CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Friday the 22 players who have been chosen to represent Canada at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship, taking place Dec. to Jan. in Heinola and Vierumäki, Finland.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team includes two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. The Team Canada roster includes five players who return after winning a gold medal at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Prerov and Zlin, Czech Republic: Ashley Brykaliuk (Brandon, Man./Westman, MFMAAAHL), Kristyn Capizzano (Oakville, Ont./Mississauga, PWHL), Emily Clark (Saskatoon, Sask./Okanagan Hockey Academy, Midget AAA), Catherine Dubois (Charlesbourg, Que./Limoilou, Collégial AA) and Halli Krzyzaniak (Neepawa, Man./Pursuit of Excellence, Midget AAA).

Seventeen players were also members of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team for a three-game series against the U.S. Women’s Under-18 Team in August in Blaine, Minn., winning two of the three games.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, broken down by province:

• Alberta – three (Taryn Baumgardt*, Eden Murray*, Karly Heffernan*)
• British Columbia - three (Kimberly Newell*, Hannah Miller*, Alexa Ranahan*)
• Manitoba - three (Ashleigh Brykaliuk*, Halli Krzyzaniak*, Cassidy Carels*)
• Ontario – eight (Hanna Bunton*, Kristyn Capizzano*, Jessica Dodds, Kristin Gilmour, Corie Jacobson, Sydney McKibbon*, Alex Moore, Sarah Nurse)
• Prince Edward Island – one (Sarah Steele*)
• Quebec – three (Geneviève Bannon*, Catherine Daoust*, Catherine Dubois*)
• Saskatchewan – one (Emily Clark*)

*played for Canada in a three-game series against the United States in August.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team roster also includes:

• Two players who won a gold medal with Ontario Blue at the 2012 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Dawson Creek, B.C. (Dodds, Jacobson);
• Three players who won a silver medal with Manitoba at the 2012 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Dawson Creek, B.C. (Brykaliuk, Carels, Krzyzaniak);
• Six players who won a bronze medal with Ontario Red at the 2012 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Dawson Creek, B.C. (Bunton, Capizzano, Gilmour, McKibbon, Moore, Nurse);
• One player who won a gold medal with the Pembina Valley Hawks at the 2012 Esso Cup, Canada’s National Female Midget Championship, in Charlottetown, P.E.I. (Carels);
• One player who attended the 2012 IIHF High Performance Camp in Vierumäki, Finland (Heffernan).

Jim Fetter (Waterloo, Ont./St. Cloud State University, WCHA) will resume his role as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, while Rebecca Russell (Lethbridge, N.L./Okanagan Hockey Academy, Midget AAA) and Laura Schuler (Scarborough, Ont./University of Minnesota Duluth, WCHA) will be behind the bench again as assistant coaches and Joe Johnston (Lower Sackville, N.S./Dalhousie University, CIS) will continue as goaltending coach of Team Canada for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Finland.

“This season’s National Women’s Under-18 Team has depth and diversity of skill, as well as the determination it will take to go for gold,” Fetter said. “We’re extremely excited to see these carefully selected players come together off and on the ice to represent Canada with passion and pride.”

Canada plays its first game at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship against Hungary at 5:30 p.m. local time/10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 29 in Vierumäki, and will also take on Finland and Germany in the preliminary round. The gold medal game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. local time/11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 5 in Heinola.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Kristen Lipscombe, Hockey Canada’s coordinator of communications, will be on site in Finland for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship. Please contact her for any interview requests leading up to and during the event at (403) 826-4819 or [email protected].

Follow Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at www.Twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada; become a fan of Hockey Canada at www.Facebook.com/HockeyCanada; and for statistics, stories, post-game video interviews and much more from Finland, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/NWT.