CALGARY, AB – Hockey Canada announced on Wednesday that two groups have officially submitted their bids to host the 2007 IIHF World Women's Championship, which was awarded to Canada by the IIHF in May 2005 and will take place in the spring of 2007.

The two groups that move forward in the process to host the 2007 IIHF World Women’s Championship are:

• Hockey Manitoba / Destination Winnipeg
• Ontario Women's Hockey Association / City of Toronto

Five groups had originally submitted letters of intent to bid on the 2007 World Women’s event to Hockey Canada on November 1st. Only two of those five groups submitted official bids by the November 30th deadline. The groups that did not submit were: City of Sherbrooke (QC), Destination St. John’s, (Nfld) and Events Halifax.

The final two groups will now make formal presentations in person to Hockey Canada’s Site Selection Committee on December 8th in Calgary, AB.

The Site Selection Committee is comprised of Bob Nicholson (President, Hockey Canada), Rene Marcil (Chair of Board, Hockey Canada), Gay Hahn (Director, Hockey Canada Female Council) and resource person Scott Smith (Hockey Canada’s Senior Vice-president, Operations).

Hockey Canada expects to conclude the bid process by January 2006 and recommend a site to Hockey Canada’s Board of Directors.

There will not be an IIHF World Women’s Championship in 2006, as the IIHF does not hold a World Women’s Championship in Olympic years. Canada will defend its Olympic gold medal February 10-24, 2006 in Turin, Italy.

Canada has won eight of nine IIHF World Women’s Championships, since its inception in 1990. Canada lost in the 2005 IIHF World Women’s Championship final to the USA, in a 1-0 game that was decided in a shootout.