CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced on Thursday the 44 players who have been invited to the women’s under-18 strength and conditioning/skating camp, to be held May 7-10 at Norma Bush Arena in Calgary. Players invited to the camp were selected by Hockey Canada’s regional scouts in cooperation with club teams and Hockey Canada’s 13 branches.

The camp roster includes eight players who won a silver medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2009 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship in Füssen, Germany (Bestland, Campbell, Daoust, Fratkin, Kingsbury, Lacquette, Rattray, Saulnier). In addition, seven players suited up for Canada for a three-game series vs. the United States in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Campbell, Fratkin, Kingsbury, Lacquette, Poudrier, Rattray, Saulnier).

The 44 players will be put through fitness testing and skating drills over the course of the four-day camp. Off-ice sessions will not be accessible while on-ice times at Norma Bush Arena in Calgary will be posted at hockeycanada.ca at a later date. Please note that the focus for all on-ice sessions will be on skating techniques, and there will be no pucks on the ice.

Hockey Canada will also use the camp as an opportunity to get to know the players and give them off-ice training techniques, as well as proper nutritional guidance. Using the 2008-09 on-ice evaluation and performance at this camp, Hockey Canada officials will make their selections for an July under-18 camp, which will lead to selections for the National Women’s Under-18 Team for the 2009-10 season.