OTTAWA, Ont. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship host committee, announced Wednesday that Canada’s National Women’s Team will host the United States in an exhibition game March 31 at the Ottawa Civic Centre.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. ET on a pre-competition match-up between the top two women’s hockey teams in the world. The game will serve as a warm-up for the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, taking place April 7-14 in Burlington, Vt.

Hockey Canada and the host committee for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship also announced Wednesday that fans who purchase a full tournament package to next year’s world championship in Ottawa will receive a free lower bowl ticket to the exhibition game this Saturday, March 31 between Canada and the United States.

The last time the rivals faced off was for the gold medal at the 2011 4 Nations Cup in Nyköping, Sweden in November, with the game ending 4-3 in favour of the Americans. Their rich competitive history also includes three Olympic gold medal match-ups, with Canada winning two gold medals (2002, 2010) and one silver (1998). Canada also won gold at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

“Next month’s exhibition game in the nation’s capital will be a thrilling preview of what’s to come at both this year’s world championship in Burlington, and next year’s world championship in Ottawa,” said Valerie Hughes, general manager of the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship. “We look forward to welcoming Team Canada to Ottawa and seeing our country’s top female hockey players take to the ice against the United States at the Civic Centre.”

Ticket packages for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Ottawa range between $184 and $289 each, and include admission to the March 31 exhibition game, as well as tickets for 12 games at SBP Arena next April. They are available for purchase at HockeyCanada.ca by clicking HERE, or by calling 613-599-FANS (3267). Ticket packages include all Team Canada and medal round games. A $50 deposit secures your seat.

Individual tickets to the March 31 exhibition game start at just $19.50 plus applicable fees, and are also available by clicking HERE or calling 613-599-FANS (3267).

The 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, hosted in partnership by Hockey Canada, the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association and Senators Sports and Entertainment, takes place April 2-9, 2013 at SBP Arena, home of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, and the Nepean Sportsplex. The last time SBP Arena hosted the National Women’s Team was , when 16,347 fans filled the stands, breaking a women’s hockey game attendance record, and watched Canada edge the United States 3-2 in a shootout.

The 2013 edition will mark the sixth time Canada has hosted the women’s world championship, joining 1990 in Ottawa, 1997 in Kitchener, Ont., 2000 in Mississauga, Ont., 2004 in Halifax, N.S., and 2007 in Winnipeg, Man.

For more information on the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, please follow www.Twitter.com/HC_WWHC, become a fan at www.Facebook.com/WorldWomens and visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/2013Ottawa.

To stay up-to-date on Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship this April in Burlington, please follow Team Canada at www.Twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada, become a fan of Hockey Canada at www.Facebook.com/HockeyCanada and visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/NWT.