.).

Defenceman Erin Ambrose (Keswick, Ont.) and forward Emily Fulton (Stratford, Ont.) return to the roster after helping Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team win its first-ever gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship by beating the United States 5-4 in overtime in Chicago, Ill., last April. The United States won the first two women’s U18 gold medals, in 2008 and 2009.

Get live game updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada and follow all the action at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship by becoming a fan of Hockey Canada on Facebook.

CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S UNDER-18

CANADA'S NATIONAL WOMEN'S UNDER-18 TEAM ROSTER ANNOUNCED FOR 2011 IIHF WORLD WOMEN'S UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP

TORONTO, Ont. – Hockey Canada announced Tuesday the 20 players who have been chosen to represent Canada at the 2011 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship, which runs January 1-8 in Stockholm, Sweden.

CLICK HERE FOR CANADA'S NATIONAL WOMEN'S UNDER-18 TEAM ROSTER

The roster was finalized following a selection camp featuring 31 of the top young female hockey players in the Canada, held at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto, December 17-19. Head coach Sarah Hodges (Regina, Sask.), assistant coaches France Montour (St. Albert, Alta.) and Cassandra Turner (Campbellford, Ont.), and Hockey Canada scouts led by Melody Davidson (Oyen, Alta.), Hockey Canada's head scout of women's national team programs, selected the roster based on a series of practices and intrasquad Red-White games that took place during the three-day camp, as well as player performances at events such as the National Women's Under-18 Championship.

Canada's 20-player roster for the 2011 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship include two goaltenders, six defencemen and 12 forwards. Defenceman Erin Ambrose (Keswick, Ont.) and forward Emily Fulton (Stratford, Ont.) return to the roster after helping Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team win its first-ever gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship by beating the United States 5-4 in overtime in Chicago, Ill., last April. The United States won the first two women's U18 gold medals, in 2008 and 2009.

BREAKDOWN OF CANADA'S NATIONAL WOMEN'S UNDER-18 TEAM ROSTER BY PROVINCE
Alberta (one): Katy Josephs
Ontario (14): Erin Ambrose, Hailey Browne, Sarah Edney, Emily Fulton, Rebecca Kohler, Nicole Kosta, Amanda Makela, Cayley Mercer, Gina Repaci, Sarah Robson, Cydney Roesler, Jennifer Shields, Laura Stacey, Katarina Zgraja
Manitoba (two): Shelby Bram, Meghan Dufault
New Brunswick (one): Sarah MacDonnell
Quebec (two): Gabrielle Davidson, Ann-Renée Desbiens

"All of the players that attended our selection camp in Toronto are talented athletes and promising young women who will succeed in whatever they choose to do," Hodges said. "We're confident the 20 players chosen to go to Sweden for the world championship will represent their country with pride, both on and off the ice."

The world championship roster also includes 18 members of the National Women's Under-18 Team that played the United States in a three-game series in August (Ambrose, Bram, Davidson, Desbiens, Dufault, Edney, Fulton, Josephs, Kosta, MacDonnell, Makela, Mercer, Repaci, Robson, Roesler, Shields, Stacey and Zgraja), one player who attended the National Women's Program strength and conditioning camp held in Calgary, Alta., in May (Kohler), and one player who joined the national program for the first time at last weekend's selection camp (Browne).

"Those selected for this season's National Women's Under-18 Team are skilled hockey players that represent the future of our National Women's Program," said Kalli Quinn, director of female national teams for Hockey Canada. "Hockey Canada congratulates the players, as well as their coaches, parents and all those who helped them get to this level."

Canada plays its first game at the 2011 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship against Switzerland at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, January 1, and will also play Finland and Germany in preliminary round action. The gold medal game is set for 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 8.

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2011 IIHF WORLD WOMEN'S UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE