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.

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 20.

BREAKDOWN OF CANADA’S NWU18 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.

Kristen Lipscombe, Hockey Canada’s coordinator of communications, will be on site in Stockholm for the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship from December 27-January 9. She will be handling all interview requests and can be reached at 403-826-4819 (prior to December 27) or via email at [email protected].