WINNIPEG, MB – Hockey Canada announced on Wednesday that Polly Craik was named as Chair of the Host Committee for the 2007 IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championship that will take place in Winnipeg and Selkirk, MB from April 3-10, 2007.

Polly Craik, a native of Winnipeg, is President and CEO of FineLine Solutions. Craik has been involved in the outsourced call center industry for more than 20 years and has spoken and presented at industry shows and conferences on subjects such as Human Resources, Training and Organizational Development. She has completed the “Birthing of Giants” and the “Advanced Business Program”, both sponsored by MIT. Craik is a member on several boards within the Winnipeg business community and was awarded the 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year by Manitoba Business Magazine.

"Hockey Canada is very excited to have someone with Polly's experience to run this event," said Bob Nicholson, Hockey Canada's President. "We are confident that she will do an amazing job at ensuring the success of the 2007IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championship in Winnipeg and Selkirk."

Polly Craik will join Greg Paseshnik, who was named the Event Manager of the 2007 IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championship on .

Craik’s responsibilities as Chair of the Host Committee will be to oversee all of the Championship's logistics, team services, marketing and event sponsorship, as well as the overall preparation and event execution for the 2007 IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championship in Winnipeg and Selkirk. Greg Paseshnik will oversee the overall operations of the Championship.

"Manitobans take great pride in hosting prominent events, and I am thrilled to be involved with this one. We will do our best to make this a very successful and memorable World Women’s Championship." said Craik. "With almost 1,000 deposits on priority reservations for tickets, we are confident that Winnipeg and Selkirk will do a tremendous job in supporting this great event."

With over 600 volunteers being required to put on a world class event like the 2007 IIHF World Women's Hockey Championship, a volunteer drive was also announced on Wednesday. Members of the general public can take part in the event as a volunteer by logging on to www.hockeycanada.ca, and filling out a 2007 WWHC volunteer registration form.

The hosting of the IIHF World Women’s Championship in Winnipeg and Selkirk, MB, will mark the fifth time that this international event has been staged in Canada and the first time it will be held in Manitoba.

Canada also hosted the IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championship in 2004 (Halifax, NS), in 2000 (Mississauga, ON), in 1997 (Kitchener, ON) and in 1990 (Ottawa, ON). In 2006, there is no IIHF World Championship for women’s hockey in lieu of the Olympic Winter Games. Canada has won a gold medal at eight of the nine IIHF World Women’s Championships, the exception being a silver medal at the 2005 IIHF World Women’s Championship in Linkoping, Sweden, after losing to the USA in a shoot out.

Close to 1000 deposits on priority reservations for ticket packages have been purchased to date the 2007 WWHC Host Committee also announced on Wednesday. This equates to over 13,000 game tickets, reflecting the excitement of local fans, and there eagerness to reserve a prime seat for the Championship. By purchasing Priority Reservations, fans are placed in a priority sequence ensuring the very best seats will be at their disposal once tickets go on sale. These unique priority reservations can still be purchased for $20.07 (plus applicable taxes) by calling (204) 780-3333 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca. Priority sequence will be based on a first come, first serve basis. Ticket packages for the seventeen scheduled games that will take place at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg will start at $189.00, while early bird three-game packages for games held at the Selkirk Arena in Selkirk, MB will start at $45.00.